5-Out play
5-Out: Back Cut on Wing Denial
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 8 steps
About this play
The read that keeps every defense honest: a player one pass away who is being denied, and whose passer is looking at him, back cuts immediately and never hesitates. Why: the paint is empty in 5-out, so the back cut is always open behind an overplay; once the defense stops denying, every perimeter pass is open and the cuts do the rest. The cutter V-cuts a step to the ball to set his man up, plants the outside foot, and sprints to the rim for the bounce pass thrown to his outside hand. Counter shown: the scouted defense sags into the lane to take the back cut away, so the wing pops out and catches ready to shoot, because an underplay is a pop by rule; when the closeout comes short, he drives the gap and the drive reactions kick the ball to the corner shooter. Rule: read your own defender, not the ball. I learned to teach the back cut from Coach's Clipboard's motion drills and Championship Productions' positionless back cutting drill; give both a look if you want more reps for it.
