Fast Five: The Postseason

Some teams enter the postseason on merit, others on 'inclusion'...everyone gets in. The latter applies for us. 

But the 'process' converges. We have solvable issues...lack of confidence, negative momentum, and execution impairment. We have to try to pull it together this week. 

Mission - what's our goal? 
Resources
Plan 
Specific actions (absolutely demands feedback to assure understanding)
End-state (how should it look?) 

1. Mission. We need a short-term focus...playing quality basketball, possession by possession, at both ends. Urban Meyer describes football at "A to B, 4 to 6." You have to get from point A to B over 4 to 6 seconds. "Succeed this possession." Questions like "how good is the team we're playing (God, I hate hearing that) distracts from taking care of business. 

2. Resources. Everyone should be back from vacation...physically and mentally. We need better play on special situations. We worked on SLOBs and BOBs because we get few scoring chances out of these. 

Many teams use a zipper cut to inbound the ball. This takes advantage of overplay by "unzipping" with the cutter attacking via a back cut. 

Many zone BOBs screen the middle and force the low defender to choose her poison. 

3. Plan. How does your team 'wear down' the opposition? How do you plan to score? UCONN women seek to score a third on threes, a third on sets, and a third in transition. We have to shoot better to compete and we need to apply and overcome pressure to succeed. 

We worked "gauntlet" last night. Defenders are in four 'zones'. Defenders must play in their zone. Two offensive players must negotiate the gauntlet. Each offensive player gets ONE dribble per zone. If you can beat two on eight, you should handle pressure. 

4. Specific actions. Pressure the ball. "Don't back down." I don't want "dead man's defense", playing six feet under the ball. That's not defense. That's fear. That's passive. It's the dreaded "S-word." No player should ever accept the SOFT label. 

Attack the basket. Any questions? 

5. End state. Bring the fight. 




Coaches want teams to reflect their attitude, spirit, and values. That demands possession by possession, "be here now" engagement. Ultimately, you show who you are. Don't make a simple game difficult. 

Be Yourself

There's a "rare" set of lecture notes from Coach Wooden circulating. I'm selecting mostly the headings, because we need our solutions. None of us can be Wooden, Newell, Smith, etc. Be yourself. Ask better questions. 

Fill in your blanks, but answers can change. One could use these to prepare for a coaching interview or any other position.  

HIS PHILOSOPHY ON COACHING

THE THREE BASICS OF COACHING BASKETBALL (see the Pyramid of Success, above)

STYLE OF PLAY

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN ATHLETES 

My answer: "elite size, elite athleticism, elite skill, elite competitiveness"

ON PRACTICE

"DON'T COMPLICATE A SIMPLE GAME"

70% OF PRACTICE EVERY DAY WAS ON FUNDAMENTALS

“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail and its practice where you’re preparing.”

ON TEACHING

THE IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING ROLES ROLES

“They don’t have to like their role, but they have to fill it because if they don’t, somebody else will and you have to make that clear to them.”

AS A COACH, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TEAM, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL 

ON EMOTIONS

ON GOOD SHOTS

TEACH THEM HOW TO READ THE DEFENSE

ON DECISION MAKING

BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION YOU MUST ...

1 – Have Courage
2 – Listen to those around you 
3 – Make the decision

MAKE THE DECISION WITH ...
1 – Reason
4 – Self-Control
5 – Reference to your past experiences that are relevant

Abraham Lincoln – "I’ve never met a person from which I haven’t learned something, although most of the time, it was something not to do." 

HIS ROTATION

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

AVOID PEAKS AND VALLEYS

"As a coach authority alone is not enough to demand respect. You cannot demand respect, but you must command it." 

EQUAL AMOUNT OF SCORING OPPORTUNITIES ON OFFENSE
My note: This applies when you have elite talent. But even then, Bill Walton didn't get 44 points against Memphis because everyone got the same opportunity. 

REBOUNDING

 When someone asks us our philosophy and process on the above, we need thoughtful answers. Our players deserve them. 

These are the Times That Try Men's Souls

"A great thing done is never perfect. 
But that doesn't mean it fails; it does what it is.

Real richness means to act as if you have nothing,
Because then you will never be drained of it."
                                     - Tao Te Ching

We had no "practice" this week, only a voluntary shooting session for an hour of gym time. Most of the team couldn't make it. We cannot trade in excuses. We came out not ready to play, without energy, intensity, or will to compete. A time out a minute into the game did nothing. Neither did a second about four minutes in. 

Our opponents executed well, but it was like taking candy from a baby. 

a) Wing entry, UCLA cut for layup
b) Wing entry, guard buries, side ball screen and roll
c) Wing entry, 5 rolls, layup 
d) post entry (not shown), blind pig (back door cut)

At some point, you have to concentrate, communicate, anticipate, and react especially when you have 'taught to the test'. The meek may inherit the earth, but they don't inherit the court. Adversity demands responses. 

Skill does not define transition defense. Skill doesn't determine communication. Skill doesn't inform ball movement, cutting, boxing out, willing passing, taking charges, denying cuts, shot selection, or ball pressure. 

Multiple parents came up to me after the game to say they felt bad (for me). It's never the opponent's job to ease up on you; it's our job to contain them. I told the team at half-time that I've taken 45 point losses to state champions...but I've lost to talent not lack of effort. 

We'll get back at it tomorrow, as the post-season starts Friday (everyone qualifies). We need to intensify our concentration, energy, and intensity. 

Basketball Education Academy Awards - the Nominations

"Basketball is eighty percent mental." What percent of players devote even twenty percent of their time to learning the game, seeing the game, understanding the game? 

Where do you refer them? 

We need candidates. Here are my nominees as we've walked the 'red carpet'. 

1. Youtube.com FIBA Coaching Library video series. 


"When we first get together, I ask them to write five things you want to get better at." Coach says she brings back the player's own words to them. "Make them assertive communicators." Every video might not be what you want; move on. 

2. BBallBreakdown.com "Are you in?"

Coach Nick shares video on a panoply of teams, players, and techniques. Coach brings volume, clarity, and simplicity. 

3. Youtube.com Coach Daniel. 



Shorter videos with many teaching points. Most of the teaching points have general application regardless of the level of play. E.g. poor communication is the same at all levels. 

Video reinforces the distinctions between excellence and mediocrity. 

4. FastModelSports 

FastModel (and its proprietary program Fast Draw) synthesizes diagrams, video, and a plethora of articles on basketball tactics and technique. In a word, FastModel is underrated...the Utah Jazz of teaching sites. I should be going here daily to satiate the basketball Jones. 

5. Functional Basketball Coaching. 

FBC shares a wealth of information and categories.

It's a lot lighter on video but its breadth and organization compensate.

It stimulates us to ask better questions. 

These represent just some of the contenders. Many others are worthy destinations. Share some of your "go to" faves and your "Oscar" winner. 

Fast Five: Simple Ways to Reduce Common Turnovers

Turnovers plague basketball civilization. The future doesn't have to repeat the past. We understand mistakes happen, but they can't happen over and over and over. 

1. "Run don't walk." Why travel forty feet from the hoop? Some coaches advocate the "permanent pivot foot." If you're right handed, then you're right-footed. On shot fakes, no need to bring the ball above your head. Officials are more likely to call a travel when you bring the ball high. I'm teaching players NOT to move either foot on a shot fake. That's a tip from Arik Shivek (Israeli National Team Coach) to reduce traveling. 


2. "The white shirts pass to the white shirts." Be deceptive. Know the angles. Pass away fro the defender and the help defender. Maybe the post game is disappearing. You never know. 



3. "Don't play in the traffic." Listen to your parents. DON'T PLAY IN THE TRAFFIC. Don't dribble or pass into traffic. Great players play in space. 

4. "Shorten the pass." Steals happen when defenders have more time to react. Come to the ball. "Winners want the ball."

5. "Stay in your lane." Never cut to an occupied post. Little guards don't go to the post. You don't want it there. I don't want you there. 

Turning Agony into Ecstasy

Sports invigorates us with emotional extremes of lows and highs. Often, to reach the highs, we must release the lows...the inner, unquenchable pain of 'the bad loss' or the 'bad play'. We all harbor losses with indelible stains.  

Red Auerbach shared his worst loss, as a high school coach, leading by one. His player threw a behind-the-back inbounds pass that was stolen and converted into the decisive basket. 

We oversimplify and condense games of over a hundred possessions and many hundreds of plays into 'defining moments', yielding goats and heroes. One man's hero is another's villain.


Jermaine Kearse's miracle reception against Malcolm Butler precipitated a miracle. 



Everyone remembers Lorenzo Charles who turned chicken feathers into chicken salad. 



Improbable happens. 



At every level of play...in every corner of the planet. 



Angst turns to joy. 



When you never give up.

Excellence Crosses Disciplines

Adapted from Webinar by Dr. Brett Steenbarger

Our effectiveness depends on blending our methodology (tactics and techniques) with our psychology (self-management, communication). If that weren't true, the coach with the most drills and plays would rule. But "in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." 

Deliberate practice demands feedback on an activity. 

Performance activities like trading or shooting a basketball incorporate decisions or actions with results and feedback. There are predictable barriers to overcome. 

What works:

Overcontrol (hesitancy) can lead to frustration, missed opportunity (e.g. ignoring or turning down open shots, missed assignment, taking too many pitches)

Undercontrol (impulsivity) leads to abandoning process (e.g. forced shots, 'my turn' shots, frustration fouls, bad gambles on defense, swinging at bad pitches).

Both overcontrol and undercontrol foster poor performance and loss of confidence. 

Work on it! Simple (behavioral feedback) control of breathing with or without mental focus (positive imaging) on a relaxation state. This meshes with Amy Cuddy's controversial work on body position and performance, with neurobiological modification of stress hormones (increases testosterone and decreases cortisol).

We can add pressure via competition, defense (e.g. shooting against closeouts), and noise 

When we are "in the zone" what is our background state? What gave us our optimal focus...listening to music, meditation, focus on something external? 

"What is important is how you trade coach play becomes an extension of who you are."

"Turn best practices into best processes." 

Ask the question: "What am I doing right and what am I doing that needs improvement?"

If we are wholly focused on results (winning), we are extremely vulnerable to emotion and its consequences (poor decision-making based on anxiety or impulsivity). 

Results also depend on leadership. In Extreme Ownership, Navy SEAL Jocko Willink writes, "When the subordinate leaders and the frontline troops fully understand the purpose of the mission, how it ties into strategic goals, and what impact it has, they can then lead, even in the absence of explicit orders." As a player, you need to learn to become your own king or queen. 

Leaders on the court have to understand and promote the goals (e.g. quality offensive chances, limiting defensive opportunity, minimizing mistakes) and communicate with teammates constantly to execute at a high level. 

Bonus: Shooting Drill 

Three integrated pressure elements: Competition, accuracy, time. 

Elden Campbell had a pregame routine where he made five consecutive shots from five different spots. Our players aren't at that level of competence. 

The drill involves a shooter, rebounder, and time. You have one minute to make two of three shots from each spot. You can start at any spot and rotate in either direction. But you must make two of three to continue or there's a new shooter. The goal is to complete all spots within a minute. 

Where Do Your Ideas Come from?

"Good artists borrow; great artists steal." - Picasso 

You know people's great ideas - sliced bread, the wheel, fire. We even know people's bad ideas. Stephen King hates adverbs and weak verbs. 





Great ideas are everywhere. Bill Belichick takes the Patriots to the movies...to watch team-building films, like Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure or Patriots Day. Don Meyer kept three notebooks - basketball learning, general knowledge, and appreciation for his wife (that he gifted her each year). 

Read. Kevin Eastman reads two hours a day - an extra 180 hours of knowledge every quarter. Read about basketball, leadership, communication, excellence, teaching, success, history, and more. 

Great writing inspires. Tim Ferriss' Tools of Titans shares resources from many successful individuals, their routines, observations, habits, breakthroughs. For instance, comedian Mike Birbiglia notes, "only emotion endures" and wishes billboards in New York City included, "None of these companies cares about you." What is my team's vibe? Do they know I care? 

Share stories about David and Goliath at the Valley of Elah (perimeter versus inside game), Lee's Chancellorsville victory over General Joe Hooker against overwhelmingly superior forces, the heroism at Thermopylae, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Gettysburg ("I can learn."). We can only share what we know. 

Just looking. Yogi Berra quipped, "you can see a lot by just looking." Great coaches like Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski share their knowledge as we study their situational play. NBA "reality TV" stars showcase cuts and footwork,  transcendent spacing, and elite individual talent. 

Internet interviews provide hints at leadership and culture development. 



Gregg Popovich values humor in his players. 

Blogs provide information about anything and everything, including process improvement. 

The average reader spends thirty-six (36) seconds on an article. Give readers reasons to come, linger, and learn. 

Find blogs that meet your educational and philosophical needs. Check out those in my sidebar. 

Facebook Groups. The coaching community shares ideas respectfully. It's like politics without the ticks. Some are public, like Herb on Hoops while others require an invitation. 

Podcasts bombard us with perspective (good and bad) on coaches, coaching, and stars. You know "The Vertical". For example, "I talked to three teams, and all three teams would not give up more than one pick for him (Cousins)." Add in the extension, and "that's an untradable contract." Coach Nick has the BBallBreakdown podcast. Are you in? 

Mentors. Who's your mentor? Whom do we mentor? We need to be open to learning and sharing. Have relationships above us, at our level, and below us.  

Coaching clinics. We don't have to take vacation, travel, or spend a lot of money. FIBA has amazing series of online clinics. 

Clinic Notes. Google basketball "clinic notes" and over 21,000 entries appear. Many have multiple sets of notes. You could spend the rest of days reading clinic notes. 

Become a thinking machine. I enjoy walking and dictate ideas into a cell phone. "Ideas are the currency of the future." Thinking includes asking better questions. What does my team need now? How can I reach them? 

Thanks for visiting. Don't be a stranger. 

Fast Five: Force to Tape

Kevin Eastman teaches defenders: "force to tape." 

1. Basketball's "grand symmetry" tells us "don't do offensively what the defense wants you to do." Great players want to play in space. Great defense excels at help and recover. 

2. Offense habitually run from the corners/side allows help defenders to play you 3 on 5.

3. What are the hardest defensive assignments? 
- Defending the pick-and-roll
- Defending outstanding post players 
- Containing the ball (against good penetrators)
- Closing out against ball reversal 

The best offensive players usually excel in (some of) these situations. Force defenses to defend your strengths. 

4. The best defenders understand their biggest problems happen once their assignment gets the ball. Stars have 'go to' and 'counter' moves. Elite players have more. But denying them the ball can limit the damage. 

5. Forcing to tape restates the principle of "no middle". It encompasses no penetration, no paint touches, harder ball reversal, and fewer worries about uncontested threes. Remind players how this reflects "great offense comes from multiple actions and great defense from multiple efforts." 

Sebastian Junger: Lessons on Basketball

Sebastian Junger is an author, journalist, and filmmaker. Why is this about basketball? 



What we think we know and what we know aren't the same. "The colonel told me initially they take fire every single day...after two months of being there, I would fix it and we wouldn't get shot at anymore." 

Junger shares his observations about challenging nature (The Perfect Storm), adversity (Fire), and conflict (Tribe, Restrepo). Restrepo is not for the timid; the outpost is grim, psychotic reality. 

He spoke at a high school commencement (from Tools of Titans): 

"You guys are programed to succeed. The hardest thing you're ever going to do in your life is fail at something, and if you don't start failing at things, you will not live a full life. You'll be living a cautious life on a path that you know is pretty much guaranteed to more or less work. That's not getting the most out of this amazing world we live in...you have to be prepared to fail. That's how you're going to expand yourself and grow." 

On teamwork. In War, Junger wrote, “The Army might screw you and your girlfriend might dump you and the enemy might kill you, but the shared commitment to safeguard one another’s lives is unnegotiable and only deepens with time." Sports are not war; but culture and teamwork define your relationships.

On self-worth. He wrote in Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, “Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary." We need to make players feel valued with defined roles. 

On needs. Also in Tribe, “human beings need three basic things in order to be content: they need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives; and they need to feel connected to others." This reminds me of Dan Pink's triad in Drive, the need for autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

On inclusion. Again from Tribe, “Unlike criticism, contempt is particularly toxic because it assumes a moral superiority in the speaker. Contempt is often directed at people who have been excluded from a group or declared unworthy of its benefits. Contempt is often used by governments to provide rhetorical cover for torture or abuse. Contempt is one of four behaviors that, statistically, can predict divorce in married couples." Within our life teams (family, job, community), do we lead alongside team members or from above? Do we help create leaders and followership or are we detached and aloof? When communication excludes respect and fairness, there is no team. Without team, success never arrives. 

How you play the game is how you live. 

Fast Five: Whatever It Takes

One practice I asked another team I coached, "how many of you have dogs?" About half the girls answered yes. "Is it fun to have a dog?" All with dogs nodded. "Is there anything not fun about having a dog?" Everyone answered, "picking up the poop." 

But if you want the joy of experiencing pets, then you need to manage the downside, literally. 

We've all heard the line, "the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." And it's not only work. 

1. If you're going to get run over (you are) anyway, why not take the charge? 

2. Contain the ball. "Fear is the mind killer" wrote Frank Herbert in Dune (1965). You either let fear (the offense) control you or you put fear into them. Trust the protection that your teammates provide. 

3. Contest (challenge) shots. Everyone shoots worse with a hand in their face. You want to shoot in range, in rhythm, situationally appropriate, and not closely guarded. Why would you allow your opponent that privilege? The difference in NBA shooting percentage on threes is 40% when open and 32% when contested. With teams taking up to 40 a game, that's three (nine points) a game. The corollary says work to get open shots. Who has nine points to give away? 

4. Be physical. "Hit and get" when rebounding. Set solid screens. Get on the floor. "Basketball isn't a contact sport; it's a collision sport." 

5. Choose wisely. It's a mental game. Do the work. Rick Pitino wrote, Success is a Choice. We deserve our success when we do the work, have a process, and the discipline of implementation. I'm not saying that luck doesn't matter. 

Pitino wrote, "We control our life. We control how lucky we are. We create our fortune with our effort." Brad Stevens says, "the magic is in the work." We control our attitude, our choices, and our effort. These dimensions backstop our process. And process drives our results...in our family, in our career, and in our avocations. 

84 shots, 168 possible points. I call it either "Pitino 168" or the "Rozier Drill" because Terry Rozier worked it hard. Whatever it takes. 

Simplify: Lessons Learned

Simple is hard. The late Don Meyer believed in three phases of coaching - blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity.   

What's our WHY? We're here to learn, improve, and have fun. You have to PLAY basketball. When teams 'work' basketball, it's not pretty. 

What went well? We are starting to make "basketball plays." 

But the devil is in the details. Koch and Lockwood describe "proposition simplifying." They write, "Proposition-simplifying works if you can make the product a joy to use, because it is easier to use, more useful, and more beautiful." Yesterday, we had a chance to go up late, but couldn't execute. 

Here's a simple ATO action. We scored on an 'unscripted' version earlier in the game. What went wrong? We got the entry pass. 2 set up her cut and had a step. But 5 tried a direct pass instead of a bounce pass ahead and it got deflected. There are several solid options, including 2 cutting through, with 5 going 1 on 1, or 2 cutting through with 1 getting a handoff to drive. 

After the game, I reminded the team that basketball actions are similar to football quarterbacking. You must make great decisions and solid execution (accuracy). 

Ask better questions:

- What went well?
- What went poorly?
- What can we do better?
- What are the enduring lessons? 

How do we know if our strategy is simple enough? 

What can we do better? 

In two games yesterday, we shot 28 for 107 (26%) from the field and 10 for 25 (40%) from the line. In this league, we won't beat anyone with that performance. With 30 seconds to go, down 2, we missed a wide open layup in transition. Earlier, with a chance to tie, we missed both free throws...badly. 

What are the enduring lessons? We played both games without a legitimate 4 or 5. All our bigs are injured or away? During the first half of the season, we AVERAGED twenty points a game. Yesterday, we scored 69 points in two games, but are overmatched both offensively and defensively in transition. "We're not tall, but we're not fast." 

What can we do to simplify under these conditions? 1) We can't get beaten in transition. The 1s and 2s have to get back and play enough defense to allow for recovery. 2) Limit turnovers. "The white shirts have to pass to the white shirts." 3) As one wag said, "you have to put the orange thing in the orange thing." 

These are great kids. Down a couple late, during a timeout, I asked how many girls had seen Hoosiers. A few hands went up. Then I asked, "what does Jimmy say?" 



Simplify. 

Fast Five: Managing Resources

Steve Callahan was adrift for seventy-six days in a life raft in the Atlantic. He permitted himself water rations of one-half pint per day. He conquered the battle between the emotional self (what I want) and the rational self (what I need). When finally rescued, he ended his ration and drank five pints of water and told his rescuers, "fish, go fish." 

This season has challenged us. We advanced to the top division, lost our foundational player to injury, and haven't grown as much as I would like in either game understanding or execution. I have players missing to play on other teams or tryout for other sports. We're last in the league in scoring, although we've raised our output by fifty percent over the second half. 

Life requires risk management and resource management. We teach our players values about life balance, adaptation, emotional control, raising expectations, and responding to adversity. How do we manage our resources? 

Time. "You either invest your time or you spend it." We're all guilty of spending it...that includes social media and watching television. But we can improve our discipline and efficiency. Steve Forbes reads at least fifty pages a day. Former Clippers VP of Basketball Operations Kevin Eastman reads for two hours daily. Tim Ferriss has a requirement that he spends five minutes a day delineating what he must accomplish. That's a good habit. 

The voice. The voice we hear most lives inside our head. The most important six inches in basketball resides between our ears. My last two words departing each morning are "positive dog". The kaizen philosophy demands better questions, thoughts, and actions. The greatness of Kevin Durant begins with self-talk, "how do I get better today?" 

Timeouts. I've seen incredible misuse of timeouts this year. One coach spent all five in the first half to avoid held balls. I saw another take one (leading twenty-five) to run a play with thirty seconds left. We need to leave simple and clear messages during timeouts. Players aren't on the same page. I've had girls ask so much whether I'm talking about defense or offense. 

Yesterday, we were tied late in the first half and I burned a timeout to run this SLOB. We got a wide open eight-footer and missed. 
Playing time. I asked players this week, "why are we here?" One whom I least expected to 'get it' immediately answered, "improvement." I try to divide the minutes somewhat evenly. That surely doesn't make us more competitive or reward players who are both more skilled and working hard. Whatever our philosophy, it demands direct and clear explanation. 

Discipline. What is discipline? Discipline means sticking to your beliefs, values, and process. That doesn't mean carrying an umbrella on a sunny day, but it means checking the weather. It means "knowing your field", committing to a culture of learning and growth, and understanding cognitive bias. For this season, that means committing to teach players to 'see the game' and emphasizing 'making plays', not running plays. If I don't stay disciplined, I can't expect that from the team. 

SLOB Box Actions

Saturday morning musings with FastDraw. Two games this weekend. I can dream <sigh>. 

Some old, some new. Box sets for SLOBs. Maybe you'll find something you like. 

Everyday and Exotic Basketball Cuts

We build our basketball lexicon like we build our vocabulary, basic to advanced. I teach that basketball is a game of "cutting and passing", with the goal of creating and preventing separation leading to 'high quality scoring chances." Cutting constitutes a basic building block of "help your teammate". 

Elementary school coaches teach the "V-cut" and advance from there. I won't discuss reading screens in this piece. 


This BBallBreakdown piece demonstrates typical NBA cuts - Flex (Celtics run this a lot), Zipper (many SLOBs), UCLA, and shuffle. 

Core principles. 

- See the defender and watch the passer. If the passer cannot see you, then timing a cut can't get results. "Invisible cutters don't get the ball." 
- "Think change of direction and change of pace." You can go slow to fast, literally walking into a cut. 
- "Set up your cut." Add deception to your movement. 
- Choose wisely - cut to the ball, cut to open space (including basket cuts), move and replace yourself, cut to move your defender, cut to screen, cut off screens, stand then sit (on the bench). 

Figure 1. Cut according to how defenders play. 

- If the defender plays "high" (above left), take her higher and go low (back cut/back door).
- If the defender plays "low" (above right), take her lower and go high (front cut/face cut).
- The tighter the defense, the more vulnerable to back cuts and screens. 
- A front cut goes away from the ball, then to the ball.
- A back cut goes to the ball, then away. 

Figure 2. Go at the defender to get away. 

- You get more separation but cutting TO the defender, then away. 

Basic cuts. Make the right cut by reading defenders. 
- V-cut 
- Front cut (face cut) - Figure 1, right. Front cuts or back cuts can lead to give-and-go 


- Back cut - Figure 1, left. 

Advanced cuts. 

- Head turners (when the defender turns her head and cannot see you, back cuts (especially along the baseline) are opportunities

- Circle cut (circle away and return, above)
- Hands up (throw hands up as though receiving post pass and flash)
- Spins (put foot between defender's feet, and reverse pivot to the ball...see 3:58 in this video)
- Edelman cut 


This isn't so much a "thing" as I think it could be. Usually to cut, you plant the inside foot and drive back. 

The "Edelman" uses both feet to create "spin and seal" action. 

Excellent cutting helps your teammates (Phil Jackson's "basketball is sharing") and creates opportunities for you...the best of both worlds.