Thursday, September 27, 2007

Offense - Getting open without the ball (v-cut)

During my years of coaching youth, I see over and over again kids that just stand in spots waiting for the ball to get passed to them. Standing just gives the defense an opportunity to deny the player the basketball. Another problem I see is the person trying to get the ball goes towards the ball carrier and brings their defender with them as well, which makes it difficult for the ball carrier to do anything. The person trying to get open should perform a v-cut in order to free themselves enough to allow the ball carrier to get them the ball.

The way to perform a v-cut is to move into the key (preferably from the spot you are to receive the basketball). Once you get into the edge of the key stop long enough for the defender to stand still and then cut back to the spot you want to get the ball. That moment of stopping will give you the opportunity to get to the spot without your defender. Preferably long enough to retrieve the ball and face the basket in a triple-threat position.