Understanding variability in defense against direct screens in basketball.

This paper presents a cognitive ethnography on the variability of interpersonal coordination in defense against direct screens during basketball games. We collected data through observation of ten games of Estudiantes U18 Team during the 2014/2015 season in Madrid. We filmed the game and showed clips of specific direct screens to players while conducting semi-structured interviews. We analyzed the video and the discourse qualitatively following grounded theory principles. We identified three categories expressing variability: failure, partial repair, and functional variation. Even though communication was quoted by the interviewed players as a key element in their decision-making, other contextual elements – related to framing and joint attention- affected the degree of variation and success. Based on these findings, the paper offers some recommendations for coaching the tactical behaviour of defense against direct screens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]