Layer 1 PASS EAST-WEST, usually prompts the following comment from the uninitiated: “This is Pass, Cut, and Fill Out. OK, I get it – this is similar to our “camp offense”. We get a lay-up every now and then, but it’s pretty simple, so let’s move on.”

Hopefully, when you’ve finished viewing Layer 1 PASS EAST-WEST followed by its 14 Scoring Opportunities (Actions A, B, & C), you will have changed your mind! Simple? Yes. Only one opportunity – the Give & Go? Not hardly!

I’m in a very lucky position that allows me to see a lot of Read & React on different levels, boys and girls, men and women. And while categorizing how teams score, it dawned on me that the 14 ways that teams have been scoring with Layer 1 fall into one of three categories:

The CUTTER scores at the rim or the cutter receives the ball at the “Logo” and a score follows. In other words, the first 6 opportunities center around the cutter (the player who passed) – but only 2 are lay-ups!
The FILLER has 4 basic opportunities based on 4 ways that the defense arrives with him/her at the empty spot.
The SPACING creates 4 more drillable, repeatable, recognizable Dribble Penetration opportunities for the receiver of the pass. (I think I created some new words in that last sentence!)
All 14 Scoring Opportunities are open for discussion at our next video chat, but I want to draw your attention to two aspects of Layer 1.

First, lets look at the LOGO. When a player passes, cuts, and receives the ball in the LOGO area, the following are created: LOGO Shots, LOGO Moves, LOGO Draw&Dish, and LOGO Draw&Pitch. Although they are shown against Player-to-Player defense, they are DEADLY against Zone defenses! This means you get 2 for the price of 1! Drilling these four opportunities is the best message you could send your team when it comes to NOT changing gears between Player-to-Player and Zone Defenses. You keep attacking with the same actions, looking for the ball in the same areas! It’s not your entire Zone Offense, but it’s the first THREAT that the Zone must cover – just like the first threat that Player-to-Player defense must cover!

You will also be able to apply these 4 LOGO opportunities:

When a Read Line is taken,
When a Dribble-At occurs,
When a Double-Dribble-At occurs,
Whenever a Ball Screen occurs and the ball winds up in the LOGO,
And even when Dribble Penetration occurs! When the penetrator reaches the LOGO, but cannot make it to the rim, these 4 actions will be familiar ground – and not just familiar to the ballhandler, but to everyone without the ball as well!
So, equipping your players to make good decisions in the LOGO will benefit your team in at least 5 other areas of the game!

The second aspect that I want you to meditate on is the Read Line. The Read Line might be the single most important action you develop in your players. It’s so important that I don’t think you should ever stop drilling it. Just find new and fresh ways to drill it – keep it frosty for your players.

If the players one Spot away from the ball, wherever the ball is located, cannot use the Read Line properly, the entire offense can be crippled. I’m not saying that the players one Spot away must always SCORE with their Read Line cuts, but they must THREATEN to score ALL of the time.

Read Line cuts can be DRAFTED by the ballhandler.
Read Line cuts create an EMPTY SPOT that, in turn, create 4 possible scoring opportunities for the teammate that fills the spot.
Quick Read Line cuts get a defended teammate out of the way and create a quick “pass relief” for the ballhandler (if the ballhandler is under pressure).
Read Line cuts send players into the Decision Box, which creates Screening Opportunities away from the ball. In turn, these occupy the defense away from the ball and hinder their ability to help on the ball.
Read Line cuts send this message to your opponents: “You might guard us tight, but you’ll have to guard us tight on the way to the goal! We are not going to take Perimeter Pressure lying down! We ARE going to threaten to score EVERYTIME you put pressure on us one pass away from the ball!”