A back cut in basketball can be a great tool to help relieve pressure defense, get easy baskets, and help keep the defense honest. It is something that every basketball player should learn how to do, especially if you are used to playing out on the wing. If you don’t use the back cut, the defense can continue to gamble and pressure the wings. This will make it extremely hard to run the offense the right way and get good quality shots.
Several different steps go into reading when to use a back cut and then how to use it. This basketball article will break down those steps for you and provide some video clips to watch. That way, you will see exactly how it looks and what needs to be done to execute this move the correct way.
Read the Defense
The first step to the back cut in basketball is reading your defender and the help defense. If your defender is playing off you or on your low side, then the back cut is not open. Also, if a help defender is sitting in the lane, the back cut is not available. You have to evaluate what is going on around you before deciding to use the back cut.
However, if your defender is trying to deny you the ball and the help side defense is cleared out, the back cut is wide open. Once you have made this read, it is time to get into the set up of using the back cut.
The Set-Up Before Cutting Backdoor
Before you use any off-ball cut, you need to set up your defender, and the back cut is not any different. There are two big components to setting up your defender on this type of cut. They are a change of pace and change of direction.
You want to start at a slower speed, which will get your defender to relax. As soon as they do, though, you are going to cut hard to the basket.
The second key that I mentioned was a change of direction. You must sell to your defender that you are coming up to receive the ball or down screen. The defender’s instinct will kick in, and they will try to deny the pass. As soon as they jump to your high side, though, you are going to cut backdoor.
Go Get the Ball
A good back door pass is going to lead the cutter to the basket. So it is up to you as the cutter to make sure that you go get the ball and finish. Once you commit to going for the back cut, stick with it. If you pull out of it, you may fake out your passer, and it will end up in a turnover. As you cut, you want to put your lead hand out. This will give the passer a target, and make sure that your hands are out ready to receive the pass. Gather the ball with two hands and look to finish quickly and under control.
Making the Backdoor Pass
The passer plays a big part in a successful back door cut in basketball, so just in case you find yourself on the passing end of a back cut, here are a few tips.
- Don’t stare down your receiver.
- If it is a bounce pass, make sure that the ball stays low to the ground and away from the defender’s hands.
- Lead the cutter to the basket.
