Chicago action from Horns, the version Michigan ran in 2025–26: the point enters to the elbow big, who dribbles toward the wing; the point cuts to set a pin-down for the corner shooter, the shooter comes off it into the big's handoff at the wing, the big ducks to the block, and the other big steps up from the short corner into a step-up ball screen facing the sideline, so the handler attacks baseline-to-middle with a roller behind him. Why three actions one count apart: the handler is checking two things as he comes off the step-up, who has been left to tag the roller and whether his own defender is locked onto his hip and trailing, and a defense cannot answer the pin-down, the handoff, and the step-up with the same two players. The reads: trailing means turn the corner, under means shoot, a tag from the corner means kick, a dropped big means the elbow pull-up. The counter is for the defense that switches the handoff: the big who handed off seals the smaller switched defender on the block for the post entry while the step-up pulls the other big away. Common mistakes: the shooter leaving before the pin-down is set, the big handing off standing still, and the step-up set before the handoff so the help reads it. I picked this up from Teach Hoops' Chicago breakdown and Kelvin Sampson's Chicago set on Championship Productions, and Hudl's film study of Michigan's version will take you deeper on the reads.
