Kings Implement Triangle Offense, Inspired By Harlem Globetrotters

I think our coach would win a poll on NBA coach most likely to out-Smart himself. :p

Like so many young up and comers, he wants desperately to showoff/prove he's a smart one (because afterall I am sure Riley, Phil, Pop etc. were off watching 1943 Globetrotters games for offensive tips), so he yabbers on and on, and experiments wildly. Thing is he IS smart, but he's got major shoot himself in his own foot potential.
 
"... still get the ball and do your thing"

"trying to cut down on excessive dribbling"

oh dear.

anyway, glad to hear the whispers during the offseason that he's at least putting structure in these guys minds, but seeing is believing.
 
If it cuts down on dribbling and increases the passing and movement, I'm all for it. My impression is that it takes some time for players to adapt to the triangle, so I'm wondering if it could be pretty ugly in the early games.
 
If it cuts down on dribbling and increases the passing and movement, I'm all for it. My impression is that it takes some time for players to adapt to the triangle, so I'm wondering if it could be pretty ugly in the early games.

It takes a while, it takes practice, and there aren't a lot of plays or set instructions, just ovement based on movement and player reaction. I remember ronron saying that he still didn't understand the offense, so they just told him to sit in the corner and wait for the 3.
 
If it cuts down on dribbling and increases the passing and movement, I'm all for it. My impression is that it takes some time for players to adapt to the triangle, so I'm wondering if it could be pretty ugly in the early games.

Do you remember Rambis's attempt to make it work in Minnesota?

Of course given that Tex Winters is largely credited with creating the triangle decades after the Globetrotters ni 1943, I am thinking this is a rather silly exaggeration/showoff thing anyway. You want ot learn the triangle you hardly have to go looking back to 1943.

P.S. Cousins and potentially Reke and even Thornton could be very good triangle players. Although note that all of the great players who have played it have infuriated their coaches by breaking it to do their own thing repeatedly. Like most such systems, its there to make the lesser players better, not to help the stars.
 
If it cuts down on dribbling and increases the passing and movement, I'm all for it. My impression is that it takes some time for players to adapt to the triangle, so I'm wondering if it could be pretty ugly in the early games.

Could be some truth to that. Old habits die hard, but if they come to believe in the efficiency of the triangle, then maybe they'll adapt. Personally, I love a motion offense where the ball moves without much dribbling, and people move without the ball. The only problem with a motion offense is that it requires good passers at just about every position, and good shooters at every position. It does no good to spread the floor if the man getting the open shot shoots 28% from beyond the three point line. And if memory serves, we had at least 3, possibly 4 players that shot under 30% from beyond the line last season.

However, spreading the floor does help players like Tyreke in attacking the basket, and it should make running the pick and roll a little easier.
 
Well, actually the triangle is an offshoot of the Princeton. Not a whole lot of difference between the two, other than the names.

THE TRIANGLE was only ever used successfully in the NBA by Phil Jackson with MJ (and later at the Lakers with Kobe) and it took several years to work out. Some elements of the triangle could benefit the Kings talent as it stands based on this Wikipedia summary:

The Triangle Offense, also known as the Triple-Post offense, is an offensive strategy in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was later refined by former Kansas State University head basketball coach and current Los Angeles Lakers consultant Tex Winter, who played for Barry in the late 1940s.
The system's most important feature is the sideline triangle created between the center, who stands at the low post; the forward, at the wing, and the guard at the corner. The team's other guard stands at the top of the key and the weak-side forward is on the weak-side high post — together forming the "two-man game".
The goal of the offense is to fill those five spots, which creates good spacing between players and allows each one to pass to four teammates. Every pass and cut has a purpose and everything is dictated by the defense.


Full text about details of the Triangle Offense can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_offense
 
The Princeton offense is just a variation of the triangle with more motion. To properly run the triangle or princeton offense you have to have a good passing big man who can hit an open 15-18 footer.

The way that both the Bulls and Lakers ran it was to get isolation plays for MJ and Kobe. If Tyreke could devlop a back to the basket game, he could be used in the same role. But with this teams current configuration, more motion is necessary.
 
THE TRIANGLE was only ever used successfully in the NBA by Phil Jackson with MJ (and later at the Lakers with Kobe) and it took several years to work out. Some elements of the triangle could benefit the Kings talent as it stands based on this Wikipedia summary:

The Triangle Offense, also known as the Triple-Post offense, is an offensive strategy in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was later refined by former Kansas State University head basketball coach and current Los Angeles Lakers consultant Tex Winter, who played for Barry in the late 1940s.
The system's most important feature is the sideline triangle created between the center, who stands at the low post; the forward, at the wing, and the guard at the corner. The team's other guard stands at the top of the key and the weak-side forward is on the weak-side high post — together forming the "two-man game".
The goal of the offense is to fill those five spots, which creates good spacing between players and allows each one to pass to four teammates. Every pass and cut has a purpose and everything is dictated by the defense.


Full text about details of the Triangle Offense can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_offense

Here's the best simple diagram I could quickly find of the Triangle, and why its called by that name.
spacing250x200.gif


To help illustrate, let me provide names to those numbers:
#1 Rick Fox
#2 Derek Fisher
#3 Kobe Bryant
#4 Robert Horry
#5 Shaquille O'Neal


Now here's my theory about offenses: you adapt your offense to your personnel (in particular your elite personnel), not the other way around. You can have a pet offense all you want, but I will beat you lie a drum with my offense maximizing my personnel if you are trying to force feed an offense that is not maximizing yours. Now over time if you are an established coach can you lobby to get "yoour" kind of preferred personnel brought in to run "your" system? Sure. If you're a nobody though, you damn well better pick something that matches your peeps, whatever it is.
 
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If all this is true, given the complexity of the triangle I'd sure hope Smart handed out study material to all the guys during his trips to see them this summer. Given it takes vet teams with HOF's more than a season to get comfortable with it, it would not me too smart a move to expect a young team to learn it during a month long training camp. I really hope these guys had a playbook to study all summer so they had at least an idea of what Smart wants before arriving at camp.
 
Here is the Princeton offense.

8988631-small.jpg


Similar starting set, but with more cutting. Looking to use more of the passing from the high post than the pure ISO that the triangle creates.

I coached AAU 8th graders years ago and we ran a variation of the triangle but with the win players lower to the block with the PG passing to the high post, roll through the key on a back screen from the 4 on the low block and then back door cuts from the wing. Run correctly it is almost unstoppable.
 
If all this is true, given the complexity of the triangle I'd sure hope Smart handed out study material to all the guys during his trips to see them this summer. Given it takes vet teams with HOF's more than a season to get comfortable with it, it would not me too smart a move to expect a young team to learn it during a month long training camp. I really hope these guys had a playbook to study all summer so they had at least an idea of what Smart wants before arriving at camp.

It's harder to teach a vet than younger players. Vets are more set in their ways and don't want to change how they do things.
 
Awesome move by coach Smart. Reke/Cuz are built for the triangle. It will put both in the position to create for others, provide them with much needed spacing, and also allow them to be the focal point of the offense. If Reke can learn to play off of Cousins as a cutter it will open a whole new world of easy baskets for him.
 
It's harder to teach a vet than younger players. Vets are more set in their ways and don't want to change how they do things.

Disagree. Being set in your ways as a player and being familiar with different offensive systems used around the league because you're a vet are two different things. A Dirk or DWill might be set in the way in which they play the game, but it'd most likely be easier and quicker to teach them the triangle after facing it numerous times than teaching our youngsters.

As an aside, you know who'd fit well in the triangle and who I'd rather have at SF than Reke? Harrison Barnes.
 
Well foxsports thinks its one big joke:

"I've been trying to give these guys some freedom to still get the ball and do your thing whenever you need to do it, but you'll have space," Smart said.

Space – like space to do dribbling tricks or toss up crazy shots, like the Globetrotters?

If DeMarcus Cousins comes out this year channeling his best Meadowlark Lemon, what a treat for Kings fans.




http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/...pire-Sacramento-Kings-triangle-offense-101012


I guess my point is if thats the offence you want to intall - I am with ya coach
but did you have to speak up on your inspiration being the Globetrotters?

Dont we have enough problems being taken seriously?

I wonder how many times we will here the Globtrotter theme music when we are introduced in away games?
 
I remember Musselman busted out the weave offense a couple of times that the globetrotters like to run, so it wouldn't be the first time
 
How fitting, the Sacramento Kings are now running the triangle offense, and the Los Angeles Lakers are running the princeton offense.
 
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