Princeton play
Princeton: Low Post Split
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 8 steps
About this play
The Low phase: the ball goes to the wing and into the post on the block, and the passer has three choices the moment it arrives: slide to the corner, Laker cut around the post for a return pass, or cut to the elbow and screen for the player above him, which is the split (Coach's Clipboard's Carril page, Hoop Student, Thomaidis). Why the split is the one to teach first: the post sees everything from the block, and two players crossing in front of him give the defense two cutters to guard at once. The reads on the elbow screen: the top player accepts and cuts to the wing when his defender is loose, rejects and cuts straight to the rim when his defender fights over, curls to the rim when the defender trails, and the screener slips to the front of the rim whenever he sees a gap. Counter shown: the scouted defense switches the split, so the screener slips to the rim with the switched defender a step late, because a switch on a split leaves the screener's man behind him. Carril's rule for choosing the phase: a strong big man means run Low; without one, run the high post or Chin. When the post has no cutter and no move, he dribbles up the lane line and passes to the top, and the offense is in Point. The split reads come from Pete Carril's notes on Coach's Clipboard, Lisa Thomaidis's Canadian National Team playbook, Hoop Student's Low series, and Coach Lee DeForest; they cover the Laker cut and the kick-outs I left out here, so go deeper there.
