Effectiveness of ball handler’s offensive movements in ball screen offense in European elite basketball teams

Abstract

Ball screen is an offensive movement with quite high frequency of occurrence in elite basketball games. The aim of the present study was to clarify tasks performed and their predictors of success or failure related to offensive movements by a ball handler, differences of offensive moves between groups, differences of offensive moves among seven countries. The sample was composed of 2069 ball screens from the Basketball Champions League (2016–2017). Evaluating the teams according to their final ranking, it was found that in the teams of the positions 1-4 the ball handler used a short shot, in the teams 5-8 choose lay-up, while in teams 9-12 used step jump shot and in the teams of the positions 13-16 the greater success observed in case of crossover lay-up. Correspondence analysis revealed that the ball handler in teams of Germany, Turkey, Italy, Lithuania and France uses lay-up and step jump shot with a greater success. Greece and Spain are not clustered together with the other countries. The first uses crossover lay-up and step back in its offenses, whereas the second prefers the short shots. Our findings highlight the philosophy in the way of playing of different countries, and simultaneously the way of unfolding the offense.