One player dribbles toward a teammate and puts the ball in his hands as they pass each other. The man giving it up turns and becomes a screener on the receiver’s defender. It looks like an exchange and functions like a ball screen.
When the passer throws it first and then sprints after his own pass to take it straight back, many coaches call that a get.
Why coaches use it
It moves the ball and sets a screen in the same motion, which is two jobs for one action. Against a defense that is happy to switch every screen, the handoff is awkward: at the moment of the exchange neither defender is sure which man is which, and a late switch leaves the receiver going downhill.
It is also safe. The pass travels about a meter, or three feet, so pressure and denial do not break it. That makes it a good primary action for a team that struggles to get the ball where it needs to go.
The handoff can always become a keep. If the receiver’s defender jumps the exchange, the dribbler simply does not give it up and attacks the space that defender left.
How it is guarded
The product’s own settings name the three real choices, and they are the three every staff teaches.
- Over. Follow the receiver over the top of the handoff and stay attached. Takes the shot away.
- Under. Take the short way and meet him on the other side. For a receiver who will not shoot.
- Switch. Trade players as the ball changes hands, which is clean only if the switch is called before the exchange.
The big’s defender also has to decide whether to show at the ball afterward, which is when the handoff turns into an ordinary pick-and-roll.