Can You Make Reads Like Trae Young? (Take The Test)

Trae Young is one of the most exciting guards in the NBA. He can shoot the ball at a very high level from just about anywhere on the floor. He has a great handle and can make a bunch of very, very difficult passes and he also reads the game at a very high level. In this video, I'll take you through seven clips of Trae Young where I'll stop the clip before decision is made and I'll have you make that decision. Then I'll go through a brief breakdown of each. Make sure you keep track of how many you get right and let me know in the comments below. Let's get into it what's Trey Young's read on this play? Does he go downhill and attack Brook Lopez? Does he try and call for a twist and a re screen or does he shoot this pull up 3? A lot of the clips we're going to look at today are going to be ball screen clips because Because Trae Young not only led the league in possessions per game as a ball screen handler, but also in points per game as a ball screen handler. The one thing you don't do against Trae Young is go under ball screens because if he sees that happening, he's pulling the three pointer right away. This is a shot that the Hawks will take every single time and that's why these transition drag screens are so dangerous because they're difficult to play without going under and Traeung is very capable of making you pay if you decide to do that. Here we have another transition drag screen. What's Troy Young's read right here? So like I said, these drag screens are very difficult for teams to guard because they have to try and play over. When Trey Young feels his defenders start to load up to try and play him over the screen, he uses that against him by attacking downhill. Since Trey Young's coming in transition right now, he has momentum. His defender has none as he stands still waiting for him. So he exploits the understanding that he needs to play over to reject the screen and get to the rim. What's his read in this clip? Should he attack this hedge defender and try and get to the rim? Should he hit capella on a lob or should he try and make this hook pass back to Ginari because the Hawks built their team with the pick and roll in mind. They have bigs who are long and athletic and can play above the rim and so that this lob opportunity is going to be there with how much gravity Trae Young demands from the defense. In my opinion, Trae Young is the best lob thrower in the NBA. So if he sees that paint cleared out in a pick and roll situation, he's almost always going to throw it up to Capella or John Collins or whoever sets that screen. What's Trae Young's read in this situation? Foreignix is really loaded up on help. They essentially have two guys tagging this role, so the lob for Capella is not there. And even making this little pocket pass will put him in a bad spot with a lot of hands and a lot of help around him. But in the NBA it's very difficult to help this much and not get burned, especially when you have somebody who can make these sorts of passes with both hands like Trey Young can. He sees all that hope loaded up, knows he has a man on the weak side open and hits him with that pass pass which creates a closeout which allows him to get to the rim. Let's go away from ball screens right here and look at some decisions off the catch. What's his read right here? Well, this decision really comes down to is understanding the defender's momentum. This initial drive by Ginari collapses the defense and creates a closeout for Trey Young when Ganari kicks it to him. Closing out is the most difficult thing that defenders have to do, especially in this situation when Jared Allen is giving up a speed advantage to Trey Young. So good offensive teams are constantly trying to create closeouts to attack, and great offensive players are able to effectively attack these closeouts and take advantage of that momentum. What's Trey Young's read in this situation? Should he continue to attack and try and get to the rim? Should he stop and pull up for three or should he drag out and then re attack foreign? This is probably the most difficult one so far, but again, it goes back to two things. First of all, the defender's momentum as well as the advantage that Trey Young has over him when it comes to speed and change in direction. And of course it comes down to what Trey Young is really good at and what he wants to do. When he snakes this screen, it opens up Cat's hips, which already puts him in a detrimental position in terms of recovering. Trung understands that and knows that if he can quickly stop and get to a three, it's going to be difficult for Cat to get there in time to contest. And this is where affordances matter too. John Moran or Russell Westbrook might make a different decision in the situation, but because of Trey Young's shooting ability and lack of size or above the rim ability, he sees this as his best option. What's Trey Young's read in this situation? Does he stop and pull up? Does he attempt to kick it out to the wing, or does he try and get the whole way to the rim? This decision is again all about understanding and exploiting momentum. And understanding those things at a high level is why Trae Young is able to create space at an elite level. As Trey attacks right here, my Lodone gets into almost a full sprint to try and recover and not get beat to the rim. As an offensive player, if you see that those hips change range and all of a sudden that leg is crossing over into a sprint, you understand that if you stop right there, they're gonna have to take at least two more steps to stop themselves. Meaning you're going to create space. Let me know in the comments how many of these you got right. Also, let me know what other players you want to see me do some of these for. If you haven't, make sure you click that like button and subscribe it if you're interested. For my free Elite Perimeter Score workout, you can find that in the top link in my description below. Talk to you guys soon. Peace.