Plays Directory

A Coaching Library of Named Basketball Plays

Every action a serious coach should know — sets, motion offenses, defenses, and out-of-bounds plays. Each entry covers what it is, where it comes from, and the principles that make it work.

This directory grows over time. If you teach a play you don't see here, tell me — I add new entries quarterly.

Continuity & motion offenses

Offenses that run continuously based on reads, not play calls. Every team needs at least one as the foundation of its half-court system.

Princeton Offense — chin series, back-cuts, and the read-based system Coach DeForest won a state title with. Read the install guide →
Dribble Drive Motion — Vance Walberg's spread system, taught from the ground up.
Triangle Offense — Tex Winter's read-based system that Phil Jackson rode to 11 NBA championships.
Flex Offense — the continuity built around the flex cut and screen-the-screener.
5-Out Motion Offense — spread the floor, read the defense, attack any gap.
Read and React Offense — Rick Torbett's 18 habits that make the offense run itself.
Princeton Chin Series — the back-cut continuity at the heart of the Princeton offense.

Foundation actions

The building blocks every named play is constructed from. Learn these first — they unlock every set in the directory.

Down Screen — screen for a player coming up from the block. The foundation of off-ball offense.
Cross Screen — screen across the lane. The canonical post entry.
Back Screen (Back Pick) — screen on a defender's blind side. Easy basket if executed correctly.

Set plays & actions

Named actions that branch from common starting alignments. These are the building blocks of modern half-court offense.

Spain Pick and Roll — the back-screen variant that broke drop coverage.
Horns Set — twin-elbow alignment that opens dozens of actions.
Iverson Cut — the wing cut over double screens that defined an era.
Hammer Action — the Spurs' corner-pin three that punished help defense.
UCLA Cut — John Wooden's high-post action that still works fifty years later.
Stagger Screens — two screens, set apart, harder to switch than one.
Floppy Action — two off-ball screens on opposite sides, pick your shooter.
Box Set (BLOB & SLOB) — the four-corner alignment behind every out-of-bounds play.
Elevator Screens — two screeners squeeze together; the doors close behind the shooter.
Zipper Action — guard cuts straight up off an elbow screen for a clean catch at the top.
Loop Action — wing runs corner-to-opposite-wing through a screen.
Wedge Action — back-screen sets up the ball screen; defense has two problems at once.
Chicago Action — DHO into ball screen, run as one continuous action.
Zoom Action — pin-down flows directly into a dribble hand-off.
Brush Action — hand-off so quick it 'brushes' the defender away.
Empty-Side Pick and Roll — run the PnR with no help defender within ten feet.
Step-Up Screen — side ball screen with the screener's back to the baseline, forcing the middle attack.
Elbow Series — one big at the elbow, six actions branching from a single look.
Quick (Wide Pin-Down) — the fastest way to get a shooter a catch on the wing.
Punch Series — cross-screen post entry with screen-the-screener follow-ups.
Get Action — pass and screen-down; the ball-handler runs to the screen.
Throwback (Pass-and-Replace) — passer cuts away, then loops back to receive a throwback pass.

Counters & modern reads

Actions specifically designed to defeat modern defensive schemes — switching, hedging, and aggressive ball-screen coverage.

Slip Screen — set the screen, then don't. Counter to hedge and trap defenses.
Ghost Screen — fake the screen and run away. Counter to switch-everything defense.
Iverson Bomb — Iverson cut for a three, not a drive. Counter to defenses that prepare for the downhill catch.
Stagger-Ghost — stagger screens with a ghost-screen counter. Defeats switch-everything coverage.

Transition & early offense

Actions that strike before the defense sets its half-court coverage. The seconds between a rebound and a settled defense are where the easiest shots live.

Drag Screen — transition pick-and-roll that hits before the defense sets.
Pistol Action — early-offense two-man game with the trailing big.

Defenses

Half-court defensive systems with documented principles. Each entry covers when to use it, when to avoid it, and how to beat it.

2-3 Zone (Syracuse Style) — Jim Boeheim's signature defense, and the hardest 2-3 to score against.
Pack Line Defense — the Bennett family's compression defense that won a national title.
1-3-1 Zone Defense — John Beilein's trapping zone that turns offenses into turnover machines.

Compare two systems

Long-form comparisons that go deeper than the directory entries.

Dribble Drive vs Princeton — when each system fits, and the install costs to expect.
Spurs Motion vs Princeton — two read-based offenses, two different programs of habits.
Best Offense for High School Basketball — picking a system based on roster, time, and recruiting.
Best Offense for Youth Basketball — what to install before age 14 (and what not to).

Coach DeForest's books

The systems in this directory map back to the books. Each book covers one system in depth.

Submit a play

Run an action that isn't in this directory yet? Send me the name and a one-sentence description. The directory updates quarterly.