Are you tired of practicing different offenses for different defenses?
This could be as simple as having one offense for man defense and one offense for zone defense, but I’ve seen coaches with arsenals full of offenses with a different one to be deployed for every possible contingency.
Not only does that steal the fun out of the game, it’s just not practical to spend precious practice time working on sets, plays, or patterns that your team will never use. Even implementing a new offense for each defense you scout is a time suck and ultimately just confuses your players to the point where they can no longer be effective.
The Read & React Offense, though, can attack any type of defense from any formation with only a few slight adjustments. This allows you to focus on only one offense in practice your entire season. Now you can spend more time polishing it and tweaking it so that it fits your team’s strengths perfectly.
In the video below, you’ll see different types of teams using the Read & React to attack zones, high pressure man, and sagging man defenses. If you want to see more game footage, check out our Read & React Video Archive.
Will the Read & React work against zones?
The best way to attack zones is with spacing, ball movement, and player movement. Actually, that’s the best way to attack any defense. Throw in a threat to the zone’s seams and you’re good to go. The spacing, ball movement, and player movement are obvious in the clips, but watch as cutters hook their cuts into the seams of the zone and look for the interior pass. We call that the Hook & Look for obvious reasons and it keeps the defense on edge.
And you don’t have to be a great three-point shooting team either. Half these clips end in lay-ups.
For more ideas on attacking zones, check out Attacking 1-3-1 Zones with Read & React and 3 OUT Zone Attack with Read & React.
Will the Read & React work against high-pressure defense?
Actually, if you are a Read & React team, you should be begging your opponent to bring the pressure. With all the cutting actions of the offense, pressure just isn’t a problem. In fact, every one of the clips in this section end in lay-ups off the Read Line cut. That’s just Layer 1 stuff. When you start to take down a defense with just one layer, you’ll soon find yourself up against another defense.
Will the Read & React work against good, helping weak-side defense?
If I were to defend the Read & React, this is the defense that I would choose. Not because it is a Read & React killer, but because it forces a R&R team to go deeper into the layers than the previous two options. You see, the ideal way to counter sagging defenses is the Pin & Skip (Layer 7) and that requires a higher level of skill than the simple rear cut.
Of course, sagging defenses are similar to zones so linking several layers together is also highly effective. And, remember, you don’t have to shoot 3’s if you’re team isn’t up to it: pump fake that open shot and attack the basket against that recovering defender. Good things usually happen when driving against a close-out.
