Cutters Zone Offense

with Ryan Odom,
University of Virginia Head Coach;
VCU Head Coach from 2023 to 2025;
2025 Atlantic 10 Regular Season Champions;
2025 Atlantic 10 Tournament Champions;
Utah State Head Coach from 2021 to 2023;
UMBC Head Coach from 2016 to 2021;
2021 America East Coach of the Year;
made college basketball history when he coached UMBC to the first ever #16-seed win over a #1-seed in the NCAA Tournament (2018);
led UMBC to a 25-11 record, including the 2018 America East Conference Tournament Championship, in his second year (a school record for wins);
2018 Hugh Durham Award recipient (Given to the nation's top mid-major coach);
2017 Joe B. Hall Award recipient (Given to the top first-year coach in Division I)

Teams at every level are beginning to spread the floor more often with skilled players that can shoot. Ryan Odom has developed an offense that will allow you to take advantage of this strategy versus zone defenses as well!

If you are in charge of a team that lacks post play or wants to capitalize on talented perimeter players, then you need to take a look at this video. This zone offense will open up the floor for weak side flashes, drive & kicks, and create natural overloads that can distort your opponent's alignment.

Cutters Offense

This versatile offense opens up the floor by utilizing extra shooters in your lineup. See how you can still play inside-out with additional perimeter players through a continuity that provides great spacing as well as awesome ball and player movement.

Coach Odom demonstrates how you can attack the rim through overloads, shifting your post player to open up logo touches, and dribble penetration. Vary the look you attack your opponent with by allowing your post player and baseline runner some freedom in their decision making. You will see how this can distort and overwhelm your opponent's zone defense to open up corner shots, drives, or post feeds. Odom also shows how to implement screens that can pin defenders for open shots.

1-3-1 Offense

You will see how you can find ways for your perimeter players to penetrate the defense through a more traditional zone look. This is essential to addressing the huge liability created when trying to play a non-shooting guard versus a zone defense. You'll learn how you can utilize ball screens to open up driving lanes that collapse the defense.

Additional Strategies

Coach Odom also shows how to incorporate ball screen set plays and other man-to-man plays effectively against zone defenses in transition or short clock situations. You'll see how to attack a zone through the "Horns" set or "Angle" ball screen as the clock is winding down. You will also learn how to flow into zone offense through actions typically used in the Blocker-Mover offense to create some early scoring opportunities.

See how to carry over modern basketball philosophies to attack zone defenses with this insightful release from Ryan Odom!

55 minutes. 2019.