A flex cut is a cut along the baseline off a cross screen, from the weak-side corner to the ball-side block. The cutter sets his man up by stepping away first, then runs him into the screen shoulder to shoulder. If the screen holds, he catches on the block for a layup.
Why coaches use it
It never runs alone. In the flex continuity, the ball is reversed, someone flex cuts across the baseline, and then the man who set that screen is screened himself and comes up to the top. That pairing is what makes the offense hard to guard: the defense has to solve a layup cut and a shot at the top on every single reversal, and if it solves both, the ball goes back the other way and the same two things happen again.
For a young team it is one of the few offenses that produces a shot without a single dribble, and the spots never change. That is also its weakness. A scout who has seen it once knows where the cut is going.
How it is guarded
- Chase low. The cutter’s defender goes underneath the screen and beats him to the block. Simplest answer, and it gives up the high-side catch at the elbow.
- Top-lock. Sit above the cutter and refuse him the baseline. The counter is a straight backdoor to the rim, or a seal on the weak-side block.
- Switch the cross screen. Cheap and effective, especially if the two players are the same size. Your counter is to put a guard and a big in the action on purpose.
The cut is only as good as the screen. Feet outside the lane, chest square to where the defender is going, and hold it.