Tommy Brakel & Chris Hastings — Freedom Within the Offense

Course Summary
Build an offense that keeps players moving, creates paint touches, and flows beyond the initial set play. In this on-court clinic, Tommy Brakel and Chris Hastings share North Crowley’s approach to five-out Read & React basketball, showing how simple rules help players coordinate their movements without constant play calls.

Brakel opens with the principles behind implementing an offense: adapting it to your personnel, establishing consistent terminology, building player buy-in, and aligning practice drills with game actions. Hastings then demonstrates how the ball’s movement tells the other four players what to do, connecting spacing, cutting, screening, and penetration into continuous offense.

Coaches will learn how to teach:

• Pass-and-cut and pass-and-screen-away actions that create purposeful movement.

• The “decision box” where cutters can finish, post up, screen, or fill an open perimeter spot.

• Post-entry rules and Laker cuts that preserve spacing and prioritize scoring opportunities.

• Clear signals for dribble handoffs, dribble-at backdoor cuts, and retreat-dribble ball screens.

• Circle movement on penetration to create opportunities for lobs, corner threes, and kick-out passes.

• Practice progressions that move from scripted defensive responses to live decision-making, including the “Read the Ball” and “Coach Pass” drills.

This course gives coaches a practical framework for teaching players to move together, recognize opportunities, and keep playing when a called action breaks down.