Adding 45 Cuts to Your Offense
What is a 45 cut?
A 45 cut, like it’s name suggests, is when the offensive player on the wing cuts straight to the rim (at a 45 degree angle). 45 cuts are a staple of many NBA and Division I offenses, and are effective for the following two reasons:
45 cuts exploit the help side defense resulting in open lay ups at the rim.
45 cuts create opportunities for your teammates along the perimeter by forcing the defense to collapse and take away the cut.
When Should You 45 Cut?
The best way to implement 45 cuts into your offense is by giving your players reads or scenarios in which 45 cuts are most effective. The easiest way to coach this is with “If” and “then” terminology. For example, if we flow into X action on offense, then we 45 cut.
Below are the 5 most common scenarios or actions in which the 45 cut is most effective in picking apart the defense:
Post Entry
Baseline Drive
Pick & Pop
Short Roll
Dribble At
Post Entry:
On a post entry or post up, perimeter defenders will often collapse to the paint and choke the post, double the post, zone up, or even lose their man all together as they are too focused on the ball. The best way for the perimeter players to exploit this is with a 45 cut from the weak side wing (below).
Even if 5 is not able to hit 2 as he 45 cuts to the rim, the cut will force X3 to help in thus opening up the skip pass to 2 in the opposite corner for an open three.
Baseline Drive:
A baseline drive is another great opportunity to 45 cut from the weak side wing. If the player driving baseline is able to get deep penetration, the defense has to collapse and zone up the back side leaving them vulnerable to 45 cuts to the rim. Deep penetration along the baseline also causes the off-ball defenders to turn and lose sight of their man more often then not.
A timely 45 cut will almost always lead to an open lay up if the baseline drive is cut off. If the defense helps on the 45 cut, this will leave the weak side corner wide open for a kick out three.
Pick & Pop:
Anytime a screener sets a ball screen and pops to the top of the key, the weak side defender (X3 below) will have to initially stunt or rotate to the ball. The perfect way to counter this stunt or tag is by 45 cutting the weak side wing (3) to the rim.
If the weak side defender rotates to take the screener away as he pops to the top of the key, the cutter should be open as he cuts to the rim. If the weak side defender stays with the 45 cut, the screener then has room to shoot or attack after popping.
Short Roll:
Another common action that triggers a 45 cut from the weak side is a wing ball screen when the ball handler hits the screener as he rolls to the rim. Often times defenses will slide the weak side defenders over to help on the screener rolling to the rim, which leaves them vulnerable to 45 cuts to the basket.
If the defense collapses to take away the 45 cut, this opens up the weak side corner for a potential kick out three.
Dribble At:
The “dribble at” almost always triggers a back door cut, and it is no different with a 45 cut. Often times you will see this action out of 5-out spacing (you’ll see this with Richmond’s 5-out series in the video below).
Any time your wing players are dribbled at, they can 45 cut to the rim to either receive a pass for a lay up or to create space for a drive or kick.
