Alignment — Bigs Flash to the Elbows
1
4 and 5 flash simultaneously from the blocks to the elbows, opening the driving and cutting lanes underneath.
2
The elbow flash forces both on-ball defenders to declare — front, trail, or deny — before the ball ever gets there.
3
1, 2, and 3 hold spacing. Nobody clears early — keeps the floor balanced for whichever elbow the ball enters.
Coach’s EyeIf the defense denies both elbows, reverse the ball quickly before either big gets pinned on the catch. Don’t force the entry into a fronted post.
Entry Pass — 1 to 4, Cut and Clear
1
1 enters to 4 at the elbow, then cuts through immediately to fill the wing 2 is vacating. Pass and fill — the passer never stands.
2
2 clears the passing lane to the corner the instant the entry pass is thrown. This is a timing rule, not a read.
3
4 catches with two live reads: post the catch if the defender fronts, or reverse the ball back out top if the post is denied.
4
3 holds the weak side, keeping the floor spread ahead of the cross screen coming in the next phase.
Coach’s EyeAgainst a defense that jumps to deny 1’s cut, the counter is a back-cut instead of a fill — the defender has to open up to see the ball, and 1 goes behind them to the rim.
Cross Screen — 5 Screens, 4 Drives
1
5 cross-screens through the free-throw lane, picking off 4’s defender as 4 attacks downhill.
2
4 dribbles over the top of the screen, staying on the side away from the baseline, reading the screener’s defender for a hedge or a switch.
3
Switch → 4 has a mismatch against 5’s defender on the block. Hedge → 5 rolls to the rim behind the coverage for the dump-off.
4
3 clears to the far corner, keeping help-side spacing honest and opening the driving lane the full width of the floor.
Structural BridgeThe elbow flash in Phase 1 and the entry cut in Phase 2 exist to set up this exact cross screen — by the time 5 screens, both bigs’ defenders have already been forced to move once, making the screen much harder to help off of.