These sets were presented by Carla Morrow (Ohio State) at a recent Glazier Clinic. They were posted on YouTube by Brian Williams of The Coaching Toolbox.
If you want to steal easy baskets, look no further than your baseline out of bounds situations. BLOBs — Baseline Out of Bounds Plays — are set plays run when your team inbounds the ball from underneath the basket. Coaches who invest practice time here often find themselves picking up two to four points per game that opponents simply give away.
Coach Morrow walks through ten BLOB sets in the video above. Watch for the spacing, the timing of screens, and how multiple plays can be disguised from the same starting alignment — one of the hallmarks of a well-built BLOB package.
Free throw stagger series
These four plays share the same stagger screen alignment — making them nearly impossible to scout individually. Install all four and your opponent will never know which one is coming.
Free throw stagger — single curl
The primary cutter uses the stagger screen and curls hard toward the basket. This is the base play of the series and works especially well when the defense is overplaying the straight cut. The inbounder looks for the curl before anything else.
Free throw stagger — single slip
A counter off the single curl. One of the screeners in the stagger slips early before completing the screen, looking to catch the defense in transition. Timing is everything — the slip must come just as the defense commits to stopping the curl.
Free throw stagger — reject
The cutter rejects the stagger and goes away from it, using the screen as a decoy. This is the change-up of the series and is most effective after you’ve successfully run the curl a couple of times in the same game.
Free throw stagger — flex
The stagger action transitions into a flex cut across the lane, adding a post entry option. Works well against teams that pack the paint to take away the curl.
Coaching tip: The stagger series is most effective when all four plays are installed. Run the curl and reject early to set up the slip — and the flex is a great call when you need a reliable entry into the post.
Box series
Box — cross screen flare
Starting from a box alignment, one player sets a cross screen while a teammate flares to the three-point line. This creates a two-option read for the inbounder — the cross screen cutter inside or the flare shooter on the perimeter.
Up screen
Players set screens going toward the basket, freeing cutters to the ball-side corner or wing. A clean, simple play that attacks man-to-man defense effectively and is easy to execute under late-game pressure.
Up screen — grenade
A variation where the action “explodes” in multiple directions simultaneously, giving the inbounder multiple reads in a short window. A great call in late-game situations when the defense is on high alert.
Pin down
A pin down screen frees a shooter coming off toward the wing or top of the key. Effective against teams that trail their shooter, as the screener’s angle seals the defender. Look for the catch-and-shoot on the wing.
Stack series
Stack up screen 1
Players line up in a stack near one elbow, then use an up screen to free a cutter. The stack alignment disguises the play’s direction until the last moment, making it difficult for the defense to anticipate the cut.
Stack up screen 2
A second variation out of the same stack alignment with a different screen angle or cutter priority. Running multiple plays from identical sets is one of the most effective ways to keep a defense guessing all game long.
Installing these plays: Group them by series (stagger, box, stack) and use a simple numbering or hand signal system so players can call the play without tipping off the opponent. Running at least two plays per series out of the same alignment makes your entire BLOB package much harder to defend.
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