5 Simple Youth Basketball Inbound Plays

There are so many youth basketball inbound plays that can be run on the court, but these are some of the most effectively ran plays for youth basketball that can lead your team to open looks. It can be important to change the name of plays to not give away what you are running on offense. For example, if you decide to keep the plays these exact names, when you run “orange” a few times and then switch to calling out “reverse orange,” the opposing defense might know what is coming.

1. Orange

This simple youth basketball inbound play is set up with your 2 inbounding the ball, 3 on the near block, 4 on the near elbow, 1 on the opposite elbow, and 5 on the opposite block.

• The play starts with the 3 making a cut to the corner and the 2 passing them the ball.
• The 4 then makes a hard cut to the wing and the 3 passes them the ball.
• The 1 then makes a hard cut to the opposite wing and the 4 passes them the ball.
• While this is all going on, the 5 will set a back screen for the inbounding 2 to run around along the basement.
• The 1 will then pass the ball to the 2 in the opposite corner for an open shot.

It is important to make hard cuts and get open to keep the ball swinging around the perimeter while the 2 receives a screen from the 5 on the opposite block to get an open shot.

2. Reverse Orange

This play is set up and ran almost identical to orange. The 2 is inbounding, 3 on the near block, 4 on the near elbow, 1 on the opposite elbow, and 5 on the opposite block.

• The play starts with the 3 making a cut to the corner and the 2 passing them the ball.
• The 4 then makes a hard cut to the wing and the 3 passes them the ball.
• The 1 then makes a hard cut to the opposite wing and the 4 pump fakes the pass to them.
• Then the 3 runs back to the inbounding 2 on the near block at this point and sets a screen for them to come to the near corner for an open shot.

This play can be perfectly set up after running orange, or late in a tournament after the opposing team has seen you play a few games. It is important to start this play the exact same as orange and run it just like you would until you fake the swing and cut back towards the near corner. The 5 should still even act like they are setting a screen for the swing pass.

3. Stack

Stack is a traditional inbound play that can be run with many variations. You can switch up the order of players, or cuts they make, but for this example we will run it as follows.

• The 4 will be inbounding the ball with the other players stacked up from the block to the elbow 1, 5, 3, and 2 respectively.
• Once the play starts, the 1 turns and runs around an immediate screen from the 5 to half court and is the safety pass in case on one is open.
• The 3 turns and sets a screen for the 2 behind them, and the 2 runs to the near corner for an open 3-pointer if it is there.
• The 5 then turns to the 3 and sets another screen, this time for the 3 to cut to the basket backdoor.
• After that final screen, the 5 will post up on the near block and look for the ball.

It is important for everyone to be ready and looking for the ball on this play. There are many times where this play will be run, and a different person will be open every time. Remember not to rush though and wait for a good screen to be set to sprint around and hopefully get an open look. You have 5 whole seconds to get the ball in, this is plenty of time to let the play develop so you do not have to use the safety pass to half court.

4. Box

This is one of the most effective youth basketball inbound plays that can get you open looks towards the basket pretty often. This play can also be run with different variations of cuts and players based on your team’s strength, but the following way is the simplest.

• The 1 will be inbounding the ball, 4 on the near block, 2 on the near elbow, 3 on the opposite elbow, and 5 on the opposite block.
• The 4 will start the play by running up to the elbow and setting a screen for the 2 who runs to the corner looking for an open shot.
• The 5 then will run to the 4 on the near elbow and set them a backdoor screen to cut to the basket on the opposite block.
• After the 5 sets the backdoor screen for the 4, he cuts to the near block looking for an open lay-up.
• The 3 who is on the opposite elbow will just flash out to half court and be the safety option for this play.

Just like stack, this play has a lot of moving parts before the ball might even be inbounded. Again, it is important to remember that you have 5 seconds to inbound the ball so do not rush the play. Let the play develop so you do not get called for a moving screen and miss the chance at an open shot or lay-up.

5. Cross box

This play can be a quick and easy play to catch the defense off guard. It is set up just like box with the 1 inbounding the ball, 4 on the near block, 2 on the near elbow, 3 on the opposite elbow, and 5 on the opposite block.

• The play starts by the 4 and 2 quickly running across the paint to set a screen towards the inbounder.
• The 5 gets the screen from the 4 and runs to the near post looking for an open lay-up.
• The 3 gets the screen from the 2 and runs to the elbow, or all the way out to the wing looking for an open shot.
• The 4 then will look for the ball right after the screen on the opposite post as sometimes there will be miscommunication on the defensive side and they will be wide open.
• And the 2 in this play after setting the initial screen, is the safety option and will pop out to half court.

Especially after running a play like box in a similar set up, this play can be run quickly and catch the defense off guard with two fast screens. The quick moving parts of this play can also lead to miscommunication and a wide-open player somewhere on the court.

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