We’re spotlighting a key defensive X-factor: the “X-Out” rotation and its role in supporting the ballscreen coverage. While the concept itself isn’t new, a trend we’re noticing is the subtle shift in positioning to invite the corner skip pass—triggering the X-Out as a planned response, rather than a scramble.
In a perfect world, a defense would only need minimal help on a ballscreen, relying solely on the two defenders involved to neutralize the action. But in today’s game, where guards are more skilled than ever and offensive systems more complex, staying in a shell for an entire possession is nearly impossible. (Though if your team can pull that off, we’d love to have you on the podcast!)
What we’re seeing now is a shift from reactive to proactive coverages, not just in terms of the coverage on the ball but in how teams are positioning their help and tags around the ballscreen, dictating more than ever where the ball can go during the PNR. Through precise body positioning, clean rotations, and sharp hip angles, defenders are limiting the ballhandler’s kick-out options.
The result? A more predictable offense, and a predictable offense is far easier to counter.
Let’s get into it.
X-Out Positioning
In a two-side tag situation (when the ball is going away from the two-man side) teams are commonly sending the low man to provide early, aggressive help all the way to the midline. This allows the tag defender to fully engage the roller and hold their ground, knowing they are not responsible for the first pass out of the pick and roll.
The top defender, meanwhile, slides to the elbow and flips their hips to be parallel with the sideline, a key detail in the coverage. With the low man committed to the roller, the top defender is now tasked with “splitting two.” Their priority being to position themself on a line between the corner shooter and the ball, forcing any skip pass to be floated, not fired.
Zooming In: Notice the defender’s foot and hip angle. This stance allows the X-Out defender to better track the ballhandler and orientate themselves between the ball and the corner. Opening up to maintain vision on the ball enables a quicker reaction to the pass on the flight.
X-Out Execution
Few things scramble a defense more than a two-way closeout (when a defender first closes out to the ball or a cutter, then has to recover back to their own man) or when multiple defenders fly out at the same shooter after a kick-out. These breakdowns often stem from help coming from multiple positions, leading to confusion and overlapping responsibilities…
While not impossible, see our breakdown on Coach Legname’s PNR Coverage {🔒}, the high level of sophistication and length behind tasking both players to control the roll can leave either defender vulnerable to getting caught in a two-way closeout if their timing is not right and both players facing long closeouts on any pass out of the ballscreen.
As offenses become increasingly adept at moving the ball out against aggressive coverages, defenses are adapting by clarifying responsibilities and shortening rotations by stressing the X-Out defender get early to the elbow, putting them in the best position to deter corner skips and/or arrive on the catch.
Zooming In: Corner skips off a high PNR have challenged defenses for decades, but can become much more manageable when the defense anticipates it as the most likely option, and, crucially, is positioned to adjust and rotate accordingly. Watch as the moment the ballhandler gets to two feet and loads up to make a pass, the elbow defender immediately starts working his way to the corner. Sure, some of this is reading the eyes of the passer as well as his mechanics, but this is also a calculated maneuver based on what the defensive structure is allowing. This early movement to get to the elbow allows him to make an aggressive play on the ball and arrive on the catch and take away the middle drive.
Slight Tangent but Relevant: This type of backside movement by the elbow defender is very similar to the backside rotations of what makes Joe Gallo’s 2-3 Zone at Merrimack so lethal. As we discussed with him in our “Film Room Session” breaking down the zone rotations {🔒}, on an slot drive away from the top defenders (like above), the guards are taught to “not get their feet in the paint” and instead rotate to the backside elbow to read and steal in skip passes.
Returning back to today’s PNR X-Out rotations, on the flight of the pass, the low man immediately sprints back towards the wing to complete the X-Out, and can do this with confidence knowing that he only has one direction to go in this one-way closeout scenario. You’ll also see him initially closing out to the gap as opposed to his man, which deters both the quick extra pass as well as the middle drive. Here’s a look at that again…
This clip shows two players executing a perfect X-Out that also had a great deal of aggressiveness looking for deflections, another positive trait of this structure. The early low tag and the open stance of the top defender ensures that both players have full vision of the ball which puts them in position to read the action, make decisions, and be playmakers.
What can be an extremely challenging defensive rotation for a lot of teams is made much easier by this defensive positioning and creating a predictable X-Out scenario.
Holding The Line
Since the X-Out defender is functionally splitting two on the first pass, a common counter to this defense is the ballhandler stringing out the coverage and having an exaggerated fill behind.
In this scenario, the X-Out defender must hold the line, staying low enough to deter the pass to the corner before recovering out to the fill behind. If the defender chases the fill too early or too high, they open up a clean pass to the corner, making a true X-Out nearly impossible. The discipline to hold the line and trust their ability to close out to the fill behind is essential.
It’s worth noting that this two-side protection always pairs with an aggressive show on the ball as the primary coverage. Ideally, plays like these, where the ballhandler strings out the coverage and hits a simple fill, should be neutralized by the two defenders on the ball. If they do their job well, the coverage should contain the ball within the same third of the court the screen was set.
Adjusting The Line
With this X-Out positioning generally paired with an aggressive ballscreen coverage it is rare for the handler to get in deep, but if so (either on busted coverage or scout based) it is the responsibility of the elbow defender to adjust the line, or stay at the same level of the ball should it go below the free throw line…
Zooming In: As you can see, the defender is perfectly positioned at the elbow, but begins to drop the moment the ballhandler gets a step beyond the free throw line. With so much traffic in the lane a primary pass to the 45 is unlikely, and the X-Out can begin with the elbow defender dropping towards the elbow.
This defensive coverage shows how difficult rotations can be simplified through intentional positioning and clear assignments. By shrinking the number of viable passing options, especially on the backside, teams can create predictable outcomes that defenders are trained to anticipate and cover.
For much more on Ballscreen X-Outs SG+ Members can now enjoy this week’s newest deep dive on SGTV…
