A Few Quick Hitters

I've been thinking a lot about primary breaks and the options teams have off of quick hitters. I figured I'd give you guys a few looks I've done before, they're relatively easy to learn and run.

First lets talk primary breaks :

Off a rebound, every team has to have their players in a position to advance the ball down the court immediately. Last post we talked 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 breaks, but now we are focusing on breaking against 5 men back on defense. On the rebound the forward who did not get the rebound is going to be the "rim runner". Call it whatever you want, but the "rim runner" runs as fast as they can down court and to the rim. This way if the ball is advanced up court quickly, you have an opportunity for a layup. The off guards, the 2 and the 3 in this diagram, will fill the wings, and the 4 will be the trailer. The trailer usually follows the ball up the court, to provide the 1 with another option if they are pressured in the back court. This set up of a forward at the rim, two wing players, a trailer and the point guard on top is typical of a lot of team's primary breaks.

Sometimes teams run into problems balancing the court. They have their two wing players on the same wing running down court on a primary break. To better balance the court, try this simple trick that we called "thru" at Purchase.

If two guards are on the same side try running "thru". The second guard, furthest from your scoring basket, tells the guard ahead of them "GO THRU!". The guard ahead runs to the baseline and thru to the other wing, instead of cutting across the court. Cutting across the court wastes time and can ruin other opportunities in the break. Running baseline can catch the defense's attention.

Now that we have the set up down lets take a peek at a few quick hitters.


Here is a stagger look: 

The 1 starts with the ball and reverses the ball to the 4 who reverses it to the 3. As this ball reversal is occurring the 5 is following the ball in the low post, eventually stopping on the ball side block (the 3's side). The 2 is moving towards the corner away from the ball reversal.

Now that the 3 has the ball the 4 and 1 go and get the 2 in the weak side corner on a stagger screen. The 2 sets up their defender and uses the stagger wisely. The  4 who is the second screen in the stagger is "cleaning up the garbage",something we used to say at Purchase, meaning they are finding the 2's defender and making sure to screen them. The 2 then rises to the top of the key for an open shot. Remember this is a quick hitter, so the action has to work relatively quickly.

If the stagger doesn't get the 2 an open shot there is still hope for a bucket off this break. The 5 can then screen across for the 4 who is on the weak side block. The 2 then screens down for the 5 on a screen the screener look. The 5 pops up and should have an open shot at that point of the offense.




Now here is a little back screen action, still off of a primary break: 

Very similar to the start of the stagger quick hitter, the ball is reversed from the 1 to the 4 to the 3. The 5 still follows the ball to the weak side. The 2 keeps spacing and stays idle on the wing.

Once the 3 has the ball the 2 is now ready to move. The 2 cuts to the weak side block and then sprints to the top to back screen the 4's defender. The 4 waits until the screen is set (until they hear two feet hit the floor) and goes tightly off the screen for an over the top pass from the 3. If this doesn't get a layup the 2 can pop for a shot or the action used earlier in the stagger example can be used also.




These are just a couple simple quick hitters to run off of a primary break, against five defenders. If the ball hasn't been moved up the court fast enough it might be wise to just go into a set offense rather than trying quick hitters against a fully settled defense.

Keep in mind:

• Players receiving screens should WAIT, WAIT, and WAIT SOME MORE before going off a screen. The player being screened needs to set up their defender and also prevent the likelihood of a moving screen by waiting for the screener's two feet to hit the floor. 
• The ball should be reversed quickly
• If the ball can be moved up the court it should be done by passing rather than dribbling. The ball travels faster in the air than it does bouncing from the ground back to a player's hand.
• Keep good spacing to make it harder for the defense to cover all the ground. 

That's all I have for now, I hope these quick hitters are helpful.
'Til next time.
thirteen.