Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!
Haven’t subscribed to the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter yet?
Split cuts are a way to occupy help defenders immediately following a post entry. When a guard enters the ball into the post, she screens away for another perimeter player. The two defenders guarding that screening action have to focus on that rather than on digging down into the post (sagging into the paint to swipe at the ball while the post player is making a move).
That typically allows the big to work one-on-one, but if one of the defenders does still help down, then the big can either kick it back out for a three or that perimeter player can cut to the hoop for a layup.
The name split cut comes from the fact that the players involved in the screen split from each other. The one receiving the screen reads the defense and decides whether to pop off the screen, curl it, reject it, or any other option that takes what the defense is giving. The screener then splits off in the other direction.
This is a common action in the Princeton offense, and Stanford uses it regularly. Some of their famous backdoor layups come off of a split cut, as you will see in the video.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!
Haven’t subscribed to the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter yet?