NBA 2K21 Pick & Roll Defensive Tips

Are you tired of getting beat by the pick-and-roll and watching your opposition glide down the middle of the lane for an easy two? Is your team allowing too many wide-open buckets? Well, we’re here to give you all the necessary tips to improve your defensive game and teach you how to defend against the nasty Pick & Roll in NBA 2K21. 

NBA 2K21 Pick & Roll Defensive Tips

Part of the frustration that comes with defending the Pick and Roll is that every time you step out to guard a knockdown shooter, you’re leaving the big man wide open for an easy bucket. And every time you drop down to defend the paint, the shooter’s left open wide-open. 

So, to help you figure out how to defend against this, we have gone into detail on the 5 ways/settings to defend against a Pick and Roll in NBA 2K21 properly. 

Hard Hedge 

The Hard Hedge is an aggressive Pick and Roll style of defense designed to make the ball handler step back into position and hesitate for a moment before returning to his initial assignment. 

Soft Hedge 

Similar to the hard hedge, however, with a soft hedge, the Pick and Roll defending big man will return to his assignment after just one dribble from the ball handler. 

Catch Hedge (Most Popular in NBA)

The Catch Hedge is the most commonly used style of Pick and Roll defense in the NBA for defending big men, with the catch hedge defender carrying two primary responsibilities. First, he can’t allow a straight line drive down the middle of the paint from the ball handler, and he can’t allow the roller to get behind him. 

Essentially, the catch hedge defender will be playing in a zone defense between these two players, leaving the 15 ft. mid-range jumper wide open. This is the one downside to this play, but it’s done intentionally in the NBA as a way to avoid giving up the open three-pointer or an open layup. 

Switching (Most Popular in 2K)

Undoubtedly, the most popular defensive style of play for defending the Pick and Roll in NBA 2K is switching. Switching is a free-form style of basketball where you want to switch assignments with the screener and take the ball-handler one-on-one. 

ICE (Most Popular for Perimeter Defence)

When the ball is on the wings, the most common Pick and Roll defense is called “ICE”, with the primary objective of this formation being to isolate the ball on one side of the court. The on-ball defender will jump to the middle of the floor and get on the hip of the ball-handler, driving him to the baseline. However, when the ball-handler drives baseline, he’ll be met by the defending big-man who’s dropping down into the paint (similar to the Catch Hedge).