As my coaching career continues to lengthen, one of the things I notice most is the lost are of moving without the basketball. When you look at the very best offensive players – the players that score on a consistent basis – I can promise you that a big part of their arsenal is the ability to get open. We have a series of guidelines for cutting that include:Cut With Your Eyes
Getting open is not simply just running around at full speed. In fact, it is just the opposite. While many may think the key to cutting is in the legs, we teach the importance of using the eyes. You ability to “see” what’s going on must occur before your brain can send the proper directions to your legs. To take it one step forward, in our motion offense system at LSU, we teach our players not to watch the ball. We are making cuts based on how the defensive player is defending us. It will be where the defender is positioned that will key our cut so therefore we teach to watch the defensive player as opposed to the basketball.
Change Speed
Another important item in cutting is the ability to change speeds. Even the slowest player can be effective moving without the basketball when she masters the change in speeds necessary to be a good cutter. Fast is not always best. We often start our cuts by “walking” the defensive player away from the area in which we want to receive the ball. Sometimes our cuts involve jogging the defender to an area. We also like to stop at key points (usually when screens are involved) so we can take a good look at how the defender is playing us before continuing a cut. And of course, we do have an “explosion step” in which we use a high speed cut.
Maintain Balance
This is very important and a major reason why you should never go the offensive player and just continually cut at a high rate of speed. Balance is one of the most important words in the game of basketball. You need balance when you shoot, when you dribble and when you pass. As a team you want floor balance. So it only makes sense that balance can be valuable in cutting as well. By maintaining balance during your cut, you will be better target for the passer. Balance will also allow you a better chance to receive the basketball. Often if you are constantly rushed in your cuts, you will not be in a stable position to receive the basketball. By having balance in your cuts, you will also be more dangerous at the immediate point in which you catch the ball.
Be A Straight Line Cutter
This can be a little confusing as we never want to cut from point A to point B to receive the ball. We always want to utilize the v-cut. By using the v-cut as a set-up cut, you can incorporate change of speed and change of directions which makes you more difficult to defend. What you certainly don’t want to do is to round your cut off. By putting an arc on your cut, you are getting to the place your cutting through at a much slower rate and you also create space for the defender to close the gap should you get a head start on her.
Cut To Create Help
We will go into this area in greater detail later in this chapter, but something that is difficult for players initially at our level is to understand that they need to execute their cut to perfection even when they believe they are not going to receive the pass. By making a great cut, it puts pressure on your defender and causes her to give you as much attention as she can which in effect limits her ability to help out.
Show Your Hands
This is something we constantly preach to our players – show your hands on the cut. Don’t wait until the ball is passed and then try to get your hands to the ball. First, it can delay your cut, even if only by a fraction of a second. Second, it will be easier to catch the basketball if your hands are already set and looking for the ball as oppose to being down by your waste. We think this is a very small thing for a player to learn but it gives us some big results.
