Transition play
Transition: Early Post Feed off the Back Screen
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 8 steps
About this play
The early post feed with a back screen, for the big who never quite beats his man down the floor. 1 pushes up the right side to the wing, 2 runs the right sideline through to the corner, 5 comes up the middle behind the ball to the elbow, and 3 and 4 fill the weak side. Then 2 loops back from the corner to the high post and back-screens 5's defender, and 5 cuts off it to the lane for the lob or to the block for the post-up. Run it when your post is the slower big and the rim run never gets him the ball, because a back screen gets him to the rim with a defender behind him instead of in front. Why the loop works: 2's run to the corner pulls X2 to the baseline and away from where the screen is about to be set, and coming back toward the ball from the baseline is what gets him behind X5 unseen. The part I like most is that the play never asks the slow big to win a race; it asks him to arrive second and still get the ball at the rim. Personnel: 5 a big who finishes lobs or posts with his back to the basket, 2 a wing who will screen a big, 1 a guard who can throw the lob and the post entry from the wing. The read is X5 on the back screen. If he trails 5 over it, throw the lob to the lane. If he goes under and beats 5 to the lane, the counter is the cut becoming a post-up: 5 keeps going to the block, seals X5 on his hip, and 1 enters from the wing before the help arrives. Common mistakes: 2 screening from the corner instead of looping to the high post first, 5 cutting before the screen is set, and 1 dribbling himself out of the entry angle at the wing. Hoop Student's transition low post page is where I got both versions, the rim runner and the back screen; read it for the rim-runner version too.
