In our podcast last week with Fran Fraschilla he joked about the “Ghost Screen” becoming the next “America’s Play”, and with the utmost respect to the classic “shuffle screen to double-down”, he may be onto something.

After continuing to see it run at a high rate across a variety of levels, we started to track the Ghost Screen’s effective use within a certain set… the “Ghost Flare”.

“Ghost Flare” Defined: An action from an alignment that looks very much like Horns. The offensive player who would normally set an on-ball screen instead “Ghosts”(slips) the screen and sprints off a Flare from the opposite post.

Below we’ll dive into all the variations, reads, and decisions teams are making when deciding to use the Ghost Flare in their offense.

We’ll do our best to keep references to Casper, haunted hotels, and Egon Spengler to a minimum.

1) Attack Downhill – Score

To start, here’s a look at the basic action of the Ghost Flare and the 1st read… Attack to Score…

Zooming Out: The GIF above shows one of the fundamental elements that makes the Ghost Flare so effective… confusion at the point of the “Ghost” screen. This half-second of indecision creates the first falling domino for the offense to build from. In real time, it is EXTREMELY difficult for defenders to communicate AND effectively position themselves for the full speed attack of the ballhander and the Ghost Screener.

Zooming In: The detail to note above is the “foot angle” of the defender guarding the ball. When a normal on-ball screen is approaching a defender, the natural defensive tendency of that defender is to open up their stance to prepare to “get skinny” and get over or under the approaching on-ball. But, with the Ghost Flare, that screen never happens, so instead of the ballhandler being funneled into another defender who is in Drop, Ice, or a Switching coverage, there is a large gap created by the Ghost Screen. The offensive player setting the “Ghost Screen” is often a shooter, so the defender guarding that shooter is caught between a rock and a hard place, with the ballhandler attacking full speed into the space created by the Ghost Screen and the shooter sprinting off the Flare.

As Fran Fraschilla mentions in last week’s podcast, the Ghost Screener just sort of “disappears” into thin air, leaving the defense feeling like they’re seeing things…

2) Attack Downhill – Big Diving/Spray Options

Once the ballhandler gets into the gap downhill, there will have to be help from somewhere (or its a layup like above). One option when the help comes is to find the Big diving to the rim after setting the Flare…

Zooming In: Another benefit of the Ghost Flare action, is that the alignment puts all the defenders in tricky helpside decisions.

1. The defender guarding the shooter in the corner on the strongside is often reluctant to help on the drive because of the easy kick-out opportunity for a three (see that action in our breakdown of UCLA HERE).
2. If the lowest helpside defender comes over to help, there’s an open skip opportunity available (though this is often the best option for the defense should the ballhandler get downhill and help is needed since they can scramble to match back up on the skip).

3) No Downhill Attack- Hit Flare

If the defense either 1) does a good job of leveling the ballhandler and plugging the drive, or 2) if there’s confusion on the Ghost Screen and BOTH defenders stay with the ball, then the next option is to play through the Flare Screen, with the first option being the shot…

Zooming Out: If there’s no shot available, then the offense can just continue playing through whatever advantage is created or flow right into another DHO with the corner man, PNR with the big, an immediate double away, or whatever next action a coach can dream up.

4) No Downhill Attack- Slot PNR

If there’s no room for a downhill attack, and the Flare is well guarded, then the offense can flow right into a Slot PNR with great spacing…

Ghost Flare – Twists and Variations

Now for some fun. The basic Ghost Flare action is effective enough on its own, but now we’ll dive into some of the fun twists that teams are running on top of the initial action.

1) Texas “Side Ghost Flare”

Before their tough 1st round exit in the NCAA tournament to a terrific defensive Abilene Christian team, Shaka Smart and Texas were running some interesting Ghost Flare actions on one side of the floor…

Zooming In: A lot to like here in the details of running the Ghost Flare on the side. Running the Ghost Flare on the side has its roots in “Pistol Action” and comes with many similar advantages to “Pistol”. Here’s a few:

• If the ballhandler gets downhill and there’s help from the bottom defender the skip pass to the shooter in the opposite corner is a little easier and more familiar for a player to throw.
• Like shown above, if the ballhandler gets downhill, it also opens great diving opportunities for the player at the wing/45 OR a drop-off pass to the offensive Big if his man is the helper.
• If the Flare man is open after the Ghost Flare action, the pass and shot coming from the top of the key is often a little easier for the shooter since the pass is coming from in front of them rather than laterally.
  • A little deeper on the above point… for some high level shooters this small distinction may not matter much, but for younger players a shot off of a Flare can be really difficult because the shooter’s momentum on a Flare is going away from the basket. It takes a ton of practice to get a shooter’s momentum and footwork going back towards the rim on a Flare (or enough strength/skill to make a shot fading away on a three). In the Texas Flare above, if the ballhandler gets below the Free Throw line before he/she throws it back to the Flare shooter it allows time for that Shooter to step into the shot rather than fading away. Also, on average, a Three-Point shot at the Top of the Key is a higher percentage shot then a Wing Three.
  • The teaching point here is that the best coaches think about these small details when designing sets or actions for their best players. If an action looks cool on Twitter and gets an open shot, but the player can’t make that shot at a high percentage, then it’s worth tinkering with the action so that it creates a more makeable shot. One of us here at Slappin’ Glass made a career in college of air balling three pointers off Flare Screens and telling the coach there was sweat on the ball.

Ok…

2) “Pre-Ghost Flare Actions” – Deep Sweeps/Pins

So far we’ve mostly looked at the Ghost Flare starting with a Horns look before going into the actions, but here are some nice variations before the Ghost Flare that gets the Ghost Screener’s defender chasing. The first is a “Deep Sweep”…

And another is a Pin Down…

Zooming In: In both cases above, as well as all Ghost Flare actions, the speed of the Ghost Screener sprinting into the action is of the utmost importance. Both of these pre-Ghost Screen actions create a scenario where the defender guarding the Ghost Screener is trailing and unattached (good for the offense), and the offense can further compound that advantage by sprinting through the Flare. The speed of that cut is what creates the small seconds of indecision by the defense and makes the engine of the Ghost Flare fire on all cylinders.

3) “After-Flare Actions” – Curls, Pins, & Staggers

Moving from creative actions before the Ghost Flare, here are a couple of unique sets run after the Flare Screen. The first is the “Curl” by the Ghost Screener…

And, if the Point Guard doesn’t have the ability to fire a one-handed dime to the Curler (or it’s not open), the Big setting the Flare can flow right into a Pin Down for the shooter in the corner…

Or, the Curler and the Big can both flow into a Double Stagger away for the shooter in the corner…

Zooming Out: These three “After Flare Actions” are nice variations to really test the defender guarding the Ghost Screener. On some of these actions they’re being asked to 1) communicate a potential Ghost Screen, then 2) get through a Flare screen, then 3) have to communicate again on a Stagger… that’s a lot to ask, and the offense is only looking for a small crack in one of those situations to take advantage of.

Ghost Flares in Crunch Time

A final closing thought on the Ghost Flare action is its rise in use in “Crunch Time”, or at the end of a close game. Whether it’s the actual Ghost Flare action or just a Ghost Screen at some spot on the floor, the Ghost Screen can be found all the time in late game possessions across the world.

Why? There are numerous advantages to running the Ghost Screen/Flare down the stretch, here’s a few:

1. Get a Desired Mismatch: If a team is switching the Ghost Screen, especially in late game actions, the offense can send a Ghost Screen to the ballhandler to get a desired switch.
2. Less likelihood of an Offensive Foul: Especially in the U.S. at the college and lower levels, a big fear for coaches in a late game ballscreen is an offensive foul call on the Big. The Ghost Flare/Screen minimizes the likelihood of the foul call because there isn’t any contact being made on the screen. This irritates refs, as they love to make this call and talk about it in off-season seminars.
3. Hard to Double: Another concern for coaches in a late game ballscreen is the potential for a Hard Double from the defense. The Ghost Flare/Screen is very difficult to effectively double and would be quite risky in a late game scenario.
4. The “Thow Ahead Pass”: Whether it’s the ballhandler throwing the ball to the Ghost Screener or to the wing player lifting up out of the corner, the “Throw Ahead Pass” allows an offensive player to catch and get downhill on the move with limited defense loaded up.

For more sets, variations, and breakdowns of the Ghost Flare, here is our deep-dive video on the subject…