The shape
The point guard brings the ball to the top of the key, the two wings sit at the free-throw line extended a step outside the arc, and the two bigs start on the low blocks. A pass to a wing triggers two things: the ball-side big seals or steps to the short corner for a post entry, and the weak-side big flashes to the high post. If neither is on, the ball reverses through the point to the far wing and both bigs slide across the lane.
Roles
- Point Guard. Gets the ball to a wing with a pass rather than a dribble, then fills behind a driving wing or cuts through to the far side.
- The two wings (Shooting Guard and Small Forward). Catch in a shooting stance and read in order: post entry, skip pass, baseline drive. Back-cut when denied.
- The two bigs (Power Forward and Centre). Ball-side big posts up with a wide base and a target hand; weak-side big flashes high, then follows the ball to the glass.
Strengths
- Simple to teach: five spots, three reads, repeated on both sides.
- Natural post entries from the wing if you have one tall player.
- Ball reversal happens by design, so the defence shifts every few seconds.
- Strong offensive rebounding with two bigs already low.
Weaknesses
- The lane gets crowded when both bigs drift ball-side.
- Guards do little cutting, so a passive wing can stand and watch.
- Predictable against a man-to-man that denies the wing pass.
- Stalls when the post entry is covered and nobody flashes high.
When to use it
Pick this when you have one or two taller players and a point guard who can run a pattern without dribbling the air out of it. It suits under-14s and under-16s learning to play with purpose, and it settles a team that panics against pressure because everyone knows the next pass.
What to coach in training
- 5-on-0 walk-through, then full speed, with the rule that the ball must go point to wing to point to wing before any shot.
- 3v3 on one side with point, wing and post: the wing must look at the post first, while defenders alternate fronting and three-quartering so the wing learns the lob and the high-low pass.
- Reversal under pressure: on a shout of deny, the wing defender overplays, the wing back-cuts and the weak-side big flashes high.
Works well against
Good against a 2-3 zone: the point splits the two guards, the wings sit in the gaps between guard and forward, and the bigs occupy the short corners where the zone is thinnest. Comfortable against a sagging man-to-man, as the reversal drags the help across the lane. It labours against a 1-3-1 that traps the wings.
