Half courtvs man3 phasesRuns 8.6 s
Iverson Entry
The scorer runs wing to wing across the two elbows and catches on the move, then flows straight into a side ball screen from the elbow he just passed. It is the standard way to get the ball to a guard who is being face-guarded.
Open in the appRun it, tilt it, put a defense on it, change it. Free to start. No account, nothing to install.
Phase by phase
1Phase 1
Both elbows set first — 2 runs shoulder to shoulder and 5 drops to the corner.
- 3 screens for 2
- 4 screens for 2
- 2 cuts to the right wing
- 5 cuts to the right corner
- 1 passes to 2
2Phase 2
4 turns and screens the ball, 3 lifts to the slot for the kick.
- 4 screens for 2
- 2 dribbles to the right elbow
- 4 cuts to the rim
- 3 cuts to the left slot
3Phase 3
Two on the ball means 3 is open — swing it and shoot it.
- 2 passes to 3
- 3 shoots
Teaching points
- Both elbow screens are set before 2 leaves. He runs shoulder to shoulder across both.
- 2 catches on the move. If he stops to catch, the entry has done nothing.
- 5 drops to the corner on the run so the ball side has a spacer below the ball.
- 4 turns into the ball screen straight after 2 goes past him.
- 3 lifts to the weak slot. He is the kick-out when two defenders go to the ball.
Iverson is the answer to a defender who will not let your best guard touch the ball. He runs wing to wing across the top, over two screens at the elbows, and catches on the move on the far side. Face-guarding does not survive two screens in five feet.
Once he has it, the elbow he just ran past turns and screens the ball, so the catch flows straight into a side pick-and-roll with no reset.
How it is guarded
Chasing the cut is the common answer, and it leaves the defender trailing into the ball screen, which is the same problem twice.
Top-locking is the sharper answer: stand above the screens and refuse to let 2 cross. That works right up until 2 cuts backdoor and somebody throws it to the rim, so teach the back cut in the same session you teach the entry.
Teaching it
The screeners are not really screening a man, they are occupying space. Their job is to be still and wide. Two bigs standing with their feet set at the elbows create a corridor that a guard can run through and a defender cannot.
The cut is straight across, not curved. A guard who drifts upward toward half court takes himself out of the catch.
Run past the screen, not around it.
The name is public coaching vocabulary, taken from Allen Iverson’s use of the action in Philadelphia. Any 1-4 high alignment gets you into it.
Counters
- If the defender top-locks the Iverson cut, 2 back cuts to the rim and 1 throws it over the top.
- Against a switch on the ball screen, 2 attacks the big off the dribble with an empty side.
- Against a blitz, 4 catches in the middle of the floor and 3 is open above the ball.
1-4-highiverson-cutdouble-screenpick-and-rollentry