Two Levels: Read the Help on the Drive

Warm-upEyes-up finish7 min

Drive past the cone at the top of the key. The coach under the basket holds up fingers somewhere in the drive; the driver calls the number before finishing. Alternate hands and sides.

Five at each hoop. Drive from the top past a cone, finish at the rim. Somewhere in the drive the coach (or a partner under the basket) holds up fingers. The driver calls the number before finishing.
A make with the right number: 1 point. Wrong number, or a call after the shot: no point. Right hand, then left, then a baseline drive from the wing.
Theme link: every read in this session needs the driver's eyes up from the first dribble.

Block 1First level: stunt or stay8 min

The on-ball defender trails, so the drive gets started. The wing defender sits in the gap and chooses: stunt at the drive or stay home. Stunt: kick to the wing straight away, and the wing shoots or attacks the closeout. Stay: finish.

Adds: a first-level helper who chooses.
Driver at the top, a trailing on-ball defender who gives the drive a start, a wing and their defender sitting in the gap.
The wing defender chooses: stunt at the drive and recover, or stay home. Stunt → kick to the wing on that step, and the wing shoots or attacks the closeout with two dribbles. Stay → keep driving and finish.
Right read: 1 point, made or missed (the coach calls it). Score off it: 1 more.
Rotate driver → wing → wing defender → on-ball defender → line. Drive both gaps.
Progress when: the kick leaves as the stunt happens, not after the defender recovers. The on-ball defender plays live.
Regress if: drivers kick on every rep. Freeze at the stunt and ask what the wing defender did.
Cues (questions): "Where was the wing defender's front foot when you passed?" "If you'd waited one more dribble, who would have been open?"

Block 2Second level: corner, rim or finish8 min

The driver has beaten the first level and starts at the free-throw line. The coach signals one of three: corner defender helps (A), rim protector helps (B), or nobody. The driver reads it and makes the play.

Adds: the second level, with three answers.
Driver starts at the free-throw line as if past the first level. A corner shooter and defender on the right; a dunker on the left baseline and a rim protector in front of the rim.
Before each rep, the coach signals the defence behind the driver's back: corner helps, rim protector helps, or nobody. Corner up → kick to the corner for the shot. Rim protector up → dump-off to the dunker for a layup. Nobody → finish.
Right read: 1 point, made or missed. Score off it: 1 more.
Rotate after every rep. Switch sides halfway.
Progress when: the pass leaves on the helper's first step. Let the defence choose for themselves.
Regress if: drivers lock on to the rim. Run it walking, and the driver calls "corner", "rim" or "mine" out loud.
Cues (questions): "Which way were the rim protector's shoulders facing?" "When the corner defender stepped up, where were your eyes?"

Water2 min

Block 34v4: both levels live10 min

4v4 at each hoop with the extra players rotating in on a stop. Everything is live: the driver has to beat their defender, then read both levels. The coach awards a point for the right read, made or missed.

Adds: everything live, so nobody is told what the help will do.
4v4 at one hoop, the other group 3v3 with one rotating; swap groups at 5 minutes. Driver at the top or a wing, a wing on the other side, a corner, a dunker.
The driver goes through the progression on every drive: first level, then second. The coach calls "read!" for a right read and the point stands made or missed. A score off it is 1 more. A forced shot into a helper who committed: turnover.
Progress when: right reads on most drives. Allow re-drives off the kick, so the catcher has to read both levels too.
Regress if: the on-ball defence stops every drive before a read. On-ball defenders give a step.
Cues (questions): "Which level helped? Who did they leave?" "Where were your eyes on the second dribble?"

Block 4Help the helper: kick opposite10 min

Baseline drive from the corner. The dunker's defender helps; the far-corner defender rotates down to take the dunker. The dump-off is gone, so the ball goes opposite, to the player that rotation left.

Adds: a defence that rotates behind the help, so the obvious pass gets taken away.
4v4, defence instructed to help the helper: when the low defender helps on the drive, the far-side defender rotates down to the dunker. Start with corner and baseline drives, where the first level is already in the paint.
The driver reads the rotation: dunker covered → kick opposite, to the player the rotation left. Nobody rotated → dump-off.
Kick opposite that leads to a score: 3. Other scores: 1. A pass into a defender who already rotated: turnover.
Progress when: the opposite pass is on time. Defenders may choose not to rotate, so the dump-off comes back as an answer.
Regress if: the skip is picked off. Allow a pass to the top first, then opposite.
Cues (questions): "Who took away your dump-off? Where did they come from?" "Who did that leave open?"

Finisher5v5 read points12 min

5v5 five-out at one hoop, man-to-man, live help. Read points are given for the decision, not the make, so the team that reads the levels wins.

5v5 five-out, man-to-man, one hoop. Defence plays real help and rotations. Coach referees and calls read points.
Scoring:
- 1 pt: a right read off a drive, made or missed.
- 2 pts: any basket.
- Turnover: a forced shot into a helper who committed.
Two 5-minute halves. Swap at half-time.

Huddle3 min

One question to the group: "On your best drive today, which level helped, and how did you know?"

Coach notes

Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Finishing into a rim protector who stepped up, with the dunker open, is a decision error. Ask Block 2's question.
- Kicking when nobody helped is also a decision error: it gives the defence time to reset. Ask "who left their player?"
- The right pass, but late, so the defender recovers, is execution. Usually the eyes came up too late. Back to the warm-up for a round.
Common failure: the driver reads the first level and stops looking. Ask "past the first level, where do your eyes go?"
Common failure: spacing collapses on the drive, so the second level can guard two at once. Keep the corner in the corner and the dunker on the baseline; nobody walks toward the drive.
U16 challenge point: once Block 3 is clean, the coach stops calling read points out loud and players explain their read to the coach at the next dead ball.
Judge the read, not the make. The read points are there so the right pass that gets fumbled still counts.

Sources

Source	Used for
Austin McBeth — Are You Reading Defenders When You Drive?	Mechanism, warm-up eyes up, Blocks 1 to 4 (two levels, the three second-level answers, help the helper, the rim protector's shoulders)
Austin McBeth — The Gap Theory	Mechanism (spacing, making two guard one)
junior.basketball (original)	Warm-up finger count, coach signals, read points and scoring, rotations

Unofficial resource. Drills are adapted from recorded coaching clinics and credited to the coaches named in Sources above; anything marked junior.basketball (original) was written for this plan. Not affiliated with or endorsed by those coaches or the organisations that ran the clinics. Full credit to every presenter.