Occasionally in the depth of the Read & React, some of the simplest concepts can get overlooked. The Bounce Off Escape came up the last time I was on the floor with Rick.
It’s a simple concept, really, and just needs to be pointed out.
When the ball handler drives, one spot over (in the direction of the drive) is always available as an escape hatch.
Let’s look at it in the diagrams. If the ball handler drives right, Circle Movement dictates that all four other players move one spot to the right. So, 4 runs the baseline, 2 moves to the Natural Pitch, and 3 moves the Safety Valve.
This movement leaves the spot that 2 vacated open. Now, if 1 gets into trouble or simply doesn’t like what he sees, he can easily bounce off the drive and back into the Escape Hatch. Nothing is lost and the Read & React is still intact.
In fact, a smart player could turn this simple action into an attack, but we’ll talk about that in the next post.
The above diagrams were powered by FastDraw.
