Breaking the Meta: The Power Forward Dilemma

 By: larson    10:57 PM     2 comments

If you have been playing any amount of Freestyle 2, you'll have noticed that the most popular high level comp is far and away PG/PF/PF. This post will go over why the comp is so powerful, and how to deal with it on both offense and defense.

Why it Works

Let's quickly go over why this comp is played so often and is so effective.

1. Insane defensive capabilities: two power forwards cover a lot of space. PGs are always disruptive and of course provide dive recovery.
2. Easy to create mismatches on offense: The PFs can spread the court, giving the PG free reign to fake pass layup. Alternatively, the PFs can simply drag the opposing PF/C out to give the other PF a manual dunk opportunity.
3. Great rebounding: The power of having two bigs.
4. Very simple to play: This is one of the easiest comps to play. The PFs do not require knowledge of any fancy keyboard inputs. With just basic game knowledge, this comp can be played almost optimally.  

In other words, this is a very simple to play team comp that has few weaknesses, which makes it perfect for a pick up game environment.

Scoring Against It

The only disadvantage PFs have defensively is that they are slightly slow. Though they can cover ground fairly well in a straight line, they are not great at getting back in front of someone after being beaten. So, you will want to focus on strategies that clear the paint.

PG: Look for opportunities created by fake pass combos. If your team can clear the paint (for example, have your rebounder screen for your scorer,) this is very tough for a Power Forward to deal with as they will have to make a choice between helping with the screen or defending the layup. By reacting appropriately, the PG has the unique, very spammable ability to create a good shot either for himself or a teammate.

SG: Move Screen Away, Quick Change, and V-Cut are your best friends. Be patient with Move Screen Away; if the PF is guarding you you will eventually be able to get free. Quick Change and V-Cut are more for quick displacement. You'll either use them to get behind a PF for a mid, or combo them together to gain a massive amount of ground for a 3.

SF: Same as above, but Hop Step, Hop Step, Hop Step. This ability is absolutely amazing against a PF when combined with other abilities. Do it enough and you will be able to force them to back off, which will in turn open up your Back Step as a potential option.

PF/C: If you're playing with an SG, set screens like a mad man. This has the effect of dragging out your defender, which will open the paint for both of your teammates. It's highly advised you take the SP Middle skill, so that you can flare out for an open mid in a pinch.

If you're playing with an SF, you can actually play pretty standard. The goal here will be to give them enough room to either be able to dribble forward for a midrange jumper or dump the ball off to you for a quick layup if your defender commits.

Defending Against It

This is likely the toughest part of dealing with this comp, as the scoring and rebounding is extremely reliable. In order to defend against this, you need to rely on two bits of knowledge:

1. PFs don't have quick jumper.
2. PFs don't inherently have 3 point defensive resist.

Funnily enough, a high level Center greatly trivializes dealing with this composition, as it greatly nullifies the power of having a PF simply drag out the rebounder. Thanks to chasedown/shadow block, skilled Cs can actually defend both PFs fairly well by simply playing loose man to man coverage.

Now assuming you either don't have a high level C or aren't running double big yourself, the goal will be to consistently rotate, with your rebounder generally guarding whoever is closest to the rim while your fastest player chases around whichever PF is farthest away.

The PG/PF/PF order of priority in what they'll do is generally as follows:

1. Create an open layup for the PG by spreading the floor.
2. Manual dunk against a mismatch (pretty much anything that isn't a PF/C)
3. Take a long range jumper, with the opposing rebounder defending the shot.
4. Dunk or layup on the opposing big.

Let's run through defending each of these options in sequence.

The PG Layup

The big problem is that it isn't always possible for the person defending the PG to stop the PG from getting to the rim. Also, because of how fast fake pass layups are, once the PG gets by, only a Center is capable of blocking them from behind. So, your big will inevitably have to come back to the paint in order to deal with a potential layup. When this happens, the person guarding the PG must IMMEDIATELY rotate to guard whichever PF is now free, otherwise you will give up a wide open 3. To fully recover, one more rotation will be needed in order to get your rebounder off of the opposing PG.

The Manual Dunk Mismatch

There is no trick to this other than very quick rotations, with no one overcommitting to their mark. Ideally, you want someone fast with intercept constantly rotating to the farther PF in order to discourage a quick pass.

The PF's Long Jumper vs. your Only Big

I've seen many rebounders make a mistake defending this. Now if you have a legitimate chance at blocking the shot, go ahead and go for it. However if it is not possible, you are better off maintaining rebound position and giving up a wide open shot. If you contest it futilely, the double PF team is almost guaranteed a rebound - meaning the shot has no risk.

Dunk or Layup on your Big

This is about as ideal as it gets. It's still not the easiest thing to deal with, but it gives your team the best chance at recovering the ball after a block or miss.

If you have any other tips/tricks/strategies on how to deal with the dreaded PG/PF/PF, feel free to comment below, and I'll update accordingly.