Quick Hammer Plays
A quick hitter is a play that uses a brief number of passes, cuts, screens, or dribble actions to create one or more scoring opportunities. Their typical simplicity might not be effective against a team with solid defense fundamentals.
A hammer set occurs when a weak side player cuts to the nearby corner, usually with the help of a screen. It is generally difficult for the defense to productively guard the baseline attack on the strong side and the off-ball actions on the weak side. The weak side perimeter player is the real target of the set play.
QUICK 12 HAMMER. 1 gets a double screen as they drive to the baseline; 2 gets a back screen as they cut to the weak-side baseline. I frequently find 1 open for the pull-up 3pt. Otherwise, a skip pass to the 2 results in an open 3.
QUICK 12 HAMMER SNAP. A variation where double hammer screen helps the 2 cut to where the 1 started. The passing angle is much better. No skip pass needed. If the elbow 3pt is not there, then there’s room for some 2-5 PnR.
A twirl is a curl cut around a screen and an immediate entry to the screener after the cutter clears. The screener pops out to get the ball. A snap is similar to a twirl, except that the ball is thrown into the cutter curling into the post.
However, the QUICK 12 HAMMER SNAP doesn’t feature a pass to the post. What does “snap” mean in this context?
QUICK 14 HAMMER. 4 gets the hammer screen from the 2. Not getting good options on this; might be due to the 2 not being strong enough to screen a 4.
A Piston or Iverson cut is when a player cuts from one wing to the other off of the two players at the high post.
QUICK IVERSON 3 HAMMER. 3 makes an Iverson cut. Can take the 3pt; need user control otherwise the catch-and-shoot 3pt is from way deep. Hitting the 2 at the weak-side baseline is pretty hard to do, especially given that the 2 comes of a single screen.
The hammer set play is named after Darvin Ham (current Lakers head coach). Ham would run the play when he played for the Bucks under George Karl.
has a detailed account of a hammer set by LeBron’s Cavs.