The pick and pop is a screen action in which the screener, instead of rolling to the basket, pops out to open space, usually beyond the three-point line, for a jump shot.
The pick and pop is the pick and roll's spacing twin. The screen is the same, and the ball handler's read is the same, but the screener's finish differs: instead of rolling through the paint, the screener pops outward, away from the basket, arriving alone at the elbow or the three point line because their defender stayed home to protect the rim.
The action only works with a screener who can shoot, which is why its history tracks the rise of the shooting big man. Dirk Nowitzki turned the pick and pop into a dynasty level weapon in Dallas, and defences that had spent decades teaching big men to protect the paint first had to be rebuilt to chase a seven footer to the arc.
In the modern game the pop is often the primary option rather than the counter, with offences hunting the exact shot it creates: an open three for a big whose defender is structurally late. Glossary users meet the term inside questions about spacing and stretch bigs, and the distinction to hold is simple. Roll means the screener dives to the rim. Pop means the screener retreats from it, and the defence pays either way.
In use"The centre set the screen and chose the pick and pop, drifting out for the open three."