Golden State Warriors: How does Stephen Curry get so many open threes?
2. Flex Action
Flex is basically screening the screener. So this can be anywhere on the court but it usually involves Curry setting a screen for a teammate and then receiving a screen towards the top for a three.
Here’s how that looks:
This works by confusing the defense a bit and getting them behind the play. Curry’s screen is always for a play to cut to the basket. This is obviously very dangerous, so the defense must stay with the cutter even if they know it’s likely to be a decoy.
Curry’s defender will end up behind him slightly, meaning that any screen for Curry will give him lots of separation. This is how he gets so wide open off of this play.
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As a side note, this play often benefits his teammates just as much. Having a single play with two screens both involving Curry is dangerous.
The defense must stay so tight to Curry on screens to never give him even a sliver of daylight or he can release a shot. This means that quite often two players will go to Curry, leaving someone open for a layup or a dunk.