For ages 12 and up, after the man-to-man series. The skip pass is how a good offense attacks a zone that shifts well, and this play shows the answer twice, in both directions: the weak-side forward runs out on the flight, the weak-side guard sprints over and bumps him off, X5 crosses the lane, and the old ball-side guard drops to the nail. Why the zone can live with the skip: a skip pass is in the air for a long time, and the forward uses that time to be on the catch; the zone's advantage is that a skip is the slowest pass on the floor. What it must not concede: the catch-and-shoot before the forward arrives, and the block on the new side before X5 changes sides. Cue: on and off; the forward is on, the guard bumps him off. Common youth mistakes: the forward waiting for the catch (open three), the guard jogging (two defenders on one wing), and X5 staying on the old side (layup on the next pass). The on-and-off rule here comes from Al Marshall's weak side defender rules for Championship Productions and Coach's Clipboard's notes on covering the skip; read them if you want to go deeper.
