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Offensive options Lakers, Nets enjoy success with similar, but distinct systemsPosted: Friday June 07, 2002 11:24 AMUpdated: Sunday June 09, 2002 7:37 PM
LOS ANGELES -- Triangle. Princeton. Old school. Other than maybe a discussion of Bill Bradley's freshman geometry class, how often do those words come up in NBA circles? Thanks to the Lakers and Nets, they are terms of importance at this year's NBA Finals. The Lakers, who lead the series 2-0 heading into Sunday's Game 3, run the famed "triangle" offense. The Nets run the "Princeton" offense. Both are "old-school" systems featuring lots of motion and passing, with all five players touching the ball. Both eschew the sort of isolation and one-on-one sets most other NBA teams favor. And both have been successful, helping L.A. and New Jersey reach the championship round. "We wouldn't be as good without [the triangle]," says Lakers forward Rick Fox, whose team has used it en route to the past two NBA titles. "It involves all five people. It gives everybody the opportunity to read the defense, touch the ball and make plays." "[The Princeton offense] is old-style basketball," says Nets coach Byron Scott, who credits it with helping his team go from doormat to title contender in one season. "Dribble, pass and shoot. I always thought it's the way the game was supposed to be played." The Lakers finished third in the NBA in scoring during the regular season, at 101.3 points per game. The Nets finished 13th (96.2) but had five starters average in double figures. While many fans might look at New Jersey and see Jason Kidd, or look at L.A. and see Shaq and Kobe, the reality is that both teams do a terrific job sharing the ball -- if not always the scoring load. "New Jersey plays the same way we do," notes Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter, the innovator of the triangle offense. "It's a team concept. Everybody touches the ball. The principles are the same." L.A.'s triangle, also known as the triple-post offense, is so called because it often starts with three players setting up 18 to 20 feet apart in a triangle, with one player in the post and the other two along the same sideline. From there, the ball moves from player to player, depending on what the defense does. All the while, there are "options" for backdoor cuts, post passes and weakside screens. The system enables a team to spread its offense extremely wide, thereby creating spacing for open shots. It allows for proper floor balance, with at least one player always back and others in position for offensive rebounds. It also can be hard to defend against, since it relies on the players to react and make decisions rather than wait for a play to be called from the bench. "It's unpredictable," Grizzlies GM and former NBA coach Dick Versace says. "You don't just come down and hold two fingers up and call a play, so the defense never knows for sure what's coming." New Jersey's Princeton offense is similar to the triangle, but it features more high-post play to open the lane and create room for backdoor picks and cuts. It's also more of a continuous-motion offense, rather than a read-and-react system. While the Lakers will wait to line up the defense before making a pass to Shaq, the Nets will give it to Kidd on a dribble hand-off. Scott implemented the offense this season at the urging of assistant Eddie Jordan, who felt it would mesh well with Kidd's talents. The Nets employ it about 75 to 80 percent of the time, running it out of five different sets, each with myriad options. Jordan and Scott had learned the offense as assistants with the Kings, where they worked with former Princeton coach Pete Carril on Rick Adelman's staff. Once Kidd bought into it, they knew it would be successful. "It gives us a different dimension, because we don't rely on one or two guys," Scott says. "We rely on five or six guys. If you have a point guard like Jason Kidd, it makes it easier for everyone else to fall into place." While the Princeton offense is new to the Nets this season, it was used in various forms by the old Celtics teams of the 1950s. Likewise, the triangle has been around at least since the 1940s, when Winter learned it as a college player at USC. Later, as coach at Kansas State, he refined it to win eight Big Eight titles from 1953 to '67, then brought it to the pros as an assistant with the Bulls. When Phil Jackson took over as Chicago's head coach, he implemented it full time and the Bulls went on to win six titles in eight years. Now the Lakers are going for their third title with the offense. The triangle or the Princeton? Either way, in this season of Dr. Funk and retro TV ads, the NBA title is going old-school. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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