[Hector Cueva]

Bill,

Which way is your ball handler driving? If you are having trouble with the baseline cutter, it may be a spacing issue and it wouldn’t be a good idea driving in that situation. If the baseline defender comes and helps on the driver, then your cutter should be open for a baseline dish.

Hope this helps

[Coach Ralph]

Coach Bill: This question gets asked on occasion, but it is more theoretical in nature vs. real world. Why would the wing drive baseline right into a help defender? They are more likely to drive the paint, which will result in multiple easy passing options when help comes. If they insist on driving baseline and help comes, hit the corner as Hector suggests, or the driver jump stops, pivots, and hits one of the players circle moving on the perimeter.

[Coach Rick]

Hey Bill,
This question comes up most often when coaches are first installing the Read & React. Before I answer it, be assured with the following: veteran Read & React coaches don’t have a problem with this situation. Here is a list of their solutions: (maybe one or all of them will work for you)
1. Just don’t do it unless you can beat your defender with one dribble so sharply and so quickly that the corner cannot react. In this case the corner stays. There’s no where for the driver to bounce off, but in this case, you’re not driving unless your sure.
2. Train your wings to only drive this situation when they are above the FT line extended. This gives the corner time to react and results in a Draft Drive. If you’ve caught the ball below the FT line extended, don’t drive on the baseline side because it’s poor spacing.
3. If you drive this situation and your corner stays (for whatever reason – not quick enough, not a habit yet, etc) and if the drive is stopped, the driver cannot bounce off and must therefore pick up his/her dribble, reverse pivot, and look for their Safety Valve filling the wing (you’re already familiar with this). We don’t need two Safety Valves, so train the corner to make a Laker Cut as if they fed the post (because the ball is in the post). This is easy to put in a drill and you’ll use it in other situations like this.
4. I like the following solution from a coach whose team was very strong off the dribble drive: If the ball is not immediately passed to the corner (from the wing), the corner takes that as a signal that they are not going to be used, so they immediately cut (like a Read Line cut). This is a chance for a lay-up, it immediately clears the corner, and if the wing does not drive then our corner cutter is setting up our next action like (a) posting up (b) screening for a weakside post player, or (c) back-screening the opposite corner, wing, or top teammates.

[Bill]

Thanks – that is a great explanationThanks!