What is "pick and roll"

n. (context basketball English) an offensive play in which a player stops to block a defender for a teammate handling the ball and then slips behind the defender to accept a pass

The pick and roll (also called screen and roll or shortened to screen roll, any of which may be hyphenated) in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then slips behind the defender (rolls) to accept a pass. In the NBA, the play came into vogue in the 1990s and has developed into the league's "bread and butter".