Cyclones’ Out-of-Bounds Play

The Iowa State Cyclones were climbing a second-half uphill battle against in-state rival Iowa earlier this month and used this out-of-bounds play to pass the ball back to the inbounder and keep the momentum going.

Why use it

Trailing by seven with eight minutes remaining, Iowa State was on the verge of erasing a 20-point, second-half deficit to Iowa. This inbound play shredded Iowa’s 2-3 zone defense and is a must-add to all playbooks.

Set up

The point guard takes the ball out of bounds with a box set featuring the post players on opposite blocks and the guards at the elbows.

How to play

5 turns into the lane and sets a screen on the ball-side low defender. 4 runs the baseline and uses 5’s screen to come free on the ball side. 3 drops low and replaces 4, which requires defensive attention of the weak-side low defender [1]. 4 continues moving and locates into the corner. 5 now turns high and sets another screen to allow 2 to come free into the ball-side short corner. 5 then curls to the perimeter and receives an inbound pass from 1 [2]. 4 shifts a bit higher as 2 replaces 4 in the corner. 1 steps into the open space. 5 passes to 1. 1 shoots and scores [3].

Technique

With 5 popping to the perimeter, the zone breaks up a bit and three defenders rush the perimeter with 4 and 2 already out there. This allows 1 to step into an open space with no defenders nearby. Once 5 knows the third defender is coming to the perimeter, then he or she understands a pass to 1 must be made.