Basketball plays & actions, diagrammed
Real, named sets and actions — motion rules, set plays, zone offense, out-of-bounds plays, and pick-and-roll actions — each with a court diagram, reads, and coaching points. Draw and animate your own in the app.
Horns
A set built around two bigs stationed at both elbows, giving the offense a two-big-screen action to attack from the middle of the floor with shooters spaced in both corners.
Empty Side Ball Screen
A ball-screen action run with the strong side cleared out, giving the ball handler a wide-open driving lane and the screener a clean roll to the rim.
Pass and Screen Away — Motion Offense Rule
A continuity motion rule, not a fixed set: the passer screens for a teammate on the opposite side of the floor, repeated from any two spots until it creates an opening.
Flex Offense
A continuity offense built on a baseline screen (the 'flex cut') paired with a down screen for the screener, designed to spring one of the two post players open on every possession.
1-3-1 Zone Offense — Flash the Middle
Attacks a 1-3-1 zone by flashing a post player into the gap behind the middle defender, the classic soft spot in that zone shape, then reads a kick to either corner.
Box Out-of-Bounds Play
A baseline inbounds set with four players aligned in a box shape, using a cross-screen on the blocks for a quick post touch and a popping shooter as the counter.
Zipper Cut
A baseline-to-top cutting action where a player sprints up the lane line off a screen near the free-throw line, springing a designated shooter for a catch-and-shoot look.
Pistol Action
A modern side ball-screen entry that starts with a dribble-at toward a lifting guard before a big steps up to screen, forcing the defense to defend two actions in one possession.
Princeton Backdoor Cut
A high-post entry pass paired with a backdoor cut — the signature read of the Princeton offense, punishing a defender who denies or overplays the wing pass.
Spain Pick-and-Roll
A modern ball-screen action where a shooter sets a back screen on the roller's own defender, springing a lob or open rim run as the screener rolls to the basket.
Elevator Screen
Two screeners let a shooter cut between them, then step together to close the gap like elevator doors, sealing off the trailing defender for a clean catch-and-shoot.
1-4 High Motion
A base alignment with one guard up top and four players spread across the high area — a flexible spacing framework that supports hand-offs, screens, and cuts from any spot.
Floppy Action
A shooter starts at the baseline and reads whether to cut off a single screen on one side or a double screen on the other, giving them two live options to get open.
Chicago Action
A guard passes to the wing then cuts off a pin-down screen from the post to receive a dribble hand-off — a fast way to get a ball handler downhill or hunt a switch.
2-3 Zone Offense — Overload Attack
Stacks three offensive players on one side of a 2-3 zone to outnumber the two defenders there, forcing a shift that opens either a skip pass or a high-post flash.
Stack Baseline Out-of-Bounds Play
Four players stack vertically along the lane line and release in a scripted sequence to the corner, block, wing, and top, giving the inbounder a clear first, second, and safety read.
Wedge Baseline Out-of-Bounds
A baseline inbounds set using two players standing shoulder-to-shoulder as a 'wedge' just above the block, springing a cutter from the strong-side corner all the way through to a catch on the weak side.
Line Baseline Out-of-Bounds
A baseline inbounds set with four players stacked in a line along the free-throw line extended, springing the shooter off two consecutive staggered screens to the opposite wing.
Sideline Quick-Hitter — Flare for Three
A quick-hitting sideline inbounds play that flares a shooter off a screen from the weak corner to the strong-side wing for a rhythm three before the defense can set.
Sideline Ball-Screen Entry
A sideline inbounds play that gets the ball to the point guard at the top and immediately into a ball screen, letting the team flow straight into a side pick-and-roll read off the inbound.
3-2 Zone Attack — Skip and Relocate
A 3-2 zone attack built on quick ball reversal from wing to wing through the point, with the weak-side low post relocating into the vacated gap as the zone shifts toward the ball.
High-Low Zone Attack
A high-low zone attack against a 2-3 zone, feeding the high post at the elbow gap and reading the low-post seal for a quick two-pass score before the zone can rotate.
1-2-2 Zone Attack — Overload the Corner
A 1-2-2 zone attack that overloads one side of the floor with three offensive players against the zone's single defender there, forcing a short-corner catch with a real numbers advantage.
Zone Baseline Drift
A foundational zone-offense concept: as the ball moves to one side, the baseline player on that side drifts along the baseline into the open gap instead of standing still in the corner, staying available for the next pass.
Ball Screen Rescreen
A ball-screen counter where the screener immediately resets a second screen in a slightly different spot when the defense fights over the first one, giving the ball-handler a second driving angle in the same possession.
Wide Pick-and-Roll
A ball screen set wide near the sideline instead of the middle of the floor, giving the ball-handler a driving angle straight down the baseline instead of into the teeth of the defense.
Step-Up Ball Screen
A ball screen set as the ball-handler crosses half-court in early offense, angled to turn the dribble middle and get into a quick pick-and-roll before the defense is set.
Away Series — Wing Isolation
A clear-out set that uses an 'away' screen on the weak side to pull a defender out of the isolation player's driving lane, isolating your best wing scorer one-on-one with the floor spaced.
Guard-to-Guard Get Action
A quick-hitting guard-to-guard dribble handoff at the top of the key, with the ball-handler clearing away immediately after the exchange to leave the new ball-handler a driving lane downhill.
UCLA Cut
The classic 'UCLA cut': the point guard enters the ball to the wing, then cuts hard through the lane off a screen from the high post toward the ball-side block for a return pass and layup.