Hubie Brown on Reading Screens on Offense

I was tipped off by these videos by a poster on the forum. I don't know about y'all out there, but I'm a huge Hubie Brown fan, he's a walking encyclopedia of basketball, probably the most brilliant basketball mind every in my opinion. If you liked watching this Youtube preview, you can buy the whole video online here.

This is really a great insight. I've heard of screening an area, I just haven't taught it myself because I don't know enough about it. In this clip, Hubie teaches 3 things you can do when you screen an area: backdoor, hard curl, and bump. Watch first, then read my comments,



Screen the Area:

So the idea is not to head-hunt (which I've always teached), but to screen an area, then read the defense. Another benefit is that you avoid costly offensive fouls resulting from moving screens and aggressive head hunting,


Backdoor Read:

If the defense is playing M2M and cheats and jumps the screen over the top, the one being screened should read the defense and go backdoor,


Hard Curl Read:

The first read off a M2M defense that doesn't switch and is chasing all screens, it should be a soft curl to the open 15 foot jumper at the top of the key. Now, most defenses will most likely hard switch in this case. If so, the backdoor won't work, so the second option here based on a switching M2M is a hard curl. The first step on the hard curl is to tug the screener's shirt to ensure no space exists between screener and screened,


After the screened player relocates, the screener should open up, seal the switched defender and post up in the lane,


Bump:

The third and final read is based on a defense that is shooting the gap between the screener and the screener's defender. So, it looks like the first option where the defense is jumping the screen over the top, but the difference is the defense here is not over-committing but is protecting the basket first and foremost, the defense is basically non-committal,


If this is the defense, then the read is the bump. The screened player should use their hand to bump or signal the screener in the small of their back. The screener should then open up to the ball and the screened player should fade to the corner,


Once the pass is made, there are 2 options, the open 3-pointer from the corner, or the post-up down low,


Summary:

Undoubtedly, if you're coaching a youth team, this is probably too complicated an offensive option for you to run. I don't think kids under 15 really have the maturity yet to make such split-second decisions yet. But at Varsity or higher, certainly this, along with a PNR are good generic offenses you can use that should be able to produce high-percentage shots.

There is a wonderful 2-pack DVD from Coach Hubie Brown that has Volumes I and II from his Secrets of Winning Basketball series, definitely worth checking out if you're a Hubie Brown fan. Discuss your favorite zone offenses at the X's and O's Basketball Forum with other coaches from around the world.