Introduction to the Triangle
Offense
Several championship rings later the Triangle is
becoming one of the most prominent offenses of the 90-00's. While the Michael
Jordan-Phil Jackson led Chicago Bulls of the 1990's demonstrated the
effectiveness of this offense, the current Los Angeles Lakers of Shaquille
O'Neill, Kobe Bryant, and Glen Rice are showing the offense wasn't but just Mr.
Jordan. While it certainly takes talent to play a read and react passing
oriented offense like the Triangle, in reality this offense contains elements
found in nearly all successful offenses. More importantly, the interest amongst
coaches in the Triangle swings the pendulum, of offenses in the last quarter
century from multiple screening actions, back to one more focused on good
spacing, ball movement, cutting, and reacting to what the defense gives, much
like Bob Knight's old passing game, or Pete Carril's Princeton Offense.
The Triangle Offense is the child of current NBA Los Angeles Laker Assistant
Coach Tex Winter. However, the grandfather of the Triangle was an offense
called the Center Option Offense coming out of the University of Southern
California in the 1940-50's where players like Tex Winter, Bill Sharmon, and
Alex Hannum played for and had great success with it's predecessor under Coach
Sam Berry.
The purpose of today's clinic is to introduce you
to some of the basic concepts of the Triangle Offense. All offenses are
specifically designed to open good scoring opportunities. Any coach worth his
weight in gold will understand however that it is the execution of fundamentals
and the system which produces the best scoring chances. You cannot teach the
Triangle or any offense for that matter successfully if you players cannot
master and execute basic offensive skills. As your players skill level
increases the more they can be integrated into team play and the greater
flexibility your offense will have to generate high percentage scoring chances.
To be most effective every team concept including offense has definitive roles
players must understand and except. When player acknowledge their roles and
execute them you are on your way to a successful season.
The Triangle Offense has definite roles and
responsibilities without falling into the tactical tar pit of fixing a center,
forward or guard on a given position. The Triangle requires that all players
both understand, and can play each position in the Triangle regardless of their
size or athletic ability. Keep this in mind if you are considering whether or
not to install the Triangle into your team's offensive concept.
Spacing and Positions in the
Triangle Offense
The most essential element of the Triangle (and
for that case any offense) is getting into and maintaining proper floor
spacing. Teams that cannot maintain this proper spacing end
up allowing the defense to crowd an area making passes ineffective and forcing
this offense into chaos. For the pro players the optimal spacing is 15-20',
for college 15-18', for high school 15', and for youth even less at 12'. In
this first diagram we demonstrate the proper positioning and spacing for the
Triangle Offense's "sideline triangle". Keep this in mind as you follow me
through the remaining animations of our Concepts for the Triangle Offense
Clinic. You should make note in all of the following animated parts of this
clinic that spacing and triangles formed and maintained no matter where the ball
is located on the court. This is the essence of the Triangle Offense. The
second concept of the Triangle important to understand is that the offense is
entered into by filling what is called the "sideline triangle". This can be
done in a variety of ways we will show you shortly (see Concepts of the Triangle
Offense: Part II the sideline fill).
Triangle Spots
The
third concept you must understand in teaching the Triangle Offense is that
there are specific spots on the court which are identified to help players
understand their positioning, roles and spacing. These are the corner spots
(CS), wing spots (WS), low-side post (LSP), high-side post (HSP), top of the
circle (TOC), and the primary scoring spots the "sweet spot" (SS), and the
"garden spot (GS). I will use these acronym's throughout the clinic to help you
identify responsibilities, cuts and fills. Remember you must throw away the
normal assumption that guards play out front, forwards the wings, and centers
the low post in order to make this offense work.
Line of Deployment
One reason the Triangle Offense can be so
effective is because it teaches what is called the "Line of Deployment" (LOD)
philosophy of play in the post. The LOD means that in order for the defender to
defend the post he must play between the offensive post player and the line to
the basket. If this is the case then it will be relatively simple to enter the
ball into the post because the defender has stayed on the Line of Deployment.
However we all know the defender will fight to change position based on where
the ball is passed. Because of the positioning of the offensive players
(triangle) the defender must change their position to one side (high or low
side) in order to defend our post. If the defender adjusts their position, they
have been "deployed" off the line in guarding our post to the basket. A quick
pass to the open side of the post will leave the defender out of position. The
offensive team must work on positioning and sealing off the defender so they are
incorrectly deployed. Proper spacing, quick recognition and skilled passing put
the ball in the hand of the post who can score. When the defense doesn't help
the post defender is isolated one on one making it difficult to stop the points
in the paint. Any help defense run at the post leaves a teammate open on a
slash to the basket or a kick out an uncontested perimeter shot. If no
immediate shot is available to the post or perimeter ball movement and
repositioning the sideline triangle opens up more opportunities.
Getting Into the Triangle Offense
Sideline Fills (Creating the Sideline Triangle)
The Triangle Offense is entered in a variety of
ways. Most important is that from the first pass or dribble you fill the
"sideline triangle". In this animated diagram we show a number of ways in which
the sideline triangle can be filled. While the diagram is continuous we have
looped the variety of entries simply for comparative analysis by you, and not
necessarily because the Triangle flows in this manner. Focus instead on how
every single player on the offensive court could possible fill the corner and
complete the sideline triangle.
Note as well how the post player attempts to
maintain the line of deployment keeping their defender behind them.
Creating the Sideline Triangle
When the defense attempts to pressure any direct
pass a cut through or back door signals another teammate to fill the an open
spot to keep the triangles in place. The most common and dangerous pass option
is to put the ball in the post. In part III of Concepts on the Triangle will
teach you the various options off of the post pass.
Post Pass Options
Whether or not you have a dominant post player getting the
ball to the hub of the offense in the post creates numerous passing, cutting and
screening options in the Triangle. Let's take a look in this animation the
various possibilities. We show here the post pass and corner-wing scissors
action, the wing to top of circle screen, the wing to weak side post screen, and
a flare action weak side off the post pass. Note due to the length of our clinic
we haven't shown every single option only the most prominent ones.
Post Pass Options
The triangle is quite effective with good ball movement and
cutting actions however all offenses improve considerably when the ball is swung
from side to side stretching the defense and making the defense convert more
often from weak to strong side and vise versa. The Top of the Circle (TOC) pass
is one pass option commonly and effectively used in the Triangle to reverse the
ball. We demonstrate in part IV a number of options on the TOC pass.
Top of the Circle Pass Options
The Top of the Circle (TOC) pass creates a number of high
percentage play options. If O5 in the post can get their defender D5 on the low
side of the post off the line of deployment a quick TOC pass and rapid TOC to
post pass rolling to the middle generates a quick score in the paint. The wing
may also screen for the corner for a shot at the "garden spot" (elbow away from
the ball side) as the ball is being swung to the opposite side of the court.
This keep the weak side defenders occupied and reduces help on any post pass or
2 man game off the TOC pass. With a dominant post player defenses will try to
sag the post. Off the TOC pass and subsequent reversal of the ball into the
corner spot, the wing pass to post may produce a 3 point shot at either the wing
or corner spots if either of their defenders sags to help. We also demonstrate
here the two man game with the weak side post cutting to the weak side high post
and the TOC man either dribbling off the screen or passing and cutting for a
handoff or back door cut. To preoccupy the defense look how the wing spot is
back picked by the corner spot to create a flare pass possibility for a three
point shot. Finally we show a wing spot to TOC dribble handoff. When the TOC
player cutting receives the handoff and forces penetration it may draw the
corner spots defender leaving them open for a 3 point shot as well. These are
some but not all the options off the TOC pass.
Top of the Circle Options
Many teams will attempt to discourage ball reversal and
stagnate the Triangle by denying the TOC pass. When this occurs use the back
door to high post cut and options to reduce defensive pressure. You can even
use the weak side post to flash high to reverse the ball when you cannot
accomplish this through the TOC pass. The back door options are shown in part V
of our Concepts of the Triangle Offense.
Back Door Options
The back door flash to the ball-side high side post position
creates another bundle of options in the Triangle Offense attack. The most
obvious is the TOC overplay where O4 flashes and O2 back door cuts for an open
lay-up. O4 may also execute a screen hand-off for a perimeter player coming off
a corner spot screen which we show in the second part of this animation. Yet
another option is for O4 to execute a dribble screen handoff toward the corner
spot. If the corner spot's defender gets overly aggressive the corner makes a
hard baseline back door cut for an easy score. There are principles you will
note that appear in the highly successful Princeton Offense as well. It is
difficult to pressure this offense without giving up something, most often a
quick cut or back door cut to the basket. Remember penetration cuts lead to
defensive block out breakdowns because of rotations meaning the Triangle Offense
when well executed increases your offensive rebounding opportunities as well.
Back Door Options
We have looked at pass options to the post, the top of the
circle, and the back door now let's proceed to the fourth pass option the corner
spot pass. In part VI of the Concepts of the Triangle Offense we will show how
the corner pass flows quite naturally into a two man pick and roll game or
simply beating an aggressive defender off the dribble.
Corner Options
The corner pass option produces a number of scoring
opportunities including a simple give and go cut from the wing spot, pick and
roll with the post, and dribble penetration to force weak side help to
over-commit leaving weak side offensive players open to spot up for easy 3 point
looks. In general the corner spot is not the ideal spot to constantly pass the
ball but as a variation and when pressure at the back door pass and TOC pass
deny ball reversal it doesn't necessarily reduce your chances of scoring. Be
sure to observe the problems that the corner series creates for the defense and
scoring options for the offense when aggressive defenders attempt to help on the
pick and roll or penetration.
Corner Options
Many teams have a terrific post-shooting guard combination
that you can take advantage of with the proper set. The Triangle Offense isn't
limited to a 3 man triangle ball side. The Solo Set series and options is
designed specifically for the combo we have just described. Proceed to Part VII
to learn more about the Solo Set options of the Triangle Offense.
Solo Set Options
If you have an excellent shooter and dominant post player
consider running this special series of options called the Solo Set from the
Triangle Offense. In essence you create a two man game but with a variety of
options both on the two man ball side and weak side as well. We will
demonstrate in this animation the pass and cut to handoff, post pass and cut to
screen away. Again pay attention to where the defense is likely to help to stop
the shooter or post and the number of good opportunities from the three point
line weak side that open up as a result.
Solo Set Options
Summary of the Triangle
We have only introduced to you today some basic Concepts of
the Triangle Offense to give you a feel for how it works. There are
considerably more options and scoring possibilities. If you are interested in
learning more we highly encourage you to read our
review of Tex Winter's The Sideline Triangle booklet or to purchase it from
our
HoopStore. There is considerably more detail provided about each of these
options we have covered today as well as discussions on how to use the Triangle
against Zone Defense and how to enter it from the fast break transition game.
The Triangle Offense isn't for everyone. It requires at least three skilled
scorers and your team must been able to pass and execute ball movement without
turning it over on a consistent basis. It is also an offense that requires
patience and has a rhythm somewhat slower than some modern teams like to play
with their very up tempo style of play. However, no one can question that it
has produced results in Chicago and now Los Angeles. It is an offense that
takes time to learn and requires maturation on the part of the players who must
literally be thinking and moving with each cut based in combination on their
teammates movements and those of the defense as well. Read and react offenses
may take as much as a whole season or two before players begin to understand the
nuances of it's play. Keep this in mind if you choose to implement the Triangle
Offense.