Basketball is a game of match-ups. Taking advantage of any mismatch can turn the tide in one team’s favor during the course of a game. In order to create the mismatches most NBA teams simply rely on a timeless classic, the pick-and-roll. In NBA 2k8, you can do this as well to take advantage of the mismatch the play creates.

The pick-and-roll has been around since the advent of dribbling. Using the play creates confusion and can ultimately lead to a mismatch or a wide-open offensive player. As the game of basketball advanced so did the pick-and-roll. Now we see the pick-and-slip and the pick-and-pop used extensively as well.

Your best pick-and-roll combinations usually involve a steady and sure ball handler along with a rugged finisher. For an example you need to look no further than the Utah Jazz of yesteryear. Skim the pages of a dictionary and when you get to pick-and-roll you will find that it’s basketball lexicon and the next thing you’ll notice is a picture of John Stockton and Karl Malone. Highlight reel after highlight reel show the clinic that the Hall of Famers put on using the pick-and-roll.

The pick-and-roll is not only effective in real life but the virtual hoops world also, especially for those with NBA 2k8. If you check the forums you can usually find at least one thread that has a frustrated user trying to figure out how to stop the pick-and-roll. It can be demoralizing and well as cheesy to continuously use the play to one’s advantage.

Setting the play up is easy. Start by bringing your ball handler down the floor toward the top of the key. Call for a screen to be set and run your defender off of the screener. Here is where having a concept of basketball fundamentals comes into play. As a coach, I always tell my ball handlers to never give up their dribble. We don’t pick up the ball until we are absolutely sure what we are going to do with it. Picking it up too soon can result in a trap. Dribbling too much can result in a passing lane closing. Ask any New York point guard, they will give up their gold and their girl before they give up their dribble!

Your options off the pick-and-roll become simple. If there is a switch on the screen then that means that a smaller defender is stuck trying to guard a bigger player. Attack the small player and give the ball to the big fella. However, if the passing lane is closed and you can’t get it inside then your ball handler should have a mismatch on the outside and can take it strong to the basket.

Another option comes if the defender guarding the ball handler goes underneath the screen. This will give a good jump shooter a chance to come off the screen and shoot a wide-open jump shot. If the defender goes over the top of the screen then the screener should be able to slip through the defenders and have a free path to the basket. That is of course if the screener rolls to the basket, as they should.

This simple play can wreak havoc on defenses. Look for teams with good ball handlers and decision makers first when choosing a team to utilize the pick-and-roll strategy. It also helps to have great finishers on the other end. Teams like New Orleans (Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler), Phoenix (Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire), San Antonio (Tony Parker and Tim Duncan) and Utah (Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer) are all great teams for deploying this timeless classic.

Next week we will take a look at defending the pick-and-roll.