On the next possession, they dribbled into the frontcourt. Wang Chao kept the ball and beckoned to Wang Le. "Set a screen!"
Wang Le immediately moved up to the free-throw line to set a screen for Wang Chao.
The problem was that Team Three was playing zone defense, and against a zone, a simple pick-and-roll like this often had little effect.
Wang Le posed no offensive threat, so running a pick-and-roll with him was out of the question.
In a zone, two defenders already occupied either side of the free-throw line. The driving lanes were narrow to begin with, and bringing someone up to set a screen meant there would be three players standing at the line.
That left even less room for the ball handler to drive.
Wang Chao saw that he couldn't get through, so he passed to the wing, looking for an opening there.
But Team Three had practiced their zone defense pretty well.
When the ball went to the wing, the whole formation shifted slightly toward that side without breaking shape.
They couldn't block a three-point attempt from the wing, but if the player tried to drive inside the arc and take a mid-range shot, the defense could still put some pressure on him.
So the wing had no choice but to pass to their power forward at mid-range. The moment the power forward got the ball, two defenders rushed up to double-team him.
The power forward had to pass back outside.
They moved the ball back and forth, but in the end, all they could do was shoot from the perimeter. The shot missed again.
After the miss, Wang Le grabbed the rebound.
But as soon as Wang Le got the ball and turned to pass, he found himself surrounded by three players. He froze