The Possession Game: Previewing Duke vs. Houston in the Final Four

Getting you ready for the Final Four with an X's and O's preview of the No. 1 offense in the country going up against the No. 1 defense

After a commanding two-way performance against Alabama, Duke punched its ticket to the Final Four for the first time under head coach Jon Scheyer. While that’s a huge accomplishment, the next challenge — facing the Houston Cougars and their top-ranked defense — isn’t exactly a treat.

Before we dive into a breakdown of the matchup against Houston, including a full scouting report on both ends of the floor, be sure to check out Split The Action’s coverage of the Duke-Alabama game:

• Switchback: How Duke hit the brakes on Alabama's go-go offense

• Duke's Offensive Blueprint: Analyzing the wins over Arizona and Alabama on the road to the Final Four

When Houston has the ball

There’s no questioning Houston’s identity on the offensive side of the floor. This team is amazingly self-aware and disciplined: a powerful ball-control offense that avoids turnovers, mashes opponents on the glass, hits 3-pointers (39.7 3P%, No. 2) and is comfortable playing late into the shot clock. The recipe has proven successful, producing the most efficient offense (No. 10 nationally in adjusted efficiency) of Kelvin Sampson’s tenure with the program.

The Cougars rank No. 11 nationally with an offensive rebound rate of 36.8 percent. They turn those boards into offense, too, scoring 13.5 second-chance points per game, which ranks in the 93rd percentile, per CBB Analytics. Over 18 percent of Houston’s points this season have come via second-chance opportunities (93rd percentile). Houston sends numbers to the glass and its two centers — JoJo Tugler (14.4 percent offensive rebound rate) and Ja’Vier Francis (15.2 percent offensive rebound rate) — are two of the best offensive rebounders in the country.

Houston’s starting lineup — Milos Uzan, LJ Cryer, Emanuel Sharp, J’Wan Roberts, and Tugler — has a +173 scoring differential over 315 minutes, translating to +37.4 points per 100 possessions. With this group on the floor, the Cougars boast a 39.1 percent offensive rebound rate and a low turnover rate of just 12.0 percent.

Despite the commitment to pounding the glass, the Cougars thread the needle as a team that’s both elite at offensive rebounding and transition defense. Houston allows just 6.5 fast-break points per game (95th percentile), according to CBB Analytics.

That number is influenced by the offense’s ball-control components. Houston puts a premium on taking care of the rock — as evidenced by a turnover rate of just 14.2 percent (No. 19). The top three ball handlers on this roster all have positive assist-to-turnover ratios, led Uzan, the team’s point guard, at 3.1-to-1.

Package it together — the offensive rebounds and turnover avoidance — and this is an offense that’s built to win the possession game. Whereas an offense like Alabama wants to tilt the numbers in its favor with pace, an avalanche of rim attempts and kick-out 3-pointers, Houston’s math is predicated on winning this battle.

Houston’s offense averages 59.3 field goal attempts per game, while opponents average just 51.3 against the Cougars’ defense. That’s a significant delta, with Houston attempting, on average, eight more shots per game than its opponents.

When Houston’s offense is clicking, it creates a flywheel effect, forcing opponents to take the ball out of the net and play against the No. 1 defense in the half court.

How do they get it done?

Houston’s offense operates with ruthless efficiency. The Cougars rely heavily on pick-and-roll sets, with plenty of post-ups as well. This style generates a lot of midrange shots, while also keeping the ball in the hands of the team’s top playmakers, creating positional mismatches and forcing the defense to defend multiple actions deep into the shot clock.

This is a high-volume midrange shooting team. According to CBB Analytics, only 20.2 percent of Houston’s field goal attempts this season have come at the rim (No. 363) — just 12.0 rim field goal attempts per game (No. 358). Those numbers have dropped even lower in four NCAA Tournament games: 16.5 percent of Houston’s shot attempts (10.5 FGA per game) have been at the rim. On the flip side, 45.2 percent of Houston’s shots this season have been 2-point attempts from outside of the restricted area.

Houston’s offense averages 19.6 seconds per possession, one of the slowest tempos in the country (No. 347). However, the Cougars are efficient and play at ease in these late-clock scenarios, shooting 67.7 percent at the rim and 37.0 percent on above-the-break 3-point attempts with 10 or fewer seconds remaining on the shot clock, per CBB Analytics.

Let’s touch on a few of the team’s go-to pick-and-roll and post-up sets.

Thru

Houston runs a lot of ball screen actions out of its “Thru” series. This play involves the primary ball handler — Uzan (7), in this case — passing the ball to one wing and cutting through the middle of the floor to the opposite wing.

When Uzan is positioned on the opposite wing, the ball will be swung his way, and Tugler (11) or another big will step up to set a ball screen. Houston will then run its offense from there.

On this possession vs. Baylor, Uzan passes left and cuts through to the right. He receives a pass from Terrance Arceneaux (23) and Tugler runs out to set the ball screen. Baylor defends the action with center Norchad Omier (15) below the level of the screen, while guard VJ Edgecombe (7) goes under and then fights over, following a re-screen. With 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Uzan swings to Cryer (4) and Tugler lifts to set his third ball screen of the possession. Baylor switches this action, placing the smaller Edgecombe on Tugler (6-8, 230), who immediately seals in the post and scores 1-on-1.

Here’s the same setup at Baylor. One of Houston’s assistant coaches signals in the play by holding a whiteboard up with “Thru” written on it. This time, it’s Mylik Wilson’s (8) turn to run the action. Wilson passes to Cryer on the left wing and cuts right. Acrceneaux pops out and helps rotate the ball from Cryer back to Wilson. Tugler again lifts up and sets the ball screen for Wilson. Omier starts near the level of Tugler’s screen, but when Houston’s center dives to the rim, Omier must sink into the paint. Wilson has daylight and gets to his midrange jumper.

It’s the same action later in the game — now with Uzan running it to the opposite side of the floor. Omier is in drop coverage this time, and Uzan uses the space to get to an off-dribble runner.

Houston’s reliance on midrange shots means the Cougars don’t get to the free throw line much, ranking No. 327 nationally with a free throw attempt rate of just 27.4 percent. Statistically, this contributes to the team’s high number of field goal attempts, which is significant when considering their strategy of dominating the possession battle.

An offense this reliant on dribbling — through pick-and-rolls and post play — is built to limit turnovers. Fewer passes mean fewer chances for mistakes, at least in theory. When a player takes a shot from 12-18 feet, they avoid turnovers and also create an opportunity for an offensive rebound if there’s a miss. The result is more field goal attempts and fewer free throws.

Pop

A key set for Houston to run offense through Cryer is its “Pop” action. The play starts with Uzan initiating and Cryer off the ball in the middle of the floor, with the 5 positioned underneath him. Cryer will pick a side and pop out in that direction, with the help of a brush screen from the 5. The 5 will then follow Cryer and set a wing ball screen. Meanwhile, the other two players will clear to the opposite side of the floor, creating extra space for Cryer.

Cryer pops to the right here against Tennessee. Francis (5) jumps out to set a ball screen for Cryer. Wilson and Arceneaux cut to the left side of the floor. With Francis clearing room for Cryer on this ball screen opportunity, Houston generates an open off-dribble 3-point attempt. Cryer misses the jumper, but Arceneaux slides in and scoops up the offensive rebound. During the reset, Cryer has Tennessee’s center cross-matched on him. He patiently goes to work and scores with under 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

Houston will also catch opposing defenses sleeping with this Pop action and steal quick-hitting 3-point looks for Cryer.

On this possession against Baylor, Cryer pops out to the left wing. Tugler separates Jeremy Roach (3) from Cryer with his brush screen. When the veteran guard catches the ball on the wing, he’s already open; there’s no need to wait for another pick from Tugler.

Empty Side / Two-Man Action

The chemistry of Houston’s offense is on display when the Cougars clear out a side of the floor and run two-man action. This is simple half-court offense executed with a purpose and connectivity.

Tugler and Roberts are bruisers, but they’re both skilled with the ball, too. They play with good feel and patience in these empty-side actions, constantly re-screening for the ball handler and working as release valves at the elbow or on the short roll.

For example: as Houston empties out the left side of the floor for Uzan, Tugler’s first screen comes out on the left wing with 19 seconds left on the shot clock. Purdue center Trey Kauffman-Renn (4) is up at the level of the screen as Uzan dribbles right, inching closer to the basket, and Tugler pops toward the left corner. Tugler will set a second screen for Uzan near the left break, a step inside the arc, with about 15 seconds left on the shot clock.

After that, Uzan passes to Tugler, who is wide open near the left elbow. Tugler (3-of-11 3PA this season) is not a shooter, so Purdue is content to let him hold the ball in space. However, Houston knows how to capitalize: Uzan and Tugler quickly transition into a dribble handoff (DHO), allowing Uzan to regain the ball at the elbow. In just 10 seconds and with a third screen set, Uzan has moved the ball from deep on the left wing to the elbow.

Uzan misses the short jumper, but Sharp (21) flies in for the tap-out offensive rebound, which turns into an open 3-ball for Uzan.

After an offensive rebound against Gonzaga, Houston transitions smoothly into empty-side action between Cryer and Tugler. The Bulldogs send two defenders to the ball, leaving Tugler open on the short roll. Cryer delivers a pocket pass to Tugler, setting up a de facto give-and-go. Tugler’s feel for the game is on full display as he quickly touch passes the ball back to Cryer with his left hand for the jumper.

Roberts (13) isn’t much of a 3-point shooter, but he can still be a useful kick-out target when defenses want to put two defenders on the ball against Houston’s empty-side actions. Gonzaga has a pretty extreme approach to defending Roberts off the ball here while Uzan and Tugler run empty-corner action on the right side. With Roberts above the arc in the left slot, Gonzaga power forward Braden Huff (34) is sunk all the way back in the paint — with a foot on the restricted circle.

Huff’s presence in the paint allows Gonzaga to commit two defenders to Uzan and still have someone to help in the paint as Tugler rolls to the rim. However, this leaves Roberts wide open as an outlet option. Roberts has made zero 3-pointers in 170 college games, but he’s skilled and strong. He attacks the space, gets deep into the paint and tosses in a lefty hook shot.

Roberts (50.5 2P%) has really nice touch around the basket, and he uses that to unleash a plethora of crafty finishes: push shots, runners and hooks.

Iverson

Another go-to series for Cryer is Houston’s “Iverson” action. This starts with Cryer, or one of the other guards, cutting across the top of the formation with screens at the two elbows from the 5 and the 4: Tugler and Arceneaux, respectively.

As soon as Cryer clears to the left wing, Wilson will kick the ball in his direction and Tugler will follow with a chase ball screen.

Here, Tennessee puts two defenders on the ball with center Felix Okapra (34) hard hedging Tugler’s screen. Cryer is able to squeeze a pass into Tugler on the roll, but Tennessee’s defense flies around and makes things tough. As Tugler attempts a layup, Okpara recovers and block it off the backboard. Still, Houston is able to generate a rim attempt for a good finisher off the action.

I’m curious to see what type of pick-and-roll coverage Duke goes with to start against Houston. My guess is that they start in drop, with Khaman Maluach below the level of the screen, though that could gift some space in the midrange to an offense that’s accustomed to taking those shots.

Alternatively, Duke could have Maluach switch out on some of those ball screen action. This, however, would leave Duke a little exposed on the defensive glass against an elite offensive rebounding team — with Maluach spaced out on a guard. There’s some risk involved with that approach.

Similar to the “Pop” action, if Cryer exits the Iverson screens and is open, he has the green light to just let it fly. There’s no need to wait for Tugler’s ball screen: go make a play.

On this possession, Robert Wright (1) gets stuck on the Iverson screens from Roberts and Tugler, creating an open catch-and-shoot triple for Cryer.

Whomever from Duke takes the primary assignment on Cryer — my guess would be Tyrese Proctor, with Sion James on Uzan and Kon Knueppel on Sharp, though there will be plenty of switching between that trio — must be ready to lock in and trail against these types of screening patterns.

Strong Swing

In terms of the team’s playmaking apparatus, there’s exceptional balance throughout the lineup. Within the rotation, the five highest-usage players have usage rates between 20.0 percent and 22.1 percent. That said, there’s still some hierarchy to things. Uzan is the team’s primary ball handler and initiator (20.3 percent usage rate, 26.8 percent assist rate). Cryer leads Houston in both usage rate (22.1 percent) and field goal attempts (24.5 FGA per 100 possessions). Sharp (20.1 percent usage), on the other hand, is further down the pecking order for Houston, though he still has plenty of opportunities and is an excellent offensive player.

Sharp (41.5% 3P), like Cryer (41.9% 3P), is a quick-trigger shooter with deep range and also a powerful driver. One of the ways Houston taps into Sharp as downhill slasher is with a play that I refer to as “Strong Swing.”

The play starts with Cryer stationed in the far corner and Houston’s bigs positioned to set staggered screens (“Strong”) for him. Uzan will keep his eyes focused in the direction of Cryer, selling to the defense that he plans to pass him the ball as he comes off the staggered down screens. On the other side of the floor, Sharp chills on the wing.

This staggered look is just a decoy, though. With the defense focused on Cryer, Uzan quickly swings the ball to his right, allowing Sharp to attack an unsuspecting defense. In this instance, Houston runs the play coming out of a timeout against Arizona, leading to a Sharp bucket.

(At the risk of rehashing old stuff…man, the court for the Big 12 Tournament was just atrocious. Look at that thing! What a mess!)

From the Elite Eight win over Tennessee: the Cougars run more “Strong Swing” action, again coming after a timeout. Houston looks ready to run Wilson off the staggered screens on the left side of the floor — just as Uzan swings to Sharp, who gets to work 1-on-1 against Justin Gainey (11).

During the win over Gonzaga, Houston repeatedly found ways to target point guard Ryan Nembhard (0), Gonzaga’s smallest defender. Nembhard (6-0, 180) holds his space here, but Sharp still manages to generate points.

It’s more of a challenge to find a weak spot in Duke’s perimeter defense. The Blue Devils don’t have anyone in their rotation that’s the size of Nembhard. However, this type of quick-hitter is something Houston could try against Knueppel, seeing if he’s ready to slide laterally in space against a talent like Sharp.

Pistol

In general, Houston’s offense features a lot of guard-guard screening actions. These can off of of designed set or within the flow off the offense, as its reading and reacting. One of the primary ways Houston presents these guard-guard screens is with its “Pistol” action.

Many college teams use Pistol action more situationally — typically for end-of-half possessions or as a late-game hurry-up offense. Drawing from his NBA experience, where Pistol is a standard early-offense set, Sampson incorporates it regularly. He uses it not only to initiate Houston's offense but also as a way to attack weaker perimeter defenders.

In fact, here’s the very first play of the game against Arizona in the Big 12 Championship: Houston will go after guard Anthony Dell’Orso (3), Arizona’s most efficient 3-point shooter but also the weakest perimeter defender in the rotation. Uzan initiates on the right and Sharp lifts to the wing to set the guard-guard Pistol screen, with Dell’Orso defending him. As Uzan dribbles to his right off of the screen, Arizona doesn’t want to switch Dell’Orso onto Uzan, gifting Houston a mismatch to attack just 10 seconds into the game. However, Arizona’s approach of asking Dell’Orso to show on Uzan — sticking with Houston’s point guard for a dribble or two — and then recover back to Sharp doesn’t work either.

Duke will switch these actions, but those switches need to be tight. If Sharp has space off the catch, he can let it rip.

Houston will also run the initial Pistol action, then follow the guard-guard screen with a run-out ball screen from either the 5 or the 4, which we’ll refer to as "Pistol Chase" action.

Wilson sets the Pistol screen for Uzan to start this play, followed by an empty-corner ball screen from Roberts. Gonzaga hedges the second screen and that launches second-side action from Houston: Uzan swings to Wilson on the left wing and Cryer lifts up to run another guard-guard screen. Eventually, the ball works its way back to Cryer for a late-clock 3.

The Cougars will also invert this action and let Roberts, the 4, run things as a point forward, with a guard setting the screen. This is “Pistol 4” action and it’s a way for Roberts to either get a switch against a smaller defender or force the defense to sink and recover, which creates space for him to get into Barkley-style post-up drives.

Roberts initiates here against Baylor and Cryer sets the early-offense inverted Pistol screen. Wright stays out of the switch, but Langston Love (13) goes under the screen and recovers back to Roberts. By that point, though, Roberts has a momentum going toward the basket and space to operate in. Roberts displaces Love, pushing the defender into the basket and finishing deep in the paint.

Here’s Roberts initiating Pistol 4 against Gonzaga — targeting Nembhard once more. The Bulldogs want to avoid switching their point guard onto a low-post bully like Roberts. Graham Ike (13) tries to sink and stay in front of Roberts, but his retreat to the paint clears a runway. The Houston forward is able to gather steam and drive into space — untouched by a defender until he has two feet in the lane.

Once again, Duke would likely be willing to switch on these actions. James, Knueppel and Proctor are all willing to bang and defend in the post against a switch. However, if one of those guys is in foul trouble, this is a way for Houston to pick at that concern.

Horns Zoom

Houston runs a lot of different stuff out of its Horns set — positioning two shooters in the corners and two frontcourt players at the elbows. One of the primary reads out of this setup is “Horns Zoom” action.

The play starts with Uzan entering the ball to one of the post players at the elbow. Uzan will then cut to a side of the floor and set staggered down screens for the player coming out of that corner. In this case, that’s Uzan and Roberts screening for Cryer. As Cryer exits the down screens, he runs right into a DHO with Tugler, thus creating the Zoom action: a pindown into a DHO.

On this play, Cryer gets to run off of three screens before turning the corner to drive downhill. Tennessee puts two defenders on the ball against Cryer, leaving Tugler open on the roll.

Here’s a similar setup against Gonzaga. This time, though, Tugler fakes the DHO to Cryer as Wilson wheels back up and goes into the handoff action. The Zags defend this pretty well, but Sharp is able to make another play late in the clock.

Floppy - Post-ups

Finally, let’s take a look at Houston’s “Floppy” action. The possession will start with Houston’s two best shooters — Cryer and Sharp — positioned in the middle of the floor, under the basket. On opposite sides of the lane, Tugler and Roberts will set down screens — one for Cryer and the other for Sharp. Cryer cuts to the wing on the right side of the floor, working off the down screen from Roberts.

Baylor switches most actions 1-5, which is why Love ends up guarding Cryer, preventing a potential catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. The tradeoff with this approach is that it forces Wright to switch onto Roberts, giving him the opportunity to isolate and exploit his advantage in the post.

Duke will have to think about if and when it wants to switch these down screen actions when Flagg is involved, especially if it means placing Proctor or Caleb Foster onto Roberts. The Blue Devils could try lineups that feature Flagg and Mason Gillis together at the 3 and 4, alongside a center. Duke is still very switchy in those lineups, but they have a little more bulk to throw at a team that play two true big guys.

The Blue Devils have lost just once since late November, falling 77-71 on the road at Clemson. That performance was Duke’s second worst all season in terms of defensive efficiency: allowing 123.1 points per 100 possessions.

While there isn’t much overlap between the two clubs, Clemson, like Houston, played the majority of its minutes with two bigs on the floor, all of whom can score in the post and bang on the glass.

Brad Brownell’s teams always run a lot of hi-lo action. This season, including the matchup against Duke, was no different. When the Tigers generated a switch — as happens here with Isaiah Evans switching to Ian Schieffelin (4) from Clemson’s “Secondary Dribble” action — they would quickly snap into hi-lo action and target the post.

Flagg can pretty much everything well on the basketball court, but one matchup type that’s given him some trouble defensively this season has been dealing with veteran low-post brutes. There are all kinds of advantages Duke gains from using Flagg as a game-wrecking playmaker at the 4; however, it’ll occasionally leave him on island against a low-post threat that has a weight advantage on him, like the 240-pound Schieffelin.

Off this “Zipper'“ action, Clemson dumps the ball into Schieffelin in the post and lets him go 1-on-1 against Flagg. Schieffelin backs Flagg down into the paint and hits Viktor Lakhin (0) with a touch pass when Maluach eventually helps over.

One day, not too long from now, Flagg will be strong enough to hold his ground in these situations. However, he’s not quite there yet in terms of his strength development.

Now, if an offense wants to break from its normal flow to go 1-on-1 against Flagg, Duke may happily invite that opportunity. However, Houston is vicious with its willingness to attack matchups, and the Cougars may see this as a way to take the 23-year-old, 235-pound Roberts and have him inflict some body blows on Duke’s primary offensive hub.

Later in the matchup at Clemson, Duke toggled its defensive matchups some, including this possession, placing Flagg on Chauncey Wiggins (7) and sticking Knueppel on the bulkier Schieffelin. Clemson runs “Weave” action and flows right into more hi-lo: Schieffelin seals Knueppel and Lakhin, with Maluach lifted, threads in the entry pass.

When Duke has the ball

Of course, the lifeblood of Houston’s program is its commitment to the defensive side of the floor. With the Tony Bennett era officially over at Virginia, Houston has become the sport’s premier defensive program. Sampson prints Top 5-10 defenses each and every season. This is a finely-tuned machine, one that blends old-school toughness with high-end scheme execution and a steady hum of ball pressure.

The defense is also a primary source for Houston’s possession game, due to its ability to create havoc: turnovers, steals and blocks. Houston has forced a turnover on 21.2 percent of its defensive possession this season, which would make it the fourth year in a row that the Cougars have finished above the 21.0 percent benchmark.

Houston ranks No. 5 nationally with a block rate of 15.7 percent and No. 28 nationally with a steal rate of 12.4 percent. Add it up: Houston’s defense has recorded a block or a steal on 28 percent of its possessions this season. While Houston’s offense is finding ways to create extra possessions, the defense is deleting those opportunities for opponents. It’s a nasty 1-2 punch.

Tugler is the leader here. He’s a special defender at the 5-spot, averaging a combined 5.2 blocks and steals per 40 minutes. Tugler covers a ton of ground, too, and he’ll shift from hedging against a ball screen to flying in with a weak-side block at the rim in a matter of seconds.

On this possession against Purdue, Tugler hedges a ball screen against Braden Smith (3), recovers back to the paint to help contain multiple drives and then bags a steal when Kauffman-Renn tries to drive to the basket.

Despite giving up a lot of 3-point attempts — 43.7 percent of the shots against Houston’s defense have come from beyond the arc — the Cougars rank second nationally in opponent effective field goal percentage (44.8 eFG%).

The Cougars are only a so-so defensive rebounding team. They rank just 243rd nationally in weighted average height, per KenPom. Houston’s pressure-packed scheme also asks its 4s and 5s to cover a lot of ground while defending ball screens, often positioning them 20+ feet from the rim, which can leave them a little exposed when shots go up. That said, Sampson and his staff can live with that tradeoff if it comes with the requisite amount of defensive havoc and turnover creation.

Cutting Hedge Technology

It’s tough to put a precise label on Houston’s approach to guarding ball screens. They exist in a bucket unto themselves. Houston will put two defenders on the ball and ask its centers to hard hedge or blitz ball screens. The Cougars will also look to put two defenders on the ball against off-ball screening actions and post-ups. If there are opportunities for them to apply pressure, they’re taking full advantage.

This pressure really bothered Duke’s half-court offense during the Sweet 16 last year, with point guard Jamal Shead (before his injury) flying around. Duke finished the 2023-24 season with a low turnover rate of just 14.4 percent, but in the Houston game, the Blue Devils coughed the ball up on 25 percent of their possessions.

Houston isn’t hard hedging ball screen just to route the ball handler away from the rim. They want to force turnovers. So, a point of emphasis for the guard defenders in these situations is to jump into the air and disrupt a pass attempt from the ball handler who is trying to get the ball out to an open teammate.

With Sharp jumping with two hands raised, like he’s trying to block a field goal attempt in football, Edgecombe must put extra air under the ball. As a result, his skip pass sails out of bounds. Edgecombe is a special talent, but he struggled in ball screens against Houston’s trap this season.

Nembhard is an outstanding pass-first point guard and he played well against Houston in the Round of 32: 10 points and 11 assists. He also record five turnovers. Gonzaga’s pick-and-roll attack never quite found consistent traction against Houston.

Shead was amazing at doing this tactic while at Houston. So, too, was Virginia’s Reece Beekman during his time in Charlottesville.

When ball handlers are working against a hard hedge/blitz like this, they should want to make decisions quickly. In theory, they’ve already done their job pulling two defenders to them, which creates 4-on-3 situations on the back side. By jumping into the passing vision of the offensive player, Houston’s guards pray on the need to get the ball out. This can create deflections (and turnovers), force awkward passes and buy a little bit of extra time for the rotating defenders to cycle around the floor.

Switch Behind

Another wrinkle for Houston’s defense when hedging ball screens is to have its bigs switch behind the play and X-out. This takes place when one of the bigs is hedging the ball screen and the screener pops out. The other frontcourt defender will switch out to that open player on the pop. When the ball is passed, the big man defender hedging the screen will recover back to the other offensive post player.

Gonzaga runs an early ball screen here with Khalif Battle (99) and Huff, with Roberts hedging the screen and Uzan on the ball and jumping into the air. Tugler, who is initially assigned to Ike, will switch out to Huff on the left wing.

Sharp will zone up on the back side and buy time for Roberts to switch and recover back to Ike. This twist gave Gonzaga troubles as the Bulldogs dug an early hole.

Here’s the same maneuver against Purdue: Tugler hedges the ball screen, Roberts slides over and switches to Kauffman-Renn on the roll and, after the hedge, Tugler will switch to Caleb Furst (1).

Short Roll Counter

With Houston committing two defenders to the ball against the pick-and-roll, the offense should have the option to play through the short roll — quick outlet passes to the screener who has slide into open space. These types of 4-on-3 opportunities against Houston’s defense must be capitalized on.

Ike lifts here to set the ball screen for Nembhard, which Francis hedges out on. This leaves Ike open in the middle of the floor. With Michael Ajayi (1) spaced to the right corner, there’s too much ground for Arceneaux to cover on a switch — putting the onus on Francis to hedge and recover back.

Outside of Ike’s patience and poise finishing on the short roll, one of the things I really like from Gonzaga here is the use of “Ram” action — a quick screen-the-screener action with Dusty Stormer (4) setting a screen on Francis before Ike goes to set the ball screen for Nembhard. This screen from Stormer allows Ike to get a small bit of separation from Francis ahead of his pick for Nembhard.

That may seem small, but against a defense that wants to aggressively trap ball screens, it can make a difference. Every second counts.

Players who catch the ball and attack on the short roll against Houston must be prepared for a wave of pressure coming from behind them. The recovering defenders will sprint back to these pockets of space as the offensive player tries to attack the second line of defense. Tugler recovers to Omier on the short roll here and influences a turnover.

Maluach isn’t much of threat at this stage of his development as a short roll target. He does his damage above the rim, which is what makes him such a dangerous lob threat when Duke’s guards can get downhill against drop coverage.

Maliq Brown and Patrick Ngongba, however, are both powerful short roll playmakers. There likely won’t be too many of these opportunities, but when these situations are presented, it’s imperative that Duke’s backup bigs make good decisions with the ball — now against the best defense they’ve seen all season.

Flagg is outstanding on the short roll as well, though I could see Houston switching screening actions involving Flagg, allowing Roberts or Arceneaux to handle Duke’s guards and stay out of rotation.

Shorting It

Another counter for this type of pressure from Houston is what’s known as “Short” action. I think of it as almost a three-person pick-and-roll, involving a cut along the perimeter or a flash to the elbow for a connective passer. Instead of the ball handler that’s using the screen throwing a pass to the player on the roll, it’ll be a third player on the wing or at the elbow.

Tennessee runs drag pick-and-roll here with Zakai Zeigler (5) and Okpara. Francis hedge to ball screen. Similar to Maluach, Okpara is a nice pick-and-roll 5, but he isn’t a threat to catch the ball on the short roll, dribble into traffic and make a play. Tennessee wants him rolling all the way to the rim. To get him the ball where he’s best suited, Tennessee must take the scenic route: Zeigler will pass the ball to Darlinstone Dubar (8) on the wing, and now the Vols are set up for "Short” action.

As soon as Dubar has the ball, the back three defenders for Houston are in motion. Arceneaux must rotate up to defend Dubar on the wing. Sharp leaves the paint to attend to Gainey, a good shooter, in the left corner. Uzan, stationed on the weak-side wing, is the low-man helper now; he must be prepared to help in the paint on Okpara’s roll or be ready for a skip pass to Chaz Lanier (2) in the right corner.

Dubar, however, is ready for these rotations. As Okpara continues to dive at the rim, Dubar looks diagonal and — without hesitation — snaps in a perfect line-drive pass, just ahead of Uzan rotating down.

Houston makes it tough to get to the rim, so this type of tic-tac-toe passing is exactly what an offense needs to ping the ball around and stay ahead of the rotations.

Arizona is able to get a similar look here as former Tar Heel Caleb Love (2) works in the “Short” action to connect with future Tar Heel Henri Veesaar (13).

Notre Dame hedged a lot of ball screens this season. One of the ways Duke attacked Notre Dame with this type of “Short” action.

To start the second half, Tae Davis (7) and Braeden Shrewsberry (11) get caught between a switch and a hedge, letting Maluach comes off free as Knueppel dribble over the pick. As one might expect, Flagg is the connective tissue — flashing to the right elbow, taking one dribble, pulling in help defenders and hitting Maluach in the dunker spot.

There’s obviously no defense in the ACC quite like Houston, though a team like Wake Forest, which also hedged ball screens as its base defense this season, is probably the closest facsimile. Duke tried some stuff similar to “Short” action against the Demon Deacons.

As Protor and Maluach run pick-and-roll on the left wing, Efton Reid (4) hard hedges out. Maluach will dive to the rim and Flagg, on the weak-side, will lift up to the right slot. Proctor swings it to Flagg, who takes a peak at Maluach on the roll as soon as he receives the pass. With Reid back and in front of Maluach, Flagg opts to slash downhill against a bent defense.

Down Screens

Duke runs a lot of motion offense — filled with off-ball screening actions and featuring a collection of talented movement shooters: Knueppel, Proctor and Evans. Houston likes to hedge down screen actions, too, and during the matchup with Tennessee, the Cougars teed off on Lanier, ensuring that the Vols’ best shooter saw little-to-no airspace.

On the first possession of the game, Tennessee runs “Floppy” action for Lanier, curling to the right side of the floor. As soon as he catches the ball coming off the screen, three Houston defenders are in his lap: Tugler showing on the down screen, Sharp fighting over the top and Uzan sliding down and “jumping to the ball” from the top of the key.

Lanier probes with his dribble, but he ultimately settles for a pull-up 2-point attempt, which he airballs. With Houston committing this many resources to him throughout the game, Lanier had one of his least-efficient performances of the season.

Houston may not be able to funnel this much defensive attention to one Duke shooter throughout the course of the game, given how much shooting, cutting and connective passing this team has at its disposal.

Tennessee was able to work off the attention given to Lanier by having the player setting the down screen slip to the basket. Igor Milicic (7) sets a flare screen followed by a re-screen pindown for Lanier on this sideline out-of-bounds play. As Milicic starts to set the down screen, though, he slips out toward the rim — with Tugler being pulled out to the arc by Lanier.

Post Doubles

Houston’s pressure extends to their post defense. The Cougars went to trap to the ball when its in the post, too. Houston will use single coverage against post-ups if an offense proves that it can beat a double team with its passing. Short of that, this defense is putting two on the ball and the help defenders are looking to be in gaps for interceptions.

Duke isn’t a high-volume post-up offense this season. Flagg is their best post-up target; Knueppel and James will get the occasional post touch against a smaller guard, which could be on the menu against Houston’s backcourt. Ngongba will, every now and then, get to work on the low block, though he’s used far more frequently as a high-post passing hub. Regardless, if and when Duke looks to enter the ball into the post, they must be ready for these types of traps.