What is the pitch ahead pass in basketball?
The pitch ahead pass generally occurs when an offensive player in possession of the basketball advances it to another offensive player who is, typically near one of the wings or corners in the frontcourt.
Afterwards, the player that received the ball could have an opportunity to score at the rim, take a jump shot, or possibly create playmaking assists for additional teammates.
Pitch ahead pass in relation to transition offense
The pitch ahead pass is commonly executed during transition offense and more specifically within primary break when the offensive team has a potential numbers advantage or within secondary break when the defensive team is not fully prepared to properly defend against the actions of the offensive team.
Essentially, the current offensive team either swiftly throws an inbound pass after the opposing team scores or the current offensive team collects the rebound by way of a missed field goal attempt by the opposing team.
Afterwards, the current offensive team executes their primary or secondary break with a pitch ahead pass before the opposing team is able to completely defend against the break action.
How to understand the player roles and diagrams on this page
In reference to any diagrams below, each of the offensive and defensive players are generally represented by the standard basketball positions, unless otherwise noted.
Additionally, offensive players are signified by numbers such as 1-5 while defensive players are indicated by the letter X, which is then followed by numbers such as X1-X5.
In essence, 1 and X1 indicate the respective offensive and defensive point guards. 2 and X2 signify the respective offensive and defensive shooting guards.
3 and X3 denote the respective offensive and defensive small forwards. 4 and X4 designate the respective offensive and defensive power forwards.
5 and X5 represent the respective offensive and defensive centers.
Moreover, in terms of a brief legend for the diagrams:
- Black Dot or Small Circle: The black dot or small circle represents the basketball.
- Solid Arrow: The solid arrow indicates movement or a cut on the basketball court.
- Dotted Arrow: The dotted arrow represents a basketball pass.
- Wavy Arrow: The wavy arrow indicates dribbling.
- T-Shaped Symbol: The T-shaped symbol signifies a screen, also known as a pick.
What are examples of the pitch ahead pass?
The pitch ahead pass could be put into action, particularly from a full court perspective, which could also potentially lead to scoring opportunities.
Example 1
To start, 1 immediately receives an inbound pass from 5 and begins dribbling down the court.
As that happens, 2 and 3 sprint down towards the right side and left side wing areas, respectively.
From there, 2 receives the ball via the pitch ahead pass from 1. Moreover, 4 continues towards the left slot area while 1 fills the opposite right slot and 5 trails behind.
In terms of the opposing team, let’s say that none of them get back in time to properly protect the basket, which is an error in relation to transition defense.
Therefore, 2 immediately attacks the rim by dribbling towards the lane and has the opportunity to score via a layup.
Example 2
To begin, 1 quickly receives the ball via an inbound pass from 5 and begins dribbling down the court. As that happens, 2 and 3 sprint to the right side corner and left side wing area, respectively.
1 throws the pitch ahead pass with 3 as the intended receiver, prior to crossing into the offensive team’s frontcourt area.
From there, let’s say that 3 is able to quickly blow by X3 and attack the rim. Furthermore, let’s say that X2 is protecting the rim in this transition sequence.
Therefore, 3 throws a kick pass with 2 as the intended target. Afterwards, 2 has an opportunity to take the three-point shot before X2 is able to fully closeout to contest.
Example 3
For this example, 5 collects a defensive rebound after a missed shot attempt by the opposing team.
After that, 1 quickly receives the ball and begins dribbling down the court followed by a pitch ahead pass with 2 as the intended target.
Let’s say that some of the opposing defenders are able to sprint back into the offensive team’s frontcourt. However, none of them are able to sprint back swiftly enough to protect the basket.
In addition, let’s also say that X3 either loses sight of 3 or 3 simply has more speed and overall athleticism.
In either case, 3 is able to cut directly to the basket unimpeded by any defenders. From there, 3 receives the ball from 2 and scores at the rim by way of a layup or dunk.
Example 4
For this example, the defensive team does a much better job overall with their transition defense.
To start, X1 plays denial against the inbound pass. This causes 1 to utilize a v-cut to get open and receive the ball from 4.
1 begins dribbling down the court and throws the pitch ahead with 2 as the target.
However, the frontcourt defenders are able to protect the basket, stop the ball, and match-up properly.
Therefore, the offensive team is not able to easily score via their primary break. As a result, the offensive team executes their secondary break.
In this instance, 5 simply cuts to the right side low post area from the lane while 2 dribbles toward the right side wing.
Following that, 5 quickly receives the ball via a post entry pass and attempts to score against X5 with a low post move.
What is an example of a pitch ahead passing drill?
For the setup, two lines are formed. One of the lines consists of players in the backcourt parallel to mid-court facing the frontcourt basket. The other line comprises players in the backcourt adjacent to the half court and sideline.
It should also be noted that the players’ numbers, in this case, are not representative of standard basketball positions. Therefore, player 1 does not necessarily have to be a point guard or player 5 does not necessarily have to be a center.
The numbers, in this example, are simply for demonstration purposes and to hopefully, make the information easier to understand.
It should also be mentioned that this drill is derived from All Access North Carolina Basketball Practice with Roy Williams.
To start the drill, 1 throws the ball off the nearest backboard and grabs it as if it was a missed shot by the opposing team. This is shown with the dotted arrows.
Moreover, upon receiving the rebound, 1 should also have elbows extended near the chin area to protect the ball.
As that occurs, 4 should sprint towards the opposite basket with a hand in the air calling for the ball. Afterwards, 1 should take one dribble towards 4 and from that point, 4 should receive the ball from 1 via the pitch ahead pass.
Next, 4 should only take one or two dribbles toward the basket and score at the rim via a layup/dunk. Furthermore, as that happens, 1 should also trail behind 4 near the right sideline and eventually loop under the frontcourt basket towards the opposite sideline.
From there, after 4 scores at the rim, 4 should get the ball out of the net. Following that, 4 should take no more than two dribble towards the nearest free throw line and then, 1 should receive the ball from 4 via the pitch ahead pass.
Afterwards, 1 would take no more than two dribbles towards the opposite basket and score at the rim while 4 trails behind. Once 1 and 4 complete the drill, they could either do it again or stay off the court near the sideline or baseline areas.
Next, 2 would execute the drill with 5, followed by 3 practicing it with 6, and any other additional players who would pair up as necessary.
Why is the pitch ahead pass potentially effective?
The pitch ahead pass is a potentially effective action because it could create quick, scoring opportunities for the offensive team while simultaneously diminishing or totally negating the potency of the defensive team.
Essentially, when a certain player, notably during transition offense, executes the pitch ahead pass, primarily from the backcourt into the frontcourt, this will typically lead to one of two scenarios for the defensive team while they are executing their transition defense.
In the first scenario, which is basically the offensive team’s primary break, most (or all) of the defenders are not able to stay in front of the ball and as a result, one or more offensive players are able to get ahead of the majority of those same defenders in the frontcourt.
When that occurs, the offensive team would be able to use the pitch ahead pass to quickly score via layups/dunks at the rim.
In the second scenario, which is basically the offensive team’s secondary break, all of the defensive team is able to sprint into the frontcourt and stay in front of the ball.
However, they are not able to fully contain the ball or they are not able to completely prevent the offensive team from getting quality shot attempts from the perimeter or near the basket.
For example, when the pitch ahead pass occurs, one of the defenders closest to the ball could possibly execute a poor defensive closeout and that could lead to a wide open three-point shot or potential dribble penetration towards the basket.
Also, if dribble penetration occurs, this will almost certainly result in a defensive breakdown and the offensive team would be able to generate a high quality shot at the basket or sometimes near the perimeter.
Conversely, even if the defensive team is able to contain dribble penetration or discourage jump shots, the offensive team could still utilize the pitch ahead pass to flow into other tactics such as high low action, which could result in more scoring opportunities.