What a world we live in. John Calipari used to lovingly (or not so lovingly) refer to the deep-divers as "Basketball Bennies," the people who didn't just watch the game, but re-watched it, broke down the film, and obsessed over the X's and O's. Most of BBN.
Today? Those "Bennies" can hop on Twitter, ask the head coach a complex tactical question, and get a masterclass in response.
That is exactly what happened recently when a Kentucky fan asked Mark Pope about the "Gortat Screen" on his radio show. Instead of brushing it off, Pope went into a detailed diatribe about the mechanics of the move and why it is suddenly creating so much space for Kentucky's guards. The move also has some awesome Kentucky connections.
The "Gortat screen" explained
If you have noticed Kentucky's guards getting downhill more easily in recent weeks, this is why.
Pope explained that defenses often play "drop coverage" against ball screens, the big man drops back to protect the rim while the guard fights over the screen to chase the ball handler from behind. The goal is to funnel the driver into a crowded paint where they have to take a tough, contested 2-pointer.
The "Gortat" tweak flips that advantage.
"One of the ways to attack that is for the ball handler to come off the ball screen... and go right back into your defender," Pope explained. "So now he is on my hip, the hoop is in front of me."
Then comes the magic: "I stop and allow my roll man time to get ahead of me. He rolls right into the big defender... so now he has a seal."
By sealing the dropping big man, the roller effectively becomes a secondary screener in the paint, clearing a runway for the guard to finish at the rim or drop it off to the big man for an easy dunk.
You can see a video breakdown here:
The John Wall-Marcin Gortat connection
The best part of this tactical wrinkle? Its roots are deeply tied to Kentucky royalty. The move is named after Marcin Gortat ("The Polish Hammer"), but Gortat didn't perfect it alone. He did it alongside former Kentucky No. 1 pick John Wall during their five-year run with the Washington Wizards.
Wall was the speedster who needed the lane, and Gortat was the master of the "moving seal" that cleared the path. The results speak for themselves.
During their peak years together in D.C., Gortat was a double-double machine, feasting on the space Wall created (and vice versa):
- 2013-14: 13.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG
- 2014-15: 12.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG
- 2015-16: 13.5 PPG, 9.9 RPG
- 2016-17: 10.8 PPG, 10.4 RPG
For five years, that simple action, the guard freezing the defender, the big sealing the lane, was one of the most unstoppable plays in the NBA.
Now, Mark Pope is dusting off the old Wizards playbook to help his guards get downhill. It’s a tactical tweak, sure. But for Kentucky fans, it’s just another reminder that all roads eventually lead back to the Cats.