Press Break play
2-2-1 Press Break: Over the Top When Denied
- Court
- Full court
- Length
- 11 steps
About this play
The '60' break's answer when the 2-2-1 turns into a deny press ('61') with two defenders on the point guard. Why it works: a denial has to put bodies below the ball to take away the short passes, and every body below the ball is one fewer interceptor above it. 1 drifts toward the baseline with both defenders attached, shrinking the space they are guarding; 2 and 4 hold for a two count, then run their sidelines all the way to the end line so the middle defenders have to follow, and plant and go long when they are denied too; 1 pins the near defender on his hip, releases upcourt behind both of them, and 3 throws the lob to the arc so 1 meets it at full speed. Once 1 has it in the open floor with the two deniers behind him, the backcourt belongs to him. The read: both the point guard and both sidelines are denied, so the only pass left is the one over everyone's head. Counter shown: the press recovers and tries to trap the ball on the frontcourt sideline; the pass goes to the middle and then ahead for the layup, because a trap in the frontcourt leaves the rim with one defender. Rules: the inbounder has five seconds, so the cuts are timed to a count of two; the inbounder may run the baseline after a made basket; the lob is thrown to a spot, not a player. I picked this up from Coach's Clipboard's 60 and 61 press breakers and Jerry Petitgoue's 1-4 press break clinic on Championship Productions; look them up for the timing of the cuts.
