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As promised, a follow up on my last posted thread on the fundamentals of setting screens. This time, I want to discuss the fundamentals of cutting off a screen, both with the ball and away from it, and talk about why we are weak in this fundamental and what we can do to fix it.
First, lets discuss coming off a ball screen as the ballhandler. The key to this is patience and technique. Patience, because you have to let the screener come up to get in position....you can't take off or give up on the screen to quickly. Technique wise, you need to be able to occupy your defender and make him guard you before the screen happens, so he can't prepare for it as easily....you need to be able to crossover and get past him away in the direction away from the screen if he cheats defensively.
After that, and this is a fundamental the Pacers ballhandlers struggle with, you need to come off the screen right at his outside shoulder, so there is no space for the defender to slide thru over the top of the screen. You also need to keep your dribble quick and low thru this move to explode thru it, so your screener can really pop the guy and then get into either his "roll", to his "fade" or to "rescreen" somewhere else.....in other words, you've got to turn the corner sharply, and not go too wide. It also really really helps to have the ability to make a behind the back pass, which few do anymore, to a screener popping back for a shot.....if you dont have that pass you normally have to turn your body to pass the ball back like that, and that can let the defense recover.
Alright, coming off a ballscreen is fairly straightforward, and most of you probably know that fundamental. But now, lets talk about how to cut off a screen AWAY from the ball, and to be an effective cutter. Here should be the "commandments" of being a great cutter:
1. Cutters should be FACING THE LANE, and not the basketball. In other words, you should not be facing the half court line, but instead be facing the opposite sideline, or lane line, or however you want to picture it.
2. Cutters should be WATCHING THEIR MAN, and not the basketball. It is the ballhandlers responsibility and job to find you if you are open....your job is to get open to start with....dont watch the ball, watch how the defense is playing you.
3. Cutters should set their man up before the screen comes using the principle of "If he plays you high take him higher, if he is low take him lower"....in other words, if the defense is playing you a certain way, use that against him by making him react to your move that can put him even further out of position.
4. Cutters should FAKE before every cut, as the screener is on his way. This is so your defender can't easily see the screen coming (he is forced to watch you by your fake).
5. OKAY>>>>>NOW WE HAVE A COACHING PHILOSOPHY DISPUTE>>>>>>
Step 5 is either A. Cutters should begin their cut and watch their DEFENDER, and cut to where he isnt....
Or B. Cutters should watch the SCREENER, and shift their cut to how the screener reacts to the direction the defender is going.
I am a believer in choice A by the way.
6. Cutter should cut low to the ground, in a good stance, and cut "shoulder to waist". I know the prevailing wisdom is to say cut "shoulder to shoulder" but that usually ends up in your cutter standing up too soon theu the cut, catching the ball without good knee flex, and being too slow to make a move after recieving the pass. At the higher levels of game, its all about athleticism and technique, and coming thru the screen and cutting low and in balance makes you quicker and better able to make a move or shoot after the catch.
7. Cutters should cut with a TARGET HAND out to show the passer which way they are cutting and where they'd like the pass to be. The passer should be taught to not make a pass to a cutter without a target hand out...that is the key that the ballhandler uses to know whether to make the pass to a cutter or not in most cases. Its at this stage where its alright for the cutter to look for the ball.
8. Cutters have to be able to "read" their defender (or screener if you are in that school of thought). Cutters have 3 choices : Make a "straight cut" which is what you use to go in a straight line toward the ball or a point on the floor, and is normally used when the defender runs right into the screen and totally is nailed by it. Its creates the shortest and easiest pass for the ballhandler to make. Choice #2 is to make a "fade" cut, which you use when they defender goes over the top of the screen. In this case it creates a longer pass but often an easier one if your ballhandler can make it. Your screener turns his body and slides his feet to block off the cheating defender, the cutter fades to an open spot, gets a pass, and makes a wide open jumper....or fakes the jumper and drives to the bucket. Think how many times you've seen this from Reggie Miller....Choice#3 is to "curl", which is when the cutters defender goes underneath the screen to stop the fade cut....in this case, the cutter sees that, stops and reads, the screener pivots and shifts slightly, and the cutter curls around pinning the defender helplessly along the baseline, hopefully recieves a good pass from the ballhandler, and hits a very short shot.
In any of the choices, the key fundamentals are the same....just read the defense, follow your rules and how you've been taught, and make the appropriate basketball play.
Turning this in to a Pacers discussion.....obviously Reggie Miller was an outstanding cutter. I'd actually tell you that I think his ability to read screens was more important than his ability to shoot well. Other great "cutters" we've had were Chris Mullin and Jalen Rose, among others.
Last year, I was really struck by how really terrible we were at being cutters....until Peja joined us mid season, we didnt have a single player who I considered good in this area. Peja himself was a pretty good cutter but was slower thru the cut than I'd like. He did however provide a great sized target, and was a fine shooter after he caught the ball.
The two worst cutters we had in my view were Anthony Johnson and Stephen Jackson. Johnson, as a cutter, did almost every single thing wrong. Like all the Pacers now almost he always stared at the ball and not his defender, therefore he often had no clue which wouldve been the proper way to cut to get away from his man. Often, when he was paired with Sarunas, we'd try and use AJ as a cutter and it rarely worked to get us a good shot. Often AJ wouldve beenopen easily had he cut correctly, but he seemed to prefer the "straight cut", and would often run directly INTO his defender instead of away from him. He also hardly ever showed a target, leaving the passer to guess where and when to throw him the ball.
This would personify itself when Sarunas and AJ were in together. Sarunas would often be asked to pass the ball to a potentially cutting AJ, Sarunas would often have the ball in the air before AJ would show a target because he read which way AJ was going to cut. AJ would come off the screen and get nailed by a pass, and because he almost always cut incorrectly, the screen would be unsuccessful too, leaving AJ off balance with the ball and being guarded. Now, because with the ball AJ was pretty good, he sometimes made it work anyway, but it was plays like this that made our offense look discombobulated.
Jackson is also an incredibly poor technique cutter. Thats a shame because he has every bit the natural athletic ability and skill to be MUCH better than he is at this. Jackson has almost no patience to wait on a screen, almost never fakes before coming off it, and because he gawks at the ballhandler and not his man he has no clue where the best way to cut is. He is really bad at rubbing his man of a screen too, and often cuts way way too wide, letting his man easily get thru the screen.
Some of these Jackson "isolations" we are all tired of don't intend to become that, but because he is so bad at coming off a screen they often end up that way....its a really bad fundamental problem that you'd think could be fixed easier than it really can. I've found that thru my coaching experience that for some reason some players can read a screen, and some just can't....and I don't really know why that is. I'd love to be able to personally work with Jackson to see why he is such a bad cutter. Maybe he doesnt want to learn, maybe he just doesnt have the "knack", maybe he hasnt been taught well, maybe he is better than I think he is and Im wrong about all of this....Id love to know the true answer.
Fred Jones sucked as a cutter too. We tried to use him off screens at times, and while he had good athletic ability and the ability to be a scorer, he too was a very poor cutter. He seemed to be a bit better as a cutter than Jackson and Johnson, but not much. Again, he really struggled with the simple concept of waiting to let the screen develop, and then reading his defender. He took off too soon alot, and didnt like to "fade" off a cut, which I think teams scouted and therefore played him off a screen to try and force him to do that in order to be open.
RC in my view adjusted fairly well to this motley crew of cutters. Later in the year he used only Peja in any plays that required a decision on how to cut and read the defense. He came up with more plays where the cut was "defined" for both the cutter and the passer, and reading the defense wasnt important.....we ran alot of simpler "A.B.C" type plays (you cut to this spot, then cut here, etc etc) where decision making wasnt part of it. We ran alot of isolations and post ups for Jackson, so cutting off a screen for him wasnt necessary. And we slowed the pace of the game down so some of these issues wouldnt be so obvious, and kept us in most games and got us to the playoffs.
I would assume that by scouting, the Pacers identified players they wanted to obtain who were better cutters and screeners, and set out to rid themselves if they could of guys who struggled in that area. I would assume (but can't say for myself yet) that Daniels and Harrington are viewed as excellent cutters and readers of screens in addition to being good players. And I would assume the same for Maceo Bastin, James White, and even Shawne Williams. Time will tell whether they seem to have that innate ability to be a good cutter or not. Maybe they see some of this skill in Rawle Marshall even...I can't tell you because I havent seen any of them play enough yet.
I will say this....RC and his staff hasnt shown the ability to really "coach up" our players in this area and make them better overall basketball players with higher bball IQ's. He has shown the ability to adjust to what he has....but developing players skills in this area doesnt seem to be his strength.
I would assume that any new "offensive Philosophy" we try and play with (if any) will involve more freedom, more motion offense, and more situations where the players on the floor have to be able to read a screen correctly and cut in the proper effective way. If they prove they can't, then RC will have to control them more and make the game simpler for his players offensively.
Again, comments welcome and thanks for reading my analysis of "how to be a good cutter of a screen".
JMO
First, lets discuss coming off a ball screen as the ballhandler. The key to this is patience and technique. Patience, because you have to let the screener come up to get in position....you can't take off or give up on the screen to quickly. Technique wise, you need to be able to occupy your defender and make him guard you before the screen happens, so he can't prepare for it as easily....you need to be able to crossover and get past him away in the direction away from the screen if he cheats defensively.
After that, and this is a fundamental the Pacers ballhandlers struggle with, you need to come off the screen right at his outside shoulder, so there is no space for the defender to slide thru over the top of the screen. You also need to keep your dribble quick and low thru this move to explode thru it, so your screener can really pop the guy and then get into either his "roll", to his "fade" or to "rescreen" somewhere else.....in other words, you've got to turn the corner sharply, and not go too wide. It also really really helps to have the ability to make a behind the back pass, which few do anymore, to a screener popping back for a shot.....if you dont have that pass you normally have to turn your body to pass the ball back like that, and that can let the defense recover.
Alright, coming off a ballscreen is fairly straightforward, and most of you probably know that fundamental. But now, lets talk about how to cut off a screen AWAY from the ball, and to be an effective cutter. Here should be the "commandments" of being a great cutter:
1. Cutters should be FACING THE LANE, and not the basketball. In other words, you should not be facing the half court line, but instead be facing the opposite sideline, or lane line, or however you want to picture it.
2. Cutters should be WATCHING THEIR MAN, and not the basketball. It is the ballhandlers responsibility and job to find you if you are open....your job is to get open to start with....dont watch the ball, watch how the defense is playing you.
3. Cutters should set their man up before the screen comes using the principle of "If he plays you high take him higher, if he is low take him lower"....in other words, if the defense is playing you a certain way, use that against him by making him react to your move that can put him even further out of position.
4. Cutters should FAKE before every cut, as the screener is on his way. This is so your defender can't easily see the screen coming (he is forced to watch you by your fake).
5. OKAY>>>>>NOW WE HAVE A COACHING PHILOSOPHY DISPUTE>>>>>>
Step 5 is either A. Cutters should begin their cut and watch their DEFENDER, and cut to where he isnt....
Or B. Cutters should watch the SCREENER, and shift their cut to how the screener reacts to the direction the defender is going.
I am a believer in choice A by the way.
6. Cutter should cut low to the ground, in a good stance, and cut "shoulder to waist". I know the prevailing wisdom is to say cut "shoulder to shoulder" but that usually ends up in your cutter standing up too soon theu the cut, catching the ball without good knee flex, and being too slow to make a move after recieving the pass. At the higher levels of game, its all about athleticism and technique, and coming thru the screen and cutting low and in balance makes you quicker and better able to make a move or shoot after the catch.
7. Cutters should cut with a TARGET HAND out to show the passer which way they are cutting and where they'd like the pass to be. The passer should be taught to not make a pass to a cutter without a target hand out...that is the key that the ballhandler uses to know whether to make the pass to a cutter or not in most cases. Its at this stage where its alright for the cutter to look for the ball.
8. Cutters have to be able to "read" their defender (or screener if you are in that school of thought). Cutters have 3 choices : Make a "straight cut" which is what you use to go in a straight line toward the ball or a point on the floor, and is normally used when the defender runs right into the screen and totally is nailed by it. Its creates the shortest and easiest pass for the ballhandler to make. Choice #2 is to make a "fade" cut, which you use when they defender goes over the top of the screen. In this case it creates a longer pass but often an easier one if your ballhandler can make it. Your screener turns his body and slides his feet to block off the cheating defender, the cutter fades to an open spot, gets a pass, and makes a wide open jumper....or fakes the jumper and drives to the bucket. Think how many times you've seen this from Reggie Miller....Choice#3 is to "curl", which is when the cutters defender goes underneath the screen to stop the fade cut....in this case, the cutter sees that, stops and reads, the screener pivots and shifts slightly, and the cutter curls around pinning the defender helplessly along the baseline, hopefully recieves a good pass from the ballhandler, and hits a very short shot.
In any of the choices, the key fundamentals are the same....just read the defense, follow your rules and how you've been taught, and make the appropriate basketball play.
Turning this in to a Pacers discussion.....obviously Reggie Miller was an outstanding cutter. I'd actually tell you that I think his ability to read screens was more important than his ability to shoot well. Other great "cutters" we've had were Chris Mullin and Jalen Rose, among others.
Last year, I was really struck by how really terrible we were at being cutters....until Peja joined us mid season, we didnt have a single player who I considered good in this area. Peja himself was a pretty good cutter but was slower thru the cut than I'd like. He did however provide a great sized target, and was a fine shooter after he caught the ball.
The two worst cutters we had in my view were Anthony Johnson and Stephen Jackson. Johnson, as a cutter, did almost every single thing wrong. Like all the Pacers now almost he always stared at the ball and not his defender, therefore he often had no clue which wouldve been the proper way to cut to get away from his man. Often, when he was paired with Sarunas, we'd try and use AJ as a cutter and it rarely worked to get us a good shot. Often AJ wouldve beenopen easily had he cut correctly, but he seemed to prefer the "straight cut", and would often run directly INTO his defender instead of away from him. He also hardly ever showed a target, leaving the passer to guess where and when to throw him the ball.
This would personify itself when Sarunas and AJ were in together. Sarunas would often be asked to pass the ball to a potentially cutting AJ, Sarunas would often have the ball in the air before AJ would show a target because he read which way AJ was going to cut. AJ would come off the screen and get nailed by a pass, and because he almost always cut incorrectly, the screen would be unsuccessful too, leaving AJ off balance with the ball and being guarded. Now, because with the ball AJ was pretty good, he sometimes made it work anyway, but it was plays like this that made our offense look discombobulated.
Jackson is also an incredibly poor technique cutter. Thats a shame because he has every bit the natural athletic ability and skill to be MUCH better than he is at this. Jackson has almost no patience to wait on a screen, almost never fakes before coming off it, and because he gawks at the ballhandler and not his man he has no clue where the best way to cut is. He is really bad at rubbing his man of a screen too, and often cuts way way too wide, letting his man easily get thru the screen.
Some of these Jackson "isolations" we are all tired of don't intend to become that, but because he is so bad at coming off a screen they often end up that way....its a really bad fundamental problem that you'd think could be fixed easier than it really can. I've found that thru my coaching experience that for some reason some players can read a screen, and some just can't....and I don't really know why that is. I'd love to be able to personally work with Jackson to see why he is such a bad cutter. Maybe he doesnt want to learn, maybe he just doesnt have the "knack", maybe he hasnt been taught well, maybe he is better than I think he is and Im wrong about all of this....Id love to know the true answer.
Fred Jones sucked as a cutter too. We tried to use him off screens at times, and while he had good athletic ability and the ability to be a scorer, he too was a very poor cutter. He seemed to be a bit better as a cutter than Jackson and Johnson, but not much. Again, he really struggled with the simple concept of waiting to let the screen develop, and then reading his defender. He took off too soon alot, and didnt like to "fade" off a cut, which I think teams scouted and therefore played him off a screen to try and force him to do that in order to be open.
RC in my view adjusted fairly well to this motley crew of cutters. Later in the year he used only Peja in any plays that required a decision on how to cut and read the defense. He came up with more plays where the cut was "defined" for both the cutter and the passer, and reading the defense wasnt important.....we ran alot of simpler "A.B.C" type plays (you cut to this spot, then cut here, etc etc) where decision making wasnt part of it. We ran alot of isolations and post ups for Jackson, so cutting off a screen for him wasnt necessary. And we slowed the pace of the game down so some of these issues wouldnt be so obvious, and kept us in most games and got us to the playoffs.
I would assume that by scouting, the Pacers identified players they wanted to obtain who were better cutters and screeners, and set out to rid themselves if they could of guys who struggled in that area. I would assume (but can't say for myself yet) that Daniels and Harrington are viewed as excellent cutters and readers of screens in addition to being good players. And I would assume the same for Maceo Bastin, James White, and even Shawne Williams. Time will tell whether they seem to have that innate ability to be a good cutter or not. Maybe they see some of this skill in Rawle Marshall even...I can't tell you because I havent seen any of them play enough yet.
I will say this....RC and his staff hasnt shown the ability to really "coach up" our players in this area and make them better overall basketball players with higher bball IQ's. He has shown the ability to adjust to what he has....but developing players skills in this area doesnt seem to be his strength.
I would assume that any new "offensive Philosophy" we try and play with (if any) will involve more freedom, more motion offense, and more situations where the players on the floor have to be able to read a screen correctly and cut in the proper effective way. If they prove they can't, then RC will have to control them more and make the game simpler for his players offensively.
Again, comments welcome and thanks for reading my analysis of "how to be a good cutter of a screen".
JMO
If I'm cutting from a down screen, up to the wing, I would need to be facing the halfcourt line, because that's the direction I'm going. The only time you should be facing the center of the court, is if it's a horizontal cut from the wing to the middle.
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