Q: Where does the passer go after a pin & skip pass? The video covers one pass away passing (Pass & Cut). In that section it was said that skip pass would be handled later, but I didn’t find anything other than the pin and seal.

A: Good question. As you noticed, in Layer 3 Pass & Cut, I stated, “If a player passes ONE SPOT AWAY, then he/she MUST basket cut. This rule DOES not apply to skip passes.”

The reason that I did not require a specific movement from players making skip passes is that it’s not needed in order to facilitate player movement, ball movement, or spacing. I left this OPEN for the coach to decide and even for the players to decide. Here’s an example: Against a zone, your teammates set up a Pin Screen and ask for a Skip Pass. You throw it and then notice that a HUGE HOLE opens up in the seam of the zone. It would be a good thing for you to follow your pass, fill the hole (i.e., open space) and make the defense pay for distorting their zone. On the other hand, if there’s no opening to flash into, it’s probably best to remain where you are in case there’s an instant return skip pass. Remaining where you are will stretch the defense, making them defend the entire court instead of only half of the court. Another reason that the skip passer does not need to move is that no teammate has vacated a spot that needs to be filled. So, movement by the skip passer is not needed in order to keep the offense coordinated.

You might wonder why I left this decision open to interpretation by the player and the coach. I did it so that the coach would have as much freedom to adjust the R&R as is needed. There are lots of good basketball actions that are not in the R&R. A few examples would be a Post-to-Post cross-screen, a screen on the ball, a perimeter player screening a post player while cutting through the lane, a down-screen by any player, etc. There’s nothing wrong with using these; they will create good action within the offense. But none of them are NEEDED as a required reaction to what the ballhandler does in order to keep the offense “going” or, as I like to say, “coordinated.”