Drills play
Drill: Pin-Down Reads with a Chair (Curl, Pop, Fade)
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 5 steps
About this play
Every motion and floppy offense depends on the cutter reading the man chasing him, and the chair isolates that read, which is why I run it before any screening is taught live. One shooter, a coach with the ball at the slot, a chair on the lane line about eight feet off the baseline standing in for the screener, a line of shooters in the corner. The shooter steps toward the baseline to set up the imagined defender, then sprints to the chair. The coach calls the read as he arrives: curl when the defender trails, wrapping tight around the chair to the elbow; pop when the defender goes under, running shoulder to chair straight out to the wing; fade when the defender cheats over the top, planting at the chair and drifting back to the corner. Catch, shoot, rebound, pass to the coach, end of the line; switch sides every round. Three in a row per read, Phil Martelli style, or eight makes per partner. Mistakes: going wide of the chair, curling before reaching it, catching off balance, the ball below the chest on the catch. Progression: a live screener who then shapes up for his own shot, then a live defender who chooses. High school and up. I borrowed the structure from Phil Martelli's curl and fade drill and Byron Scott's pin-down progression on Dr. Dish; give them a look for the off-the-dribble finishes.
