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ICYMI: Last week, we broke down how Valencia consistently sends the ghost screen out of the right corner to organize quickly and attack the switch with pace and clarity. Read the newsletter HERE.

This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Attacking the Switch - Clyde Clears​

🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Matt Majkrzak {Northern Michigan}

📬 February Mailbag: Rim Seals & Peel Switching​

📚 Interesting Reads: The Downside of Being Effective

🤝 New SG Partner Announcement

Clyde Clears

As our month of looking at the switch rolls along, we turn our attention this week to a clever repurposing of a spacing automatic triggered when penetration attacks a two-side spaced floor, commonly referred to as the Clyde Cut (also referred to here as the Slide Cut).

Zooming In: The Clyde Cut is effectively two cuts happening at once: a hard cut from the corner to the rim paired with a simultaneous slide or drift from the wing to fill the vacated corner, all designed to punish gap help and preserve optimal spacing.

While its success spacing around the ballscreen {🔒} and middle penetration {🔒} has been well documented here, the Clyde Cut’s value continues to expand, this time as a tool for attacking a perimeter mismatch. Against switching defenses, the same spacing principles can be repurposed to target bigs on the perimeter. In the same vein as our recent newsletter on attacking a perimeter mismatch off ball with dribble pitches, triggering the Clyde Cut on the drive at the big gives the offense another way to challenge the big’s gap integrity while generating clean catch and shoot opportunities for the mismatch.

What You’ll Learn

• How the Clyde Cut manipulates gap help and forces bigs into extended two-way closeouts.
• How 4-around-1 spacing after the PNR creates the conditions to trigger the Clyde Cut effectively.
• When to flow from the drift into a dribble pitch to maintain pressure on the coverage.

Like last week, we head back to Valencia under head coach Pedro Martinez for part two of their targeted strategy for attacking the switch.

Two Birds, One Clyde

When a big gets switched onto a guard, the defensive response is predictable: heavy gap help, with the defense loading toward the ball to support the vulnerable matchup. Offenses can become stagnant in these moments by relying too heavily on the ballhandler to create in isolation, and simply holding perimeter spacing is often insufficient against disciplined defenders who can stunt and recover.

So how can the offense open cleaner gaps around the mismatch and fully expose the perimeter player’s speed advantage? Enter the Clyde Cut.

Zooming In: Out of the 4 around 1 spacing created after the PNR, the ballhandler will get off the mismatch by passing to a teammate lifting into the slot to trigger the subsequent cuts and drive.

By getting the mismatch off the ball and introducing the Clyde Cut, the offense accomplishes two key objectives. First, the ball reversal shifts defenders out of their gap positions. Second, the corner cut effectively empties the backside help behind the big. As the drive targets the big’s gap, the slot guard can drift into the outer third unimpeded by secondary stunts, forcing the big into a nearly impossible two-way closeout.

Creating Tough Closeouts

When switched onto a guard, as highlighted in our Drive the Big Pitches {🔒}, the big’s natural off ball tendency is to sink and protect the lane rather than deny on the perimeter. Aware of the speed disadvantage, most bigs are reluctant to sit high in the passing lane, which creates an opportunity offenses can deliberately exploit.

By introducing the Clyde Cut, the offense places the big in immediate conflict. As the ball is driven and the corner cuts through, the big is baited into supporting the drive while their matchup drifts behind them toward the corner. What is already a difficult stunt and recover for the big becomes nearly impossible when any chance of backside help or “stunt the stunter” support is removed.

The result is an extended two-way closeout. After committing to the gap, the defender must now extend further out to the corner, often from the high side and frequently from their blind spot. That combination creates a heavily disadvantaged contest angle and increases the likelihood of a clean catch and shoot opportunity.

Opening The Backdoor

The corner cut is largely sacrificial, as this player is unlikely to receive the pass, but their role and timing are critical. The wing cannot drift until the corner cut begins, and the ballhandler should not initiate the attack until the wing has moved, so the entire sequence is triggered by the corner cut.

Earlier is better here. There is little value in waiting until the last moment; clearing the space early opens optionality for the guard, who can either complete the drift to the corner or counter with a backdoor cut.

Counter Attack

Sometimes, to the chagrin of offensive coaches, the defense handles the action well and neutralizes the initial Clyde Cut. If the big stays home and tracks the drift, the ballhandler should first look to be aggressive on the drive, as the gap is no longer being plugged.

More importantly, the offense should maintain its flow. If the drift does not create the advantage, the corner player always can counter back out of the corner into a dribble pitch.

In what has been the dominant theme this month in attacking bigs on the perimeter, continuing to find ways to force the big to defend multiple actions in space is a good bet to find an advantage. The defense may be able to take away the first layer, the drift to the corner, but can they recognize and effectively communicate when the offense shifts gears into a dribble pitch?

Against the switch, the objective is not just to hunt the mismatch but to stress it repeatedly. The Clyde Clear turns a static advantage into a moving problem, forcing the big to defend space, process movement, and survive multiple decisions in sequence.

To see how Valencia layers the action in real time, SG+ Members can now watch the full breakdown on SGTV!

Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter as we close out our month long look into switching trends by flipping to the defensive side with Fenerbahce and Coach Jasikevicius!

Additional Study Material:

• ​Drive the Wake {🔒}
• ​Drive the Flip {🔒}

Together with NABC

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If you’re a basketball coach, you belong at the NABC Convention! Learn more and register now at nabc.com/convention.

🎙 Matt Majkrzak on Scripting Offensive Play Calls, Fixing Bad Starts, and Tenants of the "Lock-Left" Defense {Northern Michigan}

Northern Michigan Head Coach Matt Majkrzak joins us for a deep dive into how structure can actually create freedom.

Coach Majkrzak walks through Northern Michigan’s unique approach to scripting games in four-minute segments, pairing substitution patterns with offensive play calls to give players clarity, confidence, and rhythm. Rather than scripting to control players, the goal is to simplify decisions early, allowing creativity, reads, and flow to emerge naturally as possessions unfold.

The conversation explores how layered offense evolves from simple foundations—like cross-screen/down-screen—into modern blends of Princeton concepts, ball screens, staggers, and motion, all while ending in familiar spacing that helps players play fast and free.

Majkrzak also shares insights on fixing flat starts, teaching lock-left defense, crashing the offensive glass with five, and why celebrating “play busts” accelerates player growth more than perfect execution ever could.

A practical, thought-provoking episode on teaching players how to think, not just where to stand.

What You’ll Learn

• How to script games in four-minute segments that align lineups, substitutions, and play calls
• Why scripting can reduce pressure on players while increasing confidence and decision-making
• How layered offense evolves from simple actions into flow, reads, and freedom
• Practical ways to fix flat starts without panic or over-adjusting
• Why celebrating “play busts” can accelerate offensive growth

Listen to the entire episode below...

Together with Hudl

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The Hudl Analyst Academy walks coaches through Instat, Sportscode, and the broader Hudl ecosystem, with clear, practical instruction on film workflow, tagging, breakdowns, and analysis that actually translate to winning.

​Learn more about Hudl and their variety of products or subscribers to Slappin' Glass can also directly email Winston Jones of Hudl at winston.jones@hudl.com.

February Mailbag

📺 Rim Seals - Finishing Drives & Occupying Shot Blockers​

"In Part 1, we unpack the timing, teaching points, and why middle-third drives are the key to unlocking one of today’s most effective finishing actions."

✚ Additional Study Material:

• 🗞 4 Man Drag Screens & Rim Seals​
• 🗞 Penetration Rim Seals​

📺 Peel Switching - Solving Hostage Screens & Switching Defense ​

"In Part 2, we breakdown how peel switching and Lock Left can layer your defense for the late-season chess match."

✚ Additional Study Material:

• 🗞 Defending the Snake Dribble - Peel Switching​
• 🗞 Short Roll Peels
• 🗞 Weak to Next - Middle 3rd Ballscreens

📩 Submit your Mailbag questions HERE, and keep an eye out for the next Mailbag episode dropping soon on YouTube.

Interesting Reads

📚 Common Truths in Leadership and Business​

As you move up in leadership responsibility and as your company expands products, markets, and channels, you expand from functional expert to people leader. Your time allocation and where the most important decisions lie shift quickly as the team grows. One of a leader’s many jobs is to simplify complexity to drive clarity and impact. The business may be complex, but it shouldn’t be a confusing labyrinth of paralysis and bureaucracy.

📚 Why Hobbies Are An Advantage, Not a Distraction​

Since then, though, I’ve come across ample research on the benefits of hobbies. One interesting study from a few years ago found that hobbies boosted self-efficacy (basically your belief in your own ability to succeed) specifically when the hobby was unrelated to what one already did at work.

📚 When the 80/20 Rule Fails: The Downside of Being Effective​

Efficiency is about getting more things done. Effectiveness is about getting the right things done. Peter Drucker, the well-known management consultant, once encapsulated the idea by writing, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Quote of the Week

Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan, Pat, and Eric

info@slappinglass.com