Defending the Back Cut

How to Defend a Back-Cut

There's nothing more frustrating to a defense when working their tails off, making it hard for the offense to get penetration, easy passes on the perimeter, and post entries. All of a sudden, an easy backdoor layup happens.

Great offensive teams never give up and put pressure on the rim. They attack the dribble, slash the cutter in the paint, or a quick backdoor off a back-cut.

These are challenging plays to defend!

Here's the Key

If you understand when back cuts are most likely to happen and stay prepared for them, it's much easier to avoid getting beat.

In a dribble hand-off scenario, the defender must keep the back foot further behind the offensive player's body or back foot. If the offensive player fakes the dribble hand-off action and cuts backdoor, you are in the path, and they need to circle around you- which buys you time to recover.

Don't over-commit on the front side in a simple V or L-Cut where the offensive player is attempting to pull the defender out and quickly hip-cut" for a backdoor layup. This means don't get in a complete denial stance where you've opened a clear path for a backdoor cut. It's best to treat it more like a quarter-front technique a post player might use. Keep most of your body in your opponent's backdoor pathway so they can't cut cleanly.

These are only two effective techniques, but they take away the quick untouched backdoor. If you scout a team that likes to set you up for backdoor cuts, you use proper footwork and terminology during practice so players and coaches are on the same page.

Certainly, don't forget the help defenders. Good defensive teams are prepared to help each other at any moment. Backdoor defense is no different. If rotation is quick and early, the backdoor cut gets taken away.

Basketball Speed Comes in all Shapes & Sizes

Sometimes, it's locking down a ballhandler in the full court and making them work to get the ball over half court. Other times it's using proper footwork to get your body in position to take away lanes and quick cuts by the offense.

In either case, having simple terminology and techniques that make it easy to communicate what footwork is needed in varying situations is the way to go.

The Certified Basketball Speed Specialist Level 1 course is off and running, and there's been such great feedback.

I'm so excited to have coaches implement the techniques with their teams. Don't miss out on an excellent opportunity to raise your basketball speed knowledge and to coach it.

Categories: : basketball movement, basketball speed, defending