Written by Rick Torbett on September 11, 2009 – 11:23 AM
Q: Imagine the 5 OUT set with the ball in the hands of the right wing. If he drives to the basket on the baseline side of his defender, does the corner man on the same side react by cutting across the lane on the baseline?
We found that if he did, it would bottle up the right side post area too much and defeat the purpose of the drive. Of course, if the wing drives towards the basket on the high side of defender, the rest of the team continues the circle motion and fill the spots, but the baseline drive has us puzzled.
Our first thought was to just have the corner man stay put in the corner. Our second thought was to just have the corner man do an automatic circle reverse while everyone else continues the circle motion in the direction of the dribble. What are your thoughts?
A: Good question.
It doesn’t hurt for the corner to stay, but I would not recommend a Circle Reverse. When the wing drives right, the top of the key will Circle Move to the wing as his safety valve. If you Circle Reverse the corner, you’ll have two players moving into the same spot. If you let the corner stay put, the penetrator will actually have two safety valves if his drive is stopped (the corner and the wing), but at least they will be in two distinct spots.
I have solved this problem three ways:
1. If the wing is above the FT line extended and makes the drive to baseline side, the corner does not seem to have a problem getting clear of the drive and remains a good passing option for the penetrator. If the wing is below FT line extended, then spacing is compromised and I allow the corner to stay put. I don’t like giving a player a choice, but the world’s not perfect!
2. My other solution is to go 4 OUT and 1 IN. The corners usually remain empty and my wings can drive baseline at will. (I know that’s not a 5 OUT solution, but I thought I’d throw it in anyway.)
3. When the wing catches the ball, the corner player makes a basket cut as if his defender is over the read line. The corner can backscreen his way out onto the perimeter or he can post up on either ballside or weakside. This allows the wing to drive “off the tail of the cutter” since the immediate help defender has been taken away with the basket cut. If the wing decides not to drive baseline, then nothing’s lost, the offense can continue. If the corner is basket-cutting and the wing drives MIDDLE, then the corner cutter must react like a post player (if he’s not already made it out onto the perimeter).