Teaching Progression

Offense Behind the Offense

Teaching motion — or what today’s game often calls Conceptual Offense — is one of the greatest challenges in basketball, but also one of the most rewarding. We tell our players it’s like learning to read. I can’t pinpoint the exact day I learned to read, but I remember the process. Motion is the same: it takes time, patience, and reps. Over time it becomes part of who we are.

Like a beautiful symphony, the best offense is five players in concert together — moving, cutting, screening, and sharing the ball with rhythm and flow.

At its core, basketball is a continuous movement game. The team that keeps the ball and players moving has the advantage because basketball is about manipulating space and time:

Space = Time
Time = Space

If the ball stops, the defense gains time. When the defense gains time, we lose space.

That’s why we play 5-Out Motion. At its simplest: a point up top, wings wide, and forwards spaced. The ball can’t stick. The players can’t stand. Move the ball. Move people. Screen.

Before learning plays or sets, our players must master what we call the Offense Behind the Offense — the universal habits that make everything else work. Our progression follows three levels: Cutting, Screening, and Driving.

Level 1 | Cutting Game

Our foundation is the basket cut. If you pass and stand, you’re easy to guard. If you pass and cut, you move people. And when you move people, you create gaps. We tell our players: put pressure on the rim. Even if you don’t get the ball, the defense has to react, and that opens opportunities for teammates.

Cut Twice to Score. First cut to the rim, then cut with purpose when filling back out. That second cut often opens as many chances as the first.
Every Basket Cut Creates Gaps. Even without a pass, your cut can open a double or even triple gap for a teammate. We’ll even X-cut (cutting away from the rim) simply to clear space for the drive.
Additional cuts we emphasize: V-cut, L-cut, blast cut, and back cut.

Level 2 | Screening Game

When defenders take away the cut, great players respond by becoming great screeners. We believe the most open man on the floor is often the screener.

Common Screens

Away / Down / Cross / Back
Wide Pin Down
Ball Screen (the pick & roll has always been, and will always be, a staple of the game)

The screening game has evolved. It’s no longer just setting a hard pick — it’s about screening and splitting. Both create tough decisions for the defense.

Slip (start to screen, then cut to space)
Ghost (fake the screen, pop away without contact)

Low, High, Wing Splits
Splitting the Post

Certain players can never screen enough; others must be more selective. Either way, it’s always quality over quantity.

Level 3 | Driving Game

We don’t want pointless pee dribbles — we want purposeful drives.

Key Rules:

Drive double gaps. Pass through single gaps.
Drive poor closeouts. Anytime a defender closes out late, off-balance, or at the wrong angle, we attack.

Circle Movement

One of the first things we teach is circle movement.

Dribble right/left = teammates move right/left.
Baseline drive = baseline drift.

We call this Headlights & Taillights. Teammates in front of the drive are the headlights (spacing lanes and shot threats). Teammates behind the drive are the taillights (crack-back positioning for spacing and protection). This is a core rule we want players to grasp as early as possible.

Dribble-at vs. Dribble Penetration

We make a clear distinction between two types of dribble:

Dribble-at (East–West): driving at a teammate to trigger a cut or action.
Dribble Penetration (North–South): driving downhill toward the rim to collapse the defense.

Players must understand the difference — one manipulates teammates, the other manipulates defenders.

Purpose of the Dribble

The dribble must always serve a purpose. We emphasize four:

Advance/Drive the ball.
Escape pressure.
Improve a passing angle.
Create a shot or drive.

No wasted dribbles. Every bounce must matter!

Paint Grabs → Rim Threats

Every drive must threaten the paint. Each paint touch collapses the defense, creates dominoes, and fuels our inside-out attack.

From there, finishing rules apply:

AFAP (as fast as possible) to the rim off 1 foot if no bodies are in the way.
Play off 2 feet (stride stop) if help is there.

Why This Matters

Whether you call it Motion or Conceptual Offense, the goal is the same: teaching players how to play, not just how to run plays.

The Offense Behind the Offense develops complete players. Everyone learns how to cut, screen, pass, post, and drive. Everyone learns spacing and timing. Nobody is boxed into being “just a big” or “just a guard.”

This style of basketball is:

Hard to guard.
Fun to play.
Built to last.

That’s why we say: before you learn sets, you learn concepts. This is the Titan Way.