A few years ago I counted how many of my team's baseline inbounds plays actually got a shot. It was under half. We had six plays, six formations, and a defense that had figured out every one of them by halftime because the alignment gave the play away before the ball was handed in.
So I rebuilt the whole package around one formation. One box, many looks. The defense sees the same picture on every baseline inbound, and the play is decided by the first screen, not the lineup. Here's the package, with every play animated, plus the counters for a defense that switches or denies.
Why one formation
A BLOB has five seconds, a set defense, and an inbounder standing a few feet from the rim. The offense's only edge is that the defense can't tell what's coming. Six formations tell them. One formation with six plays doesn't.
The box puts two players on the blocks and two at the elbows. Every player is one step from a screen. Every screen can go two directions. And the reads on every play are the same: the cutter reads his defender, the screener reads the switch.
The box plays
Screen the screener for a layup
The first play I teach from the box, because it carries the read every other play uses. The elbow player screens down for the block player, who cuts to the corner. Then the other block player screens the screener, who cuts to the rim. The defense has to guard two screens in a row, and the second cutter is usually the one who scores.
Fake cross and back
The two block players look like they're crossing, then the first one plants and comes back to the ball side. It's a counter for a defense that has learned the cross screen: the defender who jumped the cross is now on the wrong side.
Back screen lob
The elbow player back screens the block player's defender, and the inbounder lobs over the top. This is the play for when you need a two and the defense is switching: the switch on a back screen leaves a smaller player under the rim.
Elevator for a three
Two players at the elbows set an elevator screen, two bodies that close like doors after the cutter runs through. The shooter comes from the block up through the doors to the top for the three. It's the play for when you need a three and the defense is trailing cutters.
The low-clock plays
Two rules decide every last-second inbound play, and I write them on the board before I draw anything.
- Under three seconds, the shot is the catch. There's no time to put the ball down. The play is a catch-and-shoot or a lob caught in the air.
- Under one second, the ball can't be caught and shot. At 0.3 seconds or less, the only legal play is a tap. The pass is a lob to the rim and the shot is a tip.
Catch and shoot under three
A single screen for the shooter, who catches on the move with his feet set and shoots in one motion. The screener's job is to make sure the defender is trailing, because a defender who goes under gets to the shot.
The tap lob under one second
The lob goes to the rim, not to a player, and the tallest player times his jump to tip it. The screen is a seal on the tapper's defender. If you have more than 0.3 seconds, the tapper can catch and shoot; if you don't, he taps.
Against a zone
A zone is set before the ball is live, so the man-to-man screens above don't move it. The box against a 2-3 attacks the two spots the zone doesn't own: the short corner, with a cutter behind the zone along the baseline, and the high post, with the elbow player flashing into the gap.
Iowa
One formation, many looks, and one exception. Iowa is the stagger play I wrote up for youth teams, and it starts from a different alignment because the stagger needs two screeners in a line. It's here because it's the play I'd run for a big who can't shoot but can finish.
The youth sets
If you coach younger players, I wrote four BLOB posts a while back with simpler plays that still work: the box set for shooters, the center stack for bigs, the four across for shooters, and Iowa. Start there and move to the box package when your players can read a switch.
Teaching it
The box package teaches in three steps. First, the formation with no play: five players in the box, the inbounder with the ball, and everyone knows which screen he's one step from. Second, the screen-the-screener play until the reads are automatic, because every other play is a variation of it. Third, one new look per week, always from the same box.
The inbounder's rule on every play: look at the first option, look at the second, and if neither is there, the safety valve to the corner or the top. Five seconds is longer than it feels, but only if he's not panicking.
Wrapping Up
One box, many looks. The defense sees the same picture every time, your players know every read, and the play is decided by the first screen. That's a BLOB package that still works in the fourth quarter.
Every play is live in Elite Hoops. Step through one and watch the read, then tap Save to add it to your playbook. For sideline inbounds and end-of-game plays, the companion guide is sideline out of bounds and end-of-game plays.
