Table of Contents
What is the weak side in basketball
The weak side in basketball is the left side or right side of the court that is opposite the location of the ball, which also typically contains at least one or more offensive players as well as at least one or more defensive players.
As an example, if an offensive player in the frontcourt has possession of the ball at the top but afterwards, that same player passes it to another offensive player on the right side wing, then this means that the left side of the court is now the weak side.
Furthermore, the other side of the court that is opposite the weak side where the ball is currently located on is generally referred to as the strong side or the ball side.
Put simply, the difference between the strong side and the weak side is that the strong side contains the ball while the weak side is opposite away from the ball.
What are general actions that offensive players could implement on the weak side
Basketball Cuts
When the ball is on the strong side, this gives offensive players on the weak side an opportunity to execute at least a couple of basketball cuts such as the backdoor cut and the drift cut.
Backdoor Cut
A typical backdoor cut occurs when an offensive player without the ball takes a quick step towards an offensive player with the ball and immediately cuts to the basket.
As an example, an offensive player near the weak side wing or weak side corner could execute a backdoor cut to the rim, receive the ball, and then score with a layup or dunk.
Drift Cut
A drift cut occurs when an offensive player without the ball cuts from the weak side wing to the weak side corner, particularly in combination with a drift pass from the strong side.
Afterwards, the offensive player that executed the drift cut could receive the ball and possible take an open jump shot, primarily from three-point range.
Basketball Screens
When the ball is on the strong side of the court, offensive players on the weak side could execute certain types of basketball screens such as the back screen, the flare screen, the flex screen, the hammer screen, and the stagger screen.
Back screen
The back screen occurs when an offensive player without the ball cuts to the basket by way of a screen set behind the defender that is currently guarding that cutting offensive player.
As an example, the ball could be on the left side of the court near the wing area, which also makes that the strong side. At the same time, there could also be at least two players on the opposite side of the ball, which would be the weak side.
From that point, one weak side offensive player could cut to the basket via the back screen set by the other weak side offensive player. Afterwards, the cutting player could receive the ball and score at the rim.
Flare screen
The flare screen occurs when an offensive player without the ball receives a screen while cutting away from the ball, typically towards the weak side of the court.
As an example, the ball could be on the right side of the court near the wing area, which also is the strong side. Furthermore, there could be at least one offensive player on the weak side and one offensive player near the top or even the left slot area.
Next, the offensive player at the top could cut away from the ball towards the weak side wing and then receive a flare screen from the offensive player that was near the weak side wing.
Following that, the cutting offensive player could receive the ball by way of a skip pass from the offensive player near the right side wing area and take a potential open jump shot.
Flex screen
The flex screen occurs when an offensive player without the ball near a weak side corner cuts to the basket via a weak side back screen that is set typically near the baseline area by a low post player.
As an example, let’s say the ball is on the left side of the court near the wing area, which also makes that the strong side.
At the same time, let’s also say that there is at least two offensive players on the weak side near the right side low post area as well as the right side corner behind the three-point line.
Following that, the weak side offensive player near the corner could cut to the basket via the flex screen set by the weak side low post player.
Afterwards, the cutting player could receive the ball from the offensive player that was on the strong side and score with a layup or dunk.
Hammer screen
The hammer screen, utilized within the hammer set play, occurs when a offensive player near the weak side wing executes a drift cut to the weak side corner while receiving a weak side back screen from another offensive player.
As an example, there could be an offensive player with the ball at the top or near the right side wing as well as a weak side cutter near the left side wing and a weak side screener near the left side low post block.
From there, the offensive player with the ball could get dribble penetration, particularly towards the baseline on the right side.
As that happens, the weak side cutter near the wing could move towards the corner via the hammer screen from the weak side screener. Afterwards, the weak side cutter could receive the ball in the corner and take the potential three-point jump shot.
Stagger screen
The stagger screen occurs when two offensive players set adjacent screens away from the ball, usually near the baseline or corners, for another offensive player that will use the stagger screen to get open, typically near the perimeter.
As an example, there could be an offensive player with the ball near the left side wing as well as three offensive players on the weak side near the right side high post, right side wing, and right side corner respectively.
Moreover, the offensive player near the right side corner could cut to the top via the stagger screen set by the other two offensive players on that same weak side.
After that, the cutting offensive player could receive the ball and take the jump shot behind the three-point line if that is open.
What are weak side defenders and their main objective
Weak side defenders are any off-ball defenders that are on the weak side opposite the ball and their main objective is to support the on-ball defender on the strong side with help defense to limit or prevent offensive scoring options.
Moreover, weak side defenders are usually more than one pass away from the ball when it is on the strong side of the court.
In other words, if the ball is on the right side of the court, particularly near the right side wing or corner, then any weak side defenders near the left side wing or left side corner would be considered at least two passes away from the ball.
What are general actions that defensive players could implement on the weak side
Defensive stance
The first and most important action for weak side defenders (or any basketball defenders in general) is to execute a proper defensive stance.
To execute this particular action, each weak side defender should have their feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, their knees bent, and their back straight while maintaining balance.
Also, weak side defenders should try to remain on the balls of the feet and not stand flat-footed. Moreover, weak side defenders should have their hands up with their arms extended away from their sides.
Furthermore, weak side defenders could use their index fingers to point to their respective assignment that they are currently guarding as well as the offensive player with the ball.
This is generally referred to as the ‘ball-you-man’ concept and it basically means that the off-ball weak side defender should be close to the area between the offensive player with the ball and their current assignment.
Defensive slide
The next basic action that weak side defenders (or defenders in general) could execute is the defensive slide by moving their feet laterally from side to side with one foot leading the other.
As an example, if an off-ball weak side defender wants to move to their right (which would be the left side of the court from the offensive team’s point of view), then the defender should move laterally (from side to side) with the right foot leading first followed by the left foot afterwards.
Conversely, if an off-ball weak side defender would like to move to their left (which would be the right side of the court from the offensive team’s point of view), then the defender should move laterally (from side to side) with the left foot leading first followed by the right foot thereafter.
Also, it is important to note that the weak side defender should try to keep their feet as close to shoulder width apart as possible while executing the lateral slide.
In other words, the defender’s feet should never be too close together as that would take away their lateral quickness. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the defender should not cross their feet when executing the lateral slide.
If that were to occur, not only does this eliminate the defender’s ability to effectively slide laterally, but it also could cause the defender to lose balance and possibly stumble to the floor.
Slide towards post areas
If the ball is on the strong side, then defenders near the weak side wing or weak side corner are at least two passes away and could therefore slide towards the post areas near the lane, also known as the key.
The main purpose of that defensive action is to mitigate cuts to the basket by any offensive players on the weak side.
That is to say, if the weak side help defenders are too close to their respective assignments, especially within man to man defense, then the weak side offensive players could execute the backdoor cut to the basket as a counter action.
Slide into the lane
In certain situations, when the ball is on the strong side of the court, an offensive player may not occupy the strong side low post area such as with the 5 out formation.
When that happens, an off-ball weak side defender, preferably near the lower area of the court such as the weak side corner or weak side low post block, could slide into the lane to ultimately protect the basket.
In addition to that, if a weak side defender slides into the lane, then another weak side defender could drop back to stand in the gap between the weak side mid-post and the weak side corner.
The primary reason for that particular defensive action is to provide additional support, which is also typically known as the help the helper concept.
As a brief example, if the assignment of the weak side defender currently protecting the basket were to receive the ball, then that same weak side defender most likely would not be able to execute an adequate defensive closeout to prevent an open jump shot.
Therefore, to mitigate that potential offensive action, another weak side defender would give additional help and execute the defensive closeout instead while the weak side defender covering the basket could rotate to another area of the court if necessary.
Double team
If an offensive low post player, especially a highly skilled one, receives the ball, it is possible to execute a double team which could lead to the post player committing a turnover or taking an ill-advised field goal attempt around the low post area.
For this case, a primary defender on the strong side could receive double team help from a secondary defender on the weak side, preferably near the lower side of the court, such as the weak side low post area or even the weak side corner in some instances.
Furthermore, to execute the double team, the weak side secondary defender should typically wait until after the low post player with the ball has already started their dribble or just finished their dribble.
If the low post player started their dribble, then the defensive pressure from the double team could cause them to prematurely pick up their dribble. When that mistake occurs, the player with the ball could compound the problem by executing a bad pass, which could then lead to a turnover.
Similarly, if the low post player already ended their dribble, then the double team pressure could cause the player to get rid of the ball impulsively leading to a intercepted pass or some other type of turnover such as a traveling violation.
Next, the strong side primary defender and the weak side secondary defender should lock their adjacent feet together as a method to stop a potential dribbling escape route for the low post player.
Following that, the strong side primary defender and the weak side secondary defender should use high hands to make it more difficult for the player with the ball to see possible passing options out of the double team.
Moreover, the strong side primary defender and the weak side secondary defender should use their high hands to mirror the hands of the player with the ball.
As a result of mirroring, one of the defenders could possibly deflect an attempted pass from the player with the ball, and this could lead to a turnover.
Additionally, it is important for the strong side primary defender and the weak side secondary defender to not reach for the ball in an attempt to steal it from the offensive player.
This could cause the primary defender or secondary defender to receive an unnecessary foul.
Tag the rolling screener
An offensive team will commonly execute pick and roll action as a tactic to create scoring opportunities against the defensive team.
Furthermore, that pick and roll action will usually occur on the strong side such as via a side ball screen or as the screen receiver dribbles the ball towards the strong side such as via a high ball screen from the top.
So, to counter that action, the defensive team could implement a tactic known as the defensive hedge or for certain scenarios, the alternative drop coverage tactic to limit offensive scoring options.
However, a potential downside to those defensive tactics, especially, the hedge action, is that the screener’s defender could be initially too far away to quickly recover once the screener rolls to the basket.
Therefore, to alleviate this possible issue, a weak side help defender, generally adjacent to the weak side wing (or weak side corner if the weak side wing is empty) could briefly step into the cutting pathway of the screener rolling to the basket.
This effectively slows down the momentum of the screener that rolls and at the same time, it gives the screener’s defender enough time to recover to the screener.
