Transition play
Transition: Numbered Break, Trailer Three
- Court
- Full court
- Length
- 7 steps
About this play
The trailer three, the numbered break's last option and the one defenses forget. 4 rebounds and comes last by rule, so when the pitch ahead and the rim run are both covered he arrives at the arc behind a defense that has sunk to stop 1 and 5. The whole option is timing. Early, and the trailer is a body in the lane 1 is driving; late, and the point guard has already picked up the ball, so the catch is a reset instead of a shot. Why it works: two defenders back can stop the ball at the elbow and cover the rim runner, and that is all they can do. The weak-side defender has to drop to the paint to help on 5, and the trailer catches in the spot he left. Personnel: 4 has to be a big who can shoot from the top, or the option is a reversal instead of a shot; 1 has to attack the seam with a live dribble so the help has to commit. The read is the help on the rim runner: the big who dropped to stop 5 cannot also take the trailer. The counter when X4 sprints out to the trailer: 4 drives the closeout, and 5, who has been sealing under the rim, has the layup. Common mistakes: the trailer cutting early, the trailer stopping at the elbow instead of the arc, and 1 picking up his dribble before the help has moved. Coach's Clipboard's numbered secondary break lays out all five options in order, and this is the fifth; read it for the fourth option, the second big's flash cut to the block, which comes between the rim run and the trailer's shot.
