For much of their exhibition schedule, where they were playing games preparing for EuroBasket, Spain has been crushing the opposition going 3-0 and winning all their games by double digits (beating France by 24, beating Lithuania by 12, and then beating Bulgaria by an amazing 37 points).  Maybe it was because of their offensive dominance, or maybe it was because the games weren’t close, but but Spain’s problems with the pick and roll definitely went unnoticed (and it was definitely a problem in the first three games, even Bulgaria, who again lost by 37, were getting looks out of the pick and roll).

It went unnoticed until Lithuania, who played Spain for a second time on Thursday, were able to use the pick and roll to power a 12 point win.  Lithuania, who had trouble getting into their offense the first game, found things much easier the second time around, and that was because they used the pick and roll more.  So what’s the problem with Spain’s pick and roll defense?  Well, when the ball handler uses a screen, the defender covering the screener (usually either Pau Gasol/Marc Gasol/Serge Ibaka) showed on the hedge, but he did so very softly, waiting for the original defender covering the ball handler to get over the screen:

Look at how far off Pau Gasol is playing in this example.  He is basically showing in hopes of dissuading the ball handler from attacking the rim until his defender from going over the screen.  However, what this soft hedge does is it actually gives the offensive player the advantage in this situation.  This is because now he has space and options.  One option is he can attack the big, who is flat footed, by using the space given to get a running start at him, which is exactly what happens in the situation shown above:

Here, Bulgaria’s ball handler comes off of the screen, sees the space, and goes right at Pau Gasol, catching him flat footed and gets to the rim before he is able to contest the shot.  It isn’t all about the ball handler getting to the rim.  Spain’s soft hedges (combined with the ball handler going over the screen) also gives the ball handler space to pull up for a jumper if he chooses:

Here, the ball handler uses the screen and takes a hard dribble right at Gasol, who is hedging softly.  Gasol takes another step back anticipating penetration, and when that happens, the ball handler is able to pull up for the jumper.

Lithuania saw this defense first hand. And what did they do the next time they played Spain? They ran a steady diet of pick and rolls, allowing them to get the ball handler to the rim:

Hitting the roll man:

And using the pick and roll to get in their offense and attack the wings on the kick:

Lithuania’s guards aren’t very good, in fact far from it (I would say Lithuania’s biggest weakness is at point guard), and they were able to pick Spain apart, getting to the rim, dumping it to the roll man, knocking down jumpers (that weren’t shown), and creating offense out of it.  If Lithuania can do it, other teams are definitely going to be able to take advantage (imagine Hedo Turkoglu of Turkey working with this space or even Ukraine’s Steve Burtt – who is very good in the pick and roll – working with this space).

If I was getting ready to play Spain, I’d be working on my pick and roll offense, especially using whoever the Gasols are covering as the screen man.  That might be the one hole Spain has and it might be your only chance to beat the EuroBasket favorites.