Q: Do you have anything in the Read & React about breaking full court presses?

A: I do not have a specific press breaker with the same “Read & React” habits that can be drilled until it’s possible to break all Full Court presses. However, if you look at the layer on Transition in DVD 2 and the 5 player drills in DVD 3, you’ll find some instances during the transition drills where I yell “PRESS!” In those situations, the ballhandler must stop as if she is being trapped and everyone must come back toward the ball. The single most important SPOT to fill at that time is the MIDDLE of the court. The ballhandler hits the girl in the middle and she turns and looks OPPOSITE first, but can pass up the floor to either side. I would tell her to try and pass first before she puts the ball on the floor.

In principle, the player closest to the middle of the floor should fill it because TIME is of the essence during a trap. Technically, I feel better if ALL of the spots are filled when a FC press is put on. Without drawing them, picture in your mind a 2-1-2 formation. The ballhandler should have someone straight up the floor, someone in the middle of the floor, another teammate diagonally positioned up the floor (over the head of the player in the middle of the court), and of course a teammate cross-court who will play slightly behind the line of the ball as a Safety Valve to throw back to if the ballhandler cannot pass up the floor.

When the ball is being inbounded, after a made shot as an example, the inbounder can Pass & Cut to the MIDDLE spot. Many times, she’ll get the return pass before the girl receiving the inbounds pass can be trapped. Make it a Give-and-Go cut. The inbounder will get the ball back while she’s on the move and if she attacks the middle of the floor off the dribble, the press is usually broken.

Stay tuned because I’m working on a way to extend the Read & React Half-Court principles to the Full-Court to enable a team to break presses by principle.