When a player passes, his defender's first move is a jump toward the ball, not toward his man, so that the cut his man is about to make goes behind him and not in front of him. This play runs a whole possession of pass-and-cut offense, the kind every youth team runs, and shows the jump on three passes: the passer cuts to the basket each time, the defender who jumped to the ball is already between the cutter and the ball, and the cut is denied. The offense fills out and swings the ball, and the defense is never beaten by a cutter. Why the jump: a give-and-go is the first play a youth team learns, and a defender who stands still when his man passes concedes a layup to it; the jump concedes the cut to the corner, which is harmless, and forces the offense to fill out and pass again. Where the advantage lies: every denied cut is a cutter who ends up in a corner, and an offense whose cutters end up in corners is an offense passing the ball around the arc. Common youth mistakes: following the man instead of jumping to the ball, jumping late (after the cut starts), and turning the back to the ball while chasing the cutter. I got the jump-to-the-ball teaching from Shane Battier's Jr. NBA session and Coach's Clipboard's notes on defending cutters; give them a look if you want more reps for it.
