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The Tribe

We get a lot of questions about zones. For coaches that have been used to running separate man and zone offenses, it is sometimes difficult to make the mental transition that the Read & React Offense can be used for both. Sure, there are certain layers that work better against zones and there are a few tweaks that will help a great deal. Let's examine one of those tweaks - the Hook & Look as it dovetails into Pass & Cut. Against a zone, adjust your Pass & Cut layer like this: when you pass (instead of cutting in a straight line to the basket), you should hook into a seam of the zone and stay in that seam for one pass before filling out. Holding for one pass is important: often the zone may maintain good defensive position on your initial cut, but lose track of you when an extra pass makes them shift. In the following clips, you'll see how a 13U Travel Team from South Windsor, CT uses this simple tweak to attack zones, many times getting lay-ups. Yes, lay-ups against a zone are possible.

We often hear (from coaches that don't know the offense very well) that the Read & React doesn't promote screening. And, that couldn't be further from the truth - you just have to emphasize it. Here are 4 steps that will train your players to spot some of the screening opportunities within the flow of the offense. Step 1: Start with the basics. If you have a post player, try this simple 5 on 0 drill. Place 4 players on the perimeter running though Pass & Cut. Tell your post player to screen for cutters coming into the lane and leaving the lane. And, just like the Post Screening layer says, have the post player set a screen, then shape up for the ball. Set a screen, then shape. Screen, then shape. The only way to score in this drill is to hit a cutter (following a screen) for a lay-up or to feed the post on the shape up. After the score, just rotate the post - it wouldn't be a bad idea to rotate guards through the post as well. If you typically run a 5 OUT, start with 5 players on the perimeter running through Pass & Cut. At random each player must stop in the post, set some screens for cutters, then shape up after a screen. Following the shape up, they can vacate the post and return to the perimeter. In this version of the drill, the only way to score is a post feed to a shaping up post player. After the score, simply grab the rebound, pass it back to the perimeter and continue the drill until every player has stopped in the post, set screens for cutters, shaped up, and scored. With those drills, you get to work on Layer 1, feeding the post, scoring in the post, setting screens, and using screens. Step 2: Building on the basics.

Useful tips learned over the phone? Impossible? Not according to PGC Basketball. They are conducting a series of Coaching Clinic Telephone Calls hoping to get valuable tips into the hands of coaches just like you. And, other than the fact that no one uses the word telephone anymore, I think it's working quite well, especially since Rick was their first guest. If you missed it, you can listen to the first part of that call here. Today we're moving deeper into the call. In this first 4 minute clip, Rick discusses a question we get all the time. "With set plays, I can control shot selection since there are specific scoring options for specific plays. If the Read & React Offense gives players freedom (to a point), how do you control shot selection?" The answer is partially what you would expect. Control it through role identification and communication - just like you would in a motion offense or a continuity offense. But, there are ways to control shot selection within the Read & React using indirect techniques. Rick explains how. 3:50 - Rick Torbett on Shot Selection Three principles make up successful offense: good spacing, good player movement, and good ball movement. Great offenses have all three of those principles. Good offenses have two. And, ok offenses have one. This is important to remember in any offensive system, but the Read & React is specifically designed to force you into all three.

Here's a drill that Randi Peterson developed and shared at last year's Beyond the Basics Clinic in Cedar Rapids (her team is currently 18-2 and ranked #23 nationally, by the way). If you're interested, you can watch full Coe College Women's games here. Coach Peterson has a knack of integrating the Read & React Offense into as many facets of her practice as possible in fun, imaginative ways. This particular drill is designed to train Post Moves, Post Cuts, Perimeter Shots, Post Feeds, and several other key aspects of the Post and Perimeter game. All of that work in a single drill - that's how you make the most out of practice time! There are two things that I want you to notice specifically. First, with only slight variations, this drill's framework can be used to work on specific post moves, specific post feeds, and specific post cuts. It's all about what you teach and what your team needs to work on. Second, Randi doesn't dictate the rotations; she lets the players figure it out. Not only does this save her office time because she doesn't have to conceptualize the perfect drill complete with perfect rotations, it also forces her players to be proactive and empowers them to make decisions. Just like they have to make in game situations.

I was recently at a Shorter University women's game watching them dismantle their opponent. This is their first year with the offense, but I noticed one action (or sequence of actions) that they went back to time and again with success.

And, I think you might be able to find a place for it - especially if you do anything in the 4 OUT. 4 OUT Weak-Side Lob Frame 1
Here's the whole concept in one frame. 4 (who was their best offensive player) has the ball and the post is on the weak-side. 4 passes to 1, then basket cuts. Instead of trying to hit the cutter right away, 1 lobs over the top into the shaded area.


I'm not exaggerating when I say that this was good for a lay-up two or three times (at the college level, no less) and when it wasn't, their best player still caught the pass cleanly and then got to work her skills on the low block. Not once did this pass get tipped or thrown out of bounce (of course, your mileage may very on that one, I guess).

Here are some Read & React clips from Shorter University men (from the 2010 season). This is Shorter's first year with the offense, but these clips will demonstrate how linking just the first 6 layers can be effective, even at the collegiate level. Clips 1 & 2: Here you can see Pass & Cut followed by the Draft Drive (for more info about the Draft Drive, see this earlier post). Basically, after a few passes and cuts, the ball handler drives off the tail of the previous cutter. You can see how the cutter drags his defender out of help-side position, opening up a seam for the penetration to get to the rim. Even in Clip 2, when the penetration comes late, the help-side defender is so preoccupied with the filling cutter that he doesn't even notice the drive until it is too late.