Reading the Pick-and-Roll with Olivia Miles

A pick-and-roll forces the defense to answer a series of questions in a matter of seconds. That is what I have been paying attention to as I continue breaking down Olivia Miles’ game. The first read starts with the defender guarding her. Go under the screen and Miles may have room to stop behind it and shoot. Fight over the top and she can get a shoulder in front, keep the defender trailing and turn her attention to the big. Switch and the defense changes the matchup entirely, giving Miles a chance to attack the big, involve the screener again or move into another action before everyone is settled. Then comes the second layer. What is the big doing? In drop coverage, the big stays closer to the rim and tries to contain both Miles and the roller. That can leave space for a pull-up, floater or continued drive. If the big comes higher toward the level of the screen, the pressure reaches Miles earlier, but space can develop behind the coverage. If both defenders blitz her, the objective changes again. Get the ball out quickly enough and the offense can attack the remaining defenders with a numbers advantage. What I find interesting with Miles is how long she appears comfortable keeping several of those possibilities alive. She can turn the corner. She can slip a pocket pass between defenders. She can keep the dribble alive and wait for the weak-side defender to tag the roller, briefly stepping into the lane to help. That step may open the skip pass to the opposite side. None of those reads happen in isolation. The on-ball defender affects the big. The big affects the roller. The roller affects the weak-side help. By the time the open player becomes obvious, the best point guards have often been reading the sequence for several beats. That is what I would watch for with Miles. Where does the first defender end up after the screen? How high is the big? Who becomes the first help defender? And how long does Miles keep her options open before choosing? I recognize some of that tension in my own work. A problem can arrive with an obvious first answer. Acting immediately may solve it. It may also narrow the choices before we understand which constraint really matters. I have learned to value the extra read. Miss Mango currently has a different approach. Pick a direction with conviction and figure out the rest while moving. There is something to admire in both. With Miles, what looks like a simple pick-and-roll is often a sequence of decisions, and the real skill is understanding which answer the defense has already given you. #WNBA #LeadershipDevelopment