The UCLA cut is one of the most famous actions in basketball history, but many can’t quite identify it when they see it on an NBA court.
Made famous of course by John Wooden’s UCLA offense, UCLA cut is actually pretty simple to figure out once you see it a few times.
The breakdown goes like this:
- The first action is a pass from a player above the arc to the wing.
- The second action is eight screen at the elbow by a post player.
- The third action is a cut to the basket for the baseline from the player above the arc.
Teams can use the UCLA cut in a myriad of ways, either as a start to a play or as a play itself. It can be altered in multiple different ways, as you’ll see in the full video breakdown above.