A cross screen is set across the width of the lane, from one block toward the other. One player screens for a teammate who is coming from the weak side to the ball side. Most of the time it is set for a post player who wants to arrive on the ball-side block with his defender behind him.
Why coaches use it
It is the shortest route to a seal. A post who walks his man into a screen arrives on the block already in front, and a good seal on the block is a layup the moment the entry pass is on time. The ball never has to go inside for it to be worth running either, because the cross screen pulls two defenders below the free-throw line and empties the top of the floor behind them.
Cross screens are also the front half of the two most durable continuities in the game. In flex, the baseline cut is a cross screen and the second screen is a down screen for the man who just set it. Out of a box inbounds, one big screens across for the other and then gets screened himself, so there is a layup and a safety valve in the same four seconds.
How it is guarded
- Chase, low side. The cutter’s defender goes underneath the screen and beats him to the block. Common, and it gives up the high-side catch.
- Top-lock it. Stand above the cutter so he cannot come ball side at all. He should cut backdoor to the weak-side block and post there instead.
- Switch. Fastest fix, and usually leaves a guard on a post. Whoever wins that mismatch wins the possession.
Set it with your feet outside the lane, take the contact, and do not turn your shoulders as the cutter goes by.