Purdue's 4-out 1-in Motion Offense against OSU's Zone

By request, I took some clips from the game between Purdue and Ohio State yesterday. I've watched Purdue's 4-out 1-in motion offense against M2M defense before, like against Wisconsin. Surprisingly, they used the same 4-out 1-in motion offense against Ohio State's zone defense, and perhaps even more surprisingly, it worked great.

What I like about their 4-out 1-in motion offense is both how simple it is, and the fluidity of it. At it's most basic level, it's just a pass-cut-fill motion offense. And it did work great against the zone because while the defense was different, the same principles apply. You want to spread the floor, and run cutters through the lane. Here are a few sequences from the first half including a ESPN Inside the play breakdown with Stephen Bardo,






Pass-Cut-Fill:

I have to say that I haven't watch Purdue's 4-out 1-in this closely against M2M so I can't say with certitude that it is exactly the same, but I venture that it is similar. Now, once in a while the cutter will go down and set a backscreen for the post player, or come up and set a weakside screen for another cut to the basket. Against the zone, they basically run pass cut fill looking for the high post each time as they cut through,


If you do run pass-cut-fill, you can easily adjust to any zone by just emphasizing where to cut to. Against the 2-3, obviously the middle, high-post area, is most vulnerable. Here, Purdue cuts to the high post, gets the pass, then looks for the hi-low pass to the low-post player who has sealed his defender on the front,


Summary:

I like the way Purdue plays. They play aggressive M2M defense, press occasionally, and they are so patient with their motion offense in the halfcourt. I'm surprised that Ohio State stayed with the zone defense the first half. I didn't see the second half, but Purdue blew the doors open en route to the blow out.

If you enjoy watching Purdue and want to know more about their system, take a look at Matt Painter's DVD on their 4-out Motion Offense. As always, be sure to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to discuss this and more of your favorite basketball topics.