Zoom Action

One-line: Down-screen → dribble hand-off (DHO). Two screens in one action for a shooter.

How it works

1. Wing receives a down-screen from a big in the lane
2. Wing comes off and immediately receives a DHO from the same big at the top of the key
3. Wing is now downhill with momentum, defender scrambling

Why it works

Defender has to navigate two screens in 1.5 seconds — almost always trails. Forces a help defender to step up, which kicks open weak-side shooter.

Variations

• Zoom + ball-screen — after the DHO, the same big sets a ball-screen
• Zoom slip — big slips the second screen if defender pre-switches
• Reject zoom — wing refuses the DHO and back-cuts

Defense counters

• Switch both screens (clean answer)
• Top-lock the wing so they can't curl
• Veer-switch — the on-ball defender switches early to the second screen

See also

• actions/get-action.md, actions/chicago.md
• concepts/off-ball-screens.md

Sources & further reading

Verified citations (this file's content can be checked against)

• Zoom Action — Coach Hoops (Substack) — defines Zoom as a three-man pindown + DHO sequence to free a shooter or attacker. Matches the file's mechanics.
• Chicago/Zoom Action: Pindown-Into-DHO Reads for Modern Offense — NBA Playbook — covers the same pin-down + DHO family; useful for the screener angle and pace coaching points.
• Zoom action: sets, options & counters — CoachTube (Kostas Kalogeropoulos) — paid course; description explicitly groups "Zoom" with "Chicago" and offers 120+ sets.
• VIDEO Zoom action — Pin down into a DHO — YouTube (The Hoop Brainiac) — short film clip showing the action.

Recommended further reading for staff

• BBALLBREAKDOWN and Thinking Basketball YouTube channels — multiple Warriors-era film studies of Zoom action with Curry/Thompson coming off the second screen into a DHO.
• FastModel Sports playbank — search "Zoom" for many Warriors-style and college variations including Zoom into ball screen and reject Zoom.

Verification notes (Claude)

• The pin-down + DHO mechanic and the Warriors' heavy use of Zoom under Steve Kerr are widely discussed in basketball media; treat the Warriors attribution as accurate but not exclusive — many NBA and college staffs run Zoom heavily today.
• As noted in chicago.md: many sources use "Chicago" and "Zoom" interchangeably. The file's distinction (Chicago = pin to start, Zoom = down-screen to start) is one valid school of terminology, not a universal rule.
• "Veer-switch" terminology is correct and widely used as a counter to Zoom/DHO actions, though some staffs call it "next" or "ice the handoff."