I’ve run a pass & cut offense with my youth teams for years.

It teaches a handful of important concepts:

• Spacing

• Cutting to score

• Ball reversals

• Penetration reaction

• Squaring up on every catch to see cutters

When you play bad teams, those concepts are enough. You’ll get a bunch of pass & cut layups against those teams.

What happens when you play good teams? All of a sudden, those easy layups go away.

Then what? If you’re like most teams, you’re in bad shape. The good news is, there’s an easy (albeit often overlooked) answer to this.

Read on to find out what it is!

Why The Basket Cut Is Arguably The 2nd Most Important Cut In Your Offense

It’s awesome when you get a basket cut for a layup. It just doesn’t happen all that often, especially against good competition.

That’s why you need to shift your attention to the fill cut. It’s actually the cut that makes a pass & cut offense effective.

What is a fill cut?

It’s the cut a player makes into the space vacated by the basket cutter.

In the image below, 4 fill cuts after 2 basket cuts.

Why is this cut so important?

The fill cut opens up 1v1 opportunities for your players. In the picture above, a hard cut by 2 should draw momentary help from 4’s defender.

That means that if 4 fills hard, they are receiving the ball with the ability to attack a closeout.

Trained properly, this should consistently create advantages for your team.

The issue is, most teams don’t train it. As a result, the fill cut is passive and non-threatening.

Don’t let that happen to your team!

Put The Defense On Its Heels With Fill Cut 1v1

The Youth Coaching System With Jim Huber puts a huge emphasis on attacking closeouts.

Fill Cut 1v1 is a great drill to do this.

Setup

• Have one player (the defense) positioned in the slot (x5).

• The offensive player is positioned even with the defense, close to the sideline (5).

• The passer is at the top of the key.

• Have a cone in the corner.

Instructions

• When you say go, the offense sprints around their cones on the outside and fills up to the wing.

• The defender sprints around the block on the inside.

• The coach passes to the offensive player and it’s live 1v1.

• The offensive player has 3 dribbles to score.

Coaching Keys

• Stress scanning. As the offensive player is coming to receive the ball, they should be peaking at the defender. 

• If they catch the ball with space, they should shoot (if in range). If they are not in range, they can use a pump fake to draw the defender closer & then attack.

• If the defender is closing out hard, they should attack the rim.

• Players should catch the ball with their feet in the air. If they are planning to shoot, their feet should be square. If they are planning to drive, they should catch in a staggered stance.

• If the offense drives, they should be going north/south. If they do a direction other than the rim, it’s a turnover.

• Be sure to coach the defense, too, focusing on good closeouts.

Open The Scoring Window The Fill Court Provides

Looking for cutters is an integral part of offense. But so is attacking off fill cuts.

When you teach and emphasize both actions, your offense will go up another level.

Use the fill cut to start filling up the basket today!

Want to Make Youth Practices More
Fun and WIN MORE GAMES

Coach Huber's Youth Coaching System gives you all the tried and true practice plans, drills, skills and concepts you'll ever need. Inside you'll get:

• 64 Interactive Practice Plans for all levels of youth basketball

• Exactly What to Teach - Offense, Zone Offense, Defense, Press Breakers, Out of Bounds

• Age-Apropriate Skill Development - for ages 9-14

• Drill Progressions From Beginner to Advanced

• Step-By-Step Instructions

SEE THE YOUTH COACHING SYSTEM

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