Basic Movement The flex offense is a simple, yet highly effective offense that is employed by

many successful high school and college teams. This offense has resulted in many

championships for many teams. This is the offense we will be running at the freshmen

level, it is one of the offenses our varsity team runs. The following is an explanation of

the offense. The offense is explained by diagrams with written explanations for each.

Study the offense and be ready to learn it. This will all be covered in practice. If there are

any questions, do not hesitate to ask!!

Basic Set Up: The offense starts out with the players aligned in a 2-3 look. There

should be a player on top at each of the lane line extended (1 & 2). The other three

players should be spread along the baseline, 2 in the corners (3 & 5) and one on the ball

side just above the block (4). There are no set positions in this offense, players should be

familiar with all positions.

Basic Movement: To initiate the offense, a pass is made the player at the top with

the ball to the other as shown. Once the pass is made, the player who is in the corner

opposite the ball side (3) cuts across the lane off a flex screen by the player at the block

(4).

Once the flex cut is run, the player that passed the ball (1) now sets a down screen

for the player that set the flex screen (4). The player that set the flex screen cuts up the

lane line to the open top position (the spot the screener came from).

After setting the down screen, the down screener (1) pops out to the corner. This

balances the floor and we are back into our original flex positions.

As the pass is made from top to top again, the player that is now in the corner

opposite the ball (5) runs a flex cut off the screen set by the player now above the block

that just ran the first flex cut (3). After this action, a the player that just passed the ball (2)

will set a down screen for the player that just set the flex screen (3) and the action will

continue.

Corner Entry The corner entry happens when the top player with the ball passes to the player on

the corner on his side.

The first thing that should happen is the player who is above the block in position

to set the flex screen on the reversal (4) should go to the block and post up for a second or

two. If no post entry is made, he should then cut up toward the elbow.

Once the player above the block on the lane line (4) gets to the elbow, the top

player that passed the ball to the corner (1) should run a UCLA screen off a screen set by

the player cutting to the elbow (4). Even though it is not shown in the diagram, the cutter

(1) should be taking 2-3 steps away to set up the UCLA screening action. After the cutter

makes the cut, he should take the place of the screener (4) on the ball side block.

After the cutter (1) reaches the ball side block, the screener (4) steps out to the

perimeter, replacing the cutter. The two players have now interchanged positions. When

the ball is passed back up to the top and reversed, the offense continues. 3 runs the flex

screen off the screen set by 1 and we continue to flex as we normally would.

Audibles Audibles are quick scoring options that are called by the coach from the bench

during a possession. Audibles can be called at any point during the possession, they can

be used to initiate the offense or while the offense is being run. The purpose of an audible

is to create a different look or actions, such as a screen and roll, that are not seen in the

basic continuity of the flex offense. There are four basic audibles that will be used..

Utah: Utah is a simple screen and roll. This audible is used after the flex cut is

run; we are in a situation where the ball is on the lane line, there is a player in the post

area and a player in the corner. When Utah is called, the player on the low block comes

up and sets a screen and roll for the player with the ball. The screen should be set around

the elbow area. The player with the ball should dribble off the screen and look to drive to

the basket. The screener should roll to the basket as well. The man in the corner is

looking for the kick out if his man leaves to help.

UCLA: This audible is employed by the coach as an option to use when we are

facing strong ball pressure and denial of the reversal pass. Once again, it takes place after

the flex cut has been run already. The player that is now on the block on the ball side sets

a back screen for the top player without the ball. Cutter cuts to the block, screener pops.

Texas Tech: This is just another audible to mix up the action from time to time.

Once again, it is run after the flex cut has been run. When Texas Tech is called, the top

player without the ball screens the player in his corner. The player being screened cuts up

to the open top spot and the screener fills the corner. This can also be run when the player

at the guard position is being denied the ball.

Gopher: Gopher is another simple audible. The purpose is to get a possible shot or entry

in the corner. When Gopher is called, the player in the corner sets a screen for the player

at the block. The player at the block now pops out to the corner and the screener seals and

stays above the block. Good when you have a shooter on the block – you could go as far

as to say that every time your best shooter is on the block, we run Gopher.

Reverse: When “reverse” is called, we are going to keep running our flex offense, but

will run it a little bit differently. Instead of the player at the guard spot setting a down

screen after a pass, the player that passes the ball from one guard to the other gets a back

screen set for him by the player on the low block after the flex cut.

The screener pops to the guard spot and after making the cut to the rim the cutter

separates out to the backside corner area. We are still in our same flex alignment and still

have our same flex actions.

Coaches – If you have any questions on any of this stuff, please feel free to e-mail me at

johncarrier42@gmail.com . I hope this can be of some use to you!