I think to start this article I should explain the series of reads that players will need to make throughout a dribble handoff play. Typically, to start a DHO, a big will catch the ball near the top of the key and begin to dribble towards the wing. The intended shot taker for the play, for the sake of convenience we’ll call them “TD”, typically starts in the corner. Right as the big begins to dribble towards the wing, TD has to make his first read. If the defense overplays, and pre-emptively adjusts to the dribble handoff play by cutting off TD’s path to the ball, rather than obstructing his path to the basket, then TD has to punish that by taking the open lane and cutting to the rim.
Why Terence Davis could be a perfect fit with the Raptors
