Subject:  Putting the "Fast" back into Fast Break
By:  Brian McCormick
February 5, 2004

In January, I turned on the television and saw the University of Arizona pounding the Cal Bears, a surprising score, if not result.  I watched for two minutes, trying to understand why it was a blowout before the Bears’ freshman guard Dominic McGuire was called for a charge on a four-on-one fast break.  Four-on-one.  Are you kidding?

In a game earlier this season, the Sacramento Kings, the NBA’s best offensive team, squandered three consecutive two-on-one fast breaks in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.  Finally, they finished the fourth trip fruitfully, despite a Mike Bibby pass that hit Peja Stojakovic’s foot.  In the same quarter, the Kings turned the ball over on a three-on-two fast break.

Mr. Jim Peth, my high school junior varsity basketball coach, always said a two-on-one fast break was just like a one-on-zero fast break and should be finished with a lay-up every time.  I imagine he believed strongly that a team should score quite frequently on a three-on-two break as well.

As well as the Kings play offensively, they are not great in transition; they over-penetrate, jump to pass, over-pass and basically muff many easy chances.  With the world’s best offensive team finishing so poorly, local high school teams’ futility seems almost expected.  On the other hand, the New Jersey Nets are a great transition team, thanks primarily to point guard Jason Kidd.

While the numbers advantage seemingly gives offensive players almost an insurmountable advantage, offensive players must make decisions at speed, which often leads to mistakes and turnovers.  Some mistakes are caused by offensive players being out of control, while others are caused by tentative offensive players unable to make a decision.  As former UCLA Head Coach John Wooden said, “More games are lost than are won,” and nowhere (besides the free throw line) is this more evident than in wasted transition opportunities.

Successful breaks result from proper spacing and aggressiveness, while maintaining control.  The ball handler must be prepared to finish a lay-up.  A player intent on passing often becomes tentative if the defensive player does not commit early to the ball, and the tentative play often results in a missed lay-up, bad pass or traveling violation.  The ball handler should attack the rim until he can read the front of the defender’s jersey.  If the defender is in good position and ready to take the charge, then the ball handler should pass off to his teammate and veer away from the defender to avoid a cheap foul after the pass. Otherwise, the ball handler should attack the rim.

University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach Pat Summit says, “Basketball is a game of transition and transition basketball must be practiced.”  There are hundreds of creative ways to organize a fast break drill.  However, players must understand the proper spacing on the break and have an aggressive mindset to be successful.

In a two-on-one situation, the offense should finish a lay-up in one or no passes.  The ball handler attacks on the outside of the lane-line-extended, dribbling the ball with his inside hand.  If there is pressure from behind, the offensive player can continually switch hands with the dribble to confuse the defense trying to poke the ball from behind, but in the ideal situation, the ball should be in the inside hand.

The reason to have the ball in the inside hand is two-fold.  It provides the player with an easier, quicker pass to his teammate filling the lane, and a crossover made from the inside to the outside naturally leads the player forward, while a crossover from the outside to the inside often takes the player sideways.

As the ball handler attacks the basket, with the intention to finish, his teammate fills the lane outside the lane-line, providing good spacing.  If the players are too close, one defender can easily guard two players.  Ideally, the wing should be one step behind the ball handler, so a pass hits him directly in stride and he can score without a dribble or any hesitation that may allow the defender to get back into the play and contest the shot.

The ball handler must read the defense.  If the defender steps up to stop the ball and the ball handler can read his jersey, he should lay the ball off to his teammate with a quick bounce pass.  The pass should go against the defender’s momentum and bounce right by his foot so he has little chance to get a hand on the ball.  As the ball handler makes the pass, he veers away from the defender.

If the defender tries to jab and recover or play both players, the ball handler should attack the rim.  There are three likely outcomes and all are positive:  1.  The player finishes the lay-up;  2.  The player gets fouled shooting the lay-up and shoots free throws;  3.  The player misses, but his teammate has excellent rebounding position for the offensive put back.  Very few defenders can retreat in transition, play both players and cleanly block a player’s shot, or contest and rebound the miss, if he goes aggressively to the basket.

In a three-on-two situation, the offense should use one or two passes to get a lay-up.  Anything more allows retreating defenders to enter the play.  In high school basketball, it seems there is an imaginary line at the free throw line and players are not allowed to cross this line with the ball.  Defenders know this, so defenders stay back and play the two players without the ball and the point guard still attempts to pass.

If the ball handler is a good shooter, and the defenders sag off, shoot the three.  Transition opportunities are one of the best times to shoot the three because the player can walk into his shot and the offense has a rebounding advantage if he misses.

If the defender does step out to stop the ball at the three-point line, make an open court move (hesitation, stop-and-go, in-and-out, crossover) and go by the defender.  The FT line is not another defender.  Two-on-one is the optimal break and should be finished with a lay-up every time, so the goal offensively is to create a two-on-one situation.

After beating the first defender, attack the basket as in a two-on-one, looking to score but under control enough to pass to a teammate filling the lane.  In a perfect world, beat the top defender away from the better finisher and toward the better shooter.  This allows the ball handler to pass to the better finisher around the basket if the bottom defender stops the ball, or gives a wide open three-point shot to the better shooter if the top defender actually plays good defense and stops the penetration.

If the ball handler is a weak ball handler and insists on passing the ball before the three-point line, give up the ball early to the wing.  Almost every defender is taught the tandem-defense on the break and the bottom defender will run out at the ball.  The earlier the pass is made, the longer the slide will be for the top defender to recover to take away the cross-court pass, and the farther the bottom defender will have to run to close-out, leaving open the shot, or a head fake and drive to the basket, again creating a two-on-one opportunity with the other wing.

The key, of course, is that players must make these decisions and moves at speed.  They do not have time to think and plan, they must react to what the defense gives them and attack accordingly.  Thus, players must be accustomed to making decisions at full speed and have good habits from practice for them to fall back on in games, especially in pressure situations or when the players a fatigued.  Speed is essential, as the defense has three more players hustling to get back into the play, so the offense should be aggressive, but under control and attack the basket.

My rule is, “If you’re going to make a mistake, make an aggressive mistake, not a tentative mistake.”  Or as Piggy Lambert, John Wooden’s coach said, “The team that makes the most mistakes will probably win.  The doer makes mistakes, and I want doers on my team.”