Understanding the Ghost Cut in Basketball

What is a Ghost Cut?

Put simply, a ghost cut is a cut where the offense disappears and reappears in some place spooky, like under the basket. We took this terminology from Coach Mike MacKay!

The best part of the ghost cut is that you can cut from anywhere. In NBA circles there is a lot of talk about the “45 cut” and its effectiveness. Defenses have been trained for the take 2 defender to sink and take away the “dunker” or corner kick-out pass. However, just like with most basketball decisions, the ‘correct’ decision will depend on how the defense is positioned.

Here you can see the kick ahead pass causing 1 defender to pull-in, leading to a ghost cut opportunity towards the basket.

Rui times his cut perfectly as KD is distracted by the action in front of him.

LeBron times his cut perfectly. Reaves draws his help and James perceives the affordance perfectly. The short roll is a great time to ghost cut as you will have a guaranteed 4-on-3 or 3-on-2 advantage to convert.

The quickness of the decision doesn’t leave Westbrook with enough time to sink and contest the shot.

Having bigs that can catch and make plays in the pocket out of the short roll opens up scoring opportunities for shooters and great cutters - like Green in the clip above. Notice how he creeps into the paint as his defender positions himself to take away the potential Allen shot.

The 5 uses his size to catch an alley-oop over the smaller “sink defender” who is too late to help.

As Reaves goes to double team from the baseline, the help defender does not react in time, leaving time for Prince to punish the defense with the ghost cut.

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21 SSGs for your next practice.

A free PDF of small-sided games you can run right away. A practical first taste of the approach.

A free PDF of small-sided games you can run right away. A practical first taste of the approach.

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Donatas Motiejūnas catches the ball in the short roll and feeds the cutter. Notice that Monaco distort the sink defender by running a double, similar to the Lakers possession above. You will see the sink defender guarding the offensive player that pops to take away the shot, leaving a 2-on-1.

When to Make a Ghost Cut?

• Your defender is ball watching. You can see the back of the defense’s head.
• When the “take two” or sink defender tags the roller/ helps on a drive: Short roll situations Penetration Two side
• During defensive rotations
• If your defender goes to double team / hit

Remember to explode out of your cuts and make a connection with your team mate.

SSGs to Practice the Ghost Cut

Two classic small-sided games to promote the ghost cut are 2-on-1 shooting and 3-on-2 dominoes bursts.

Game: 2-on-1 Shooting

Rules:

• 2 offensive players start on the 45 and corner.
• Defense starts on the block with the ball.
• Defense passes the ball in and tries to contest.
• Offense has 2 passes max, to get a shot.

Constraints:

• Dynamic start. Players run into positions.
• Can only score inside the smile (gold medal).

Game: 3-on-2 Dominoes Bursts

Rules:

• 2 offensive players around the 3 point line with 2 defenders.
• Offense plays for 1 minute trying to get as many scores as possible.

Constraints:

• Ghost cuts are worth double
• Turnover = no zero second decisions, catching in the lava, and poor spacing
• If defense can force two TOs, they can go to offense immediately and the burst is over.

Game: 3-on-3 Continuous Dominoes

Rules:

• Offense must run around a coach, who can change location, while defense follows.
• If defense gets the ball, they go to offense and run around the cone to create the advantage.

Constraints:

• First team to 3 ghost cut scores wins.
• Turnover = lose the advantage and get back to neutral.
• 2 players ghost cut at the same time = turnover

By adding specific constraints related to ghost cuts, we can help players become attuned to the opportunities to make a ghost cut.

To fit the ghost cut into your wider offense, our conceptual offense guide shows where cutting sits alongside your other principles of play, and how to master the short roll breaks down one of the best moments to make this cut.