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How to Coach the Three-Man Basketball Play PatternsThe most common three man play is scissoring off the post. This play utilizes an inside screen and rear screen. It involves a high post player and both guards, or a medium post man and a guard and forward, on the ball side of the floor. The high post player moves into position in the outer half of the free throw circle. Upon reaching this position he is passed the ball from either guard. The pivot man is facing mid-court, back to the basket, and with feet spread for good balance. He must be extremely protective of the ball.
Defensive tactics used to upset the scissoring action can be easily neutralized by using optional splitting-the-post moves. For example, some pivot defenders will overplay to the side where the play is initiated, expecting the second cutter, who will come that way, to receive the pass. He can then step-in and draw the charge. The pivot player should see this. A good fake hand-off and a step to the basket with the foot opposite his defender’s position, a one-bounce dribble will get him an easy lay up. He could also take a medium turn-around shot.
Many guard defenders of the split-the-post attack drop back about a step in front of the pivot and automatically switch on the crossing guards. To negate this tactic, the second cutter can change direction immediately after starting the cut behind his teammate and cuts through the same side as the first cutter, or the first cutter can stop in front of a defender on the same side he passed in from instead of crossing, and the second guard can stop behind the double screen for a medium range shot.
The split-the-post maneuver can also be used from the mid-post position, utilizing that position with a guard and a forward on the ball side of the floor. Usually, it is the forward that initiates this pass into the pivot and makes the first cut. The guard fakes and times his cut behind the forward. Many good shooting opportunities open up because of this movement. If the forward receives the hand-off pass as the first cutter, he is in excellent range for a simple fake and jump shot. The guard, cutting behind the forward, is also is within good shooting range should the defense fall back. If the don’t and are properly screened he is wide open for a driving lay-up. The pivot player should open toward the hand off and step toward the basket as he will have inside position should his defender switch. Many shooting opportunities such as the step-in-direction hook shot, baby hooks, or turnaround jumpers, become available to a good pivot player. It is important that the two teammates, not involved in this play, lure their defenders away from the point of attack and maintain good defensive balance of the floor should the ball be intercepted or possession lost through rebounding action.
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