Sets and systems

Alignments, called plays, and the rule-based offenses that run without a call.

All families · 15 terms · 13 full, 1 partial, 1 short

4-on-3

The advantage behind a trap: four attackers against the three defenders who did not trap.

Half court. 1 has the ball at the right slot. Two defenders trap him, x1 above him and to his left and x5 below him and to his right, labeled two on the ball. The other four attackers are spread out: 5 at the free-throw line, 2 in the right corner, 3 in the left corner and 4 at the left dunker spot. Only three defenders are left for them: x2 a few feet outside the right lane line, x3 just outside the left lane line and x4 just above the rim and to its left, a triangle inside the arc, labeled three guard four inside the triangle, just above x4. A dashed pass goes from 1 to 5 at the free-throw line, its head at the edge of 5's circle.

Why it is run. Two defenders on the ball leaves three to guard four; the weak-side low man cannot cover the dunker spot and the corner at once, and the pass out of the trap goes to whichever he leaves.

What beats it. Rotations quick enough to cover four spots with three men until the trap recovers, and a trap timed so the shot clock does the rest.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.3 · See also Blitz, Short roll

Delay

Also: 5-out delay

An early-offense alignment with the big at the top holding the ball and the four others spaced, from which he hands off, screens or reverses.

The center, 5, stands at the top with the ball, above the arc, and his defender, x5, sags off him into the top of the free-throw circle. The other four attackers stand outside the three-point line, each with a defender inside him: 1 and 3 high on the right and left wings, and 2 and 4 at the top of the right and left corners, just above where the corner line meets the arc. 1 cuts up from the right wing to take a handoff from 5, labeled handoff, and dribbles downhill into the right side of the lane. 4 lifts from the left corner, the corner on the far side from both 1's wing and the drive, up toward the left wing. Nobody stands in the lane, labeled empty paint.

Why it is run. With the big holding the ball at the arc and nobody in the paint, his defender must choose between guarding him twenty-five feet out and protecting a rim nobody is near; either choice opens the handoff or the drive.

What beats it. The big’s defender guarding him at the arc and denying the handoff, or the defense switching every handoff so no cutter gets the ball moving.

offense · Early offense · full · Taught in lecture 3.2 · See also 5-out, Dribble handoff, Zoom

Dribble drive motion

Also: DDM, dribble drive

A spread offense with no post player in the lane, built on driving gaps and kicking out or dropping off when the help comes.

A 4-out 1-in floor: 1 has the ball at the right slot, 2 is in the right corner, 3 on the left wing, 4 in the left corner, and the one big, 5, waits in the left dunker spot beside the baseline, not in the lane. 1 dribbles past his defender x1, who is left behind at the slot, and down the right side of the lane to just right of the rim, labeled drive the gap. x5 has stepped into the lane in front of the rim. x4 stands on the left side between the corner and the lane, labeled he has to choose, between the rim and the corner. Two dashed passes leave the end of the drive, one to 4 in the left corner and one to 5 in the dunker spot, and both run below x4 and x5. x2 is with 2 in the right corner and x3 with 3 on the left wing.

Why it is run. With the lane empty and the big in the weak-side dunker spot, a drive into a double gap forces one help defender to choose between the rim and the corner, and the pass goes to whoever he left.

What beats it. Guarding the drive with one man and never helping, which needs defenders who stay in front, or walling off the middle and conceding the pull-up.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.9 · See also 5-out, Drive, Kick-out, Gap

Flex offense

Also: flex cut

A continuity offense whose repeating unit is a baseline cross screen followed by a down screen for the screener.

The ball is with a guard at the left slot, and a second guard stands at the right slot. A big stands on the right block with a screen bar at his right side, between him and the defender of a player out on the right side of the lane near the baseline; that defender is on the baseline side of his man. The player cuts across the lane just over the top of the big and the screen bar to the left block, labeled flex cut, and the label cross screen sits just below the big and the screen bar. A dashed pass arrow runs from the guard at the left slot down to the end of the flex cut, just above the left block. The guard at the right slot cuts down into the lane toward the big. The fifth attacker stands in the left corner. Every attacker has a defender. (First of 2 frames; the lecture shows the rest.)

Why it is run. A cross screen and a down screen for the screener return the floor to its own starting shape, so the sequence can run again until one defender is late.

What beats it. Switching both screens, which is available to a team of similar-sized players, or going under the cross screen every time and living with the seal.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.9 · See also Cross screen, Pin-down, Ram

Flow offense

Offense that runs continuously from transition into half-court actions without a called play, governed by rules for who screens and who spaces.

offense · Early offense · short · Taught in lecture 3.2 · See also Early offense, Motion offense

Horns

An alignment with two bigs at the elbows, two shooters in the corners and the ball at the top.

The Horns alignment. The point guard 1 is at the top of the key with the ball. Two bigs, 4 and 5, stand at the two elbows, and two shooters, 2 and 3, stand in the two corners. Each attacker has a defender beside him, and the two bigs' defenders stand just outside the lane lines, so the paint between them is empty, and a label says so. A title across the top reads Horns: 1 up, bigs at the elbows, shooters in the corners. (First of 2 frames; the lecture shows the rest.)

Why it is run. Two bigs at the elbows and two shooters in the corners empties the paint, puts two screeners one pass from the ball, and makes several different plays look identical for the first two seconds.

What beats it. Switching everything, which removes the screens and concedes the mismatches, or a big at the level of the ball screen with the low man tagging the roller.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.8 · See also Elbow, Pick-and-roll

Isolation

Also: iso

Clearing a side so one player can attack one defender.

Half court. 1 has the ball on the right wing. His defender, x1, stands a few feet to his left, on the middle side. The other four attackers are all on the left half of the floor, 2 just left of the top, 3 at the left slot, 4 on the left wing and 5 in the left corner, each with his defender inside him, and the words everyone else on the other side are printed above them at the top left. The right side below 1 is empty and labeled cleared out. A dribble arrow runs from 1 down under x1 and across the empty side to just outside the restricted arc, right of the rim, with nobody in its path. The nearest other defender, x2, is at the top of the key, above the nail.

Why it is run. When one attacker beats one defender by himself, the best use of the other four is to stand where their defenders cannot help.

What beats it. A defender who stays in front; or sending a second defender early and living with the pass out.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.11 · See also Mismatch, Switch

Mismatch

A matchup the offense can exploit, such as a big guarding a guard on the perimeter or a guard guarding a big in the post.

A ball screen has been switched. At the top, the small ball-handler 1 has the ball and is guarded by the big defender x5, who is above him and to his left, labeled big on the guard. The big, 5, stands just outside the right elbow, guarded by the small defender x1, above him and to his right, labeled guard on the big. Two arrows show the two ways to attack it: 1 dribbles down into the lane away from the slower big, and 5 cuts straight down just outside the right lane line toward the block to post the smaller defender. The other three attackers are spaced wide, each with his defender: 4 at the left wing, 3 in the left corner and 2 in the right corner.

Why it is run. A switch leaves a big on a guard or a guard on a big, and both halves are attackable: the guard drives the slower man, the big posts the smaller one.

What beats it. The scram switch, switching back at the first dead ball, or a roster similar enough in size that no switch creates one.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.11 · See also Switch, Isolation, Early seal

Motion offense

Offense run from rules rather than a script, where players read the defense and cut or screen accordingly.

A 4-out 1-in floor. 1 at the right slot passes out to 2 on the right wing. 1 then cuts across the top and screens away on x3, the defender of 3 at the left slot; the screen is drawn as a bar at the end of 1's cut, above and to the right of x3, labeled screen away. 3 comes up off the screen, over the top of the key and across toward the right slot, the spot 1 left, labeled fill. The big, 5, lifts from the left block toward the left elbow, and 4 is in the left corner. Every attacker has a defender near him.

Why it is run. Rules attached to the pass produce screening and cutting continuously, so the defense must guard correctly every time, and the offense needs no call and can be run at any tempo.

What beats it. Switching everything, which turns every screen into a non-event and dares the offense to win one-on-one; or physical denial of the first pass.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.11 · See also Flow offense, Set play, Read and react

Pistol

Also: 21, Nash action

An early-offense entry where the guard passes ahead to the wing and follows the pass into a handoff or a quick ball screen.

The point guard has the ball at the top of the right side. He passes ahead to the wing and sprints after the pass toward the wing on a separate line. The wing dribbles up to meet him, labeled handoff, and hands the ball back, so the guard receives it moving toward the middle and dribbles in that direction. The big trails at the top, labeled trails for the next screen, ready to set a ball screen on the second side; two others are spaced in the left corner and left wing.

Why it is run. Passing ahead and following the pass turns the best ball-handler’s defender’s one relaxed step into a handoff taken at speed toward the middle, with a big’s screen already coming.

What beats it. Switching the handoff, or top-locking the guard so he cannot follow his pass.

offense · Early offense · full · Taught in lecture 3.2 · See also Dribble handoff, Early offense

Princeton offense

A read-based offense built on a high-post entry, back cuts against overplay, and screens away from the ball.

A 5-out floor with the big, 5, at the high post, labeled high post. 1 has the ball above the right elbow, outside the arc; 2 is at the right wing, 3 at the left wing and 4 in the left corner, each with his defender, and the right corner is empty. A dashed pass goes from 1 to 5. 1's defender, x1, has stepped to his left, onto the high side of the passing lane from 5 back to him, labeled denied. 1 back cuts behind him, straight down the other side to the rim, labeled back cut, and a dashed pass from 5 drops toward the end of that cut; x5 is in the lane below 5. From the end of the back cut, a second arrow takes 1 out along the baseline to the empty right corner, labeled clears. 2 cuts from the right wing across toward 5 at the high post, labeled handoff.

Why it is run. The high post passes and every denial becomes a back cut, so a defense that presses the perimeter gives up layups and a defense that sags gives up the catch.

What beats it. Refusing to deny: play a step off, concede the perimeter catch and take away the cuts, so the offense has to shoot over a set defense.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.9 · See also Back cut, Motion offense, Read and react

Read and react

A conceptual offense where every off-ball player has a rule for each thing the ball does.

A 5-out floor: 1 with the ball on the right wing, 2 in the right corner, 3 at the top, 4 on the left wing and 5 in the left corner, each with a defender. 1 dribbles past his defender, who is on his inside, down toward the right baseline; under the end of the drive is the label the drive is the signal. At the same time every teammate moves: 2 cuts up from the right corner, behind the drive, to just below the wing 1 left; 3 moves right from the top along the arc to the right slot, behind the drive, labeled fill behind; 4 moves up from the left wing toward the top, the spot 3 left; and 5 lifts from the left corner up toward the left wing that 4 left, labeled lift.

Why it is run. Every player has a reaction to the drive, executed before the drive resolves, so the three outlets are already moving when the help commits.

What beats it. A defense that never helps, so no reaction is triggered; or shrinking the floor so every drive is into a single gap.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.11 · See also Motion offense, 45 cut, Lift

Set play

A scripted sequence run to get a particular shot for a particular player.

Why it is run. Five players know what is coming and the defense does not; the cost is three or four seconds of setup during which the defense gets organized, which is why teams run them after timeouts, for a specific player, and at the end of a period.

offense · Half court · partial · Taught in lecture 3.8 · See also Motion offense, ATO

Triangle offense

Also: triangle

A continuity offense built on a triangle of three players on one side of the floor, post, wing and corner, with the other two on the weak side.

Three attackers make a triangle on the right side of the floor: a post player on the right block, a wing on the right wing with the ball, and a player in the right corner, labeled sideline triangle between the post pass and the corner. The two other attackers are on the weak side, one at the top and one at the left elbow, labeled two on the weak side. A dashed pass from the wing into the post is the entry the formation is built around.

Why it is run. The triangle puts three players within one pass of each other on the strong side with a post entry at its hub, so every catch has a read built into it; the two on the weak side are far enough away that their defenders cannot help without leaving a cutter.

What beats it. Denying the post entry so the triangle has no hub, and fronting or three-quartering the post so the wing’s pass has to go over the top.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.9 · See also Princeton offense, Read and react, Post-up, Motion offense

Zipper

A player cutting from the block straight up the lane line off a down screen to catch at the top.

The ball is at the top. A guard starts on the right block with his defender just above him on the lane side. A big stands just inside the lane line above them, below the elbow, facing the baseline, with a screen bar below him, labeled big's screen. The guard cuts straight up the lane line past the big and the bar, from the block to the right slot, and catches the pass at the slot, labeled catch at the slot. His defender is below the screen, behind the big.

Why it is run. A cut straight up the lane line off a screen delivers the catch at the slot with the whole floor in front of the catcher, and usually straight into a ball screen from the man who just screened.

What beats it. Top-locking the cutter so he cannot come up the lane line, conceding the back cut, or switching the screen.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.8 · See also Pin-down