This offseason Phil Jackson was hired as the President of the New York Knicks. He brings years of basketball experience as a player and coach, but most notably, he brings with him the triangle offense. What is the triangle offense? Most NBA fans could tell you it’s the offense the Bulls ran in the 90’s and Lakers ran in the 00’s. But if you want to know what the triangle offense actually IS, look no further.
Positioning
The Triangle Offense is considered a “motion offense” instead of set plays; offense is created with cuts and screens to get the best possible shots. There are spots on the floor players are designed to occupy and specific options for certain circumstances presented by the defense. To understand the offense it is necessary to understand the base positioning on the floor. The base of the triangle has a player stationed at the top of the key, right wing at the 3-point line (the Triangle is a mirror offense meaning it runs the same from both sides; I’ll be using the right side as the “strong side”), right corner, right low post, and left side wing 15 ft. from the hoop. One of the main facets of the offense is spacing; each player should be at least 15 ft. from his closest teammate. The positioning leads to a triangle on the right side between the wing, corner, and low post on one side of the floor, and a two-man game run by the top of the key and wing player opposite the triangle. (If you feel like over-achieving you can sketch the base set out to give you a visual. It’ll help.)
Initiating the Offense
The offense is initiated by whoever brings up the ball. This leads to an important caveat of the triangle: all five players are interchangeable in regards to positioning on the floor, and any player can take advantage in the post if the matchup warrants it. As the ball handler crosses half court, be it Lamar Odom or John Paxson, there will be a wing and a post on the left side of the floor and a wing and a post on the right side of the floor. The ball handler starts the offense one of two ways. 1: He passes to a wing and fills the corner of the side he passed to. The wing without the ball fills to the top of the key, and the base set has been established with the ball in the triangle. 2: He passes to the wing but then fills the opposite corner. Now the ball side of the floor has a wing and post player running a two-man game and the weak side has the triangle.
Options, Options, Options
Phil Jackson once explained that if the ball was swung from the triangle side wing to the top of the key there were then 35 different options the offense could take from that point. These options make it such a difficult offense to run, but also allow it to be so deadly. The five offensive players constantly have to evaluate the best way to attack the defense, which is why the Triangle is only as strong as its dumbest player. Any player can shoot or pass to anyone at any time. These principals along with the base set are what guide the offense. While it would be impossible to go through every option I’ll discuss the basic advantages and common sequences. When the wing on the triangle side has the ball, the first look is usually into the post. Often, the defense will defend the post with a half front. (standing at the offensive post’s left or right shoulder trying to deny the ball without giving up position) The strength of the triangle is that the ball can easily be swung from wing-corner or corner-wing for an optimal entry pass. Changing the passing angle now leaves the defender out of position and gives the post player and easy shot close to the basket. Once the offense establishes the ability to score in the post the defense may send a second defender to help out. This is where the spacing of the triangle comes into play. When the defense sends a second defender down low, the post player can easily pass the ball to whichever teammate is not guarded on the outside. Because of the spacing it is almost impossible for the defense to recover and will give up open three point attempts. Those are the two basic functions of having three players in the triangle with spacing, but the rest is up to the player’s imaginations. The corner could give-and-go with the post, the wing can run pick-and-roll with the post, the wing can screen for the corner, etc. The triangle offense also has advantages on the side of the floor with two players, the top of the key and the wing player 15ft out. If the offense is stalling on the triangle side, the weak side wing player will go to the free throw line and receive a pass from either the wing or the corner players in the triangle. As the pass come to the free throw line the top of the key player will cut to the empty side of the floor to get a dump off pass or handoff leading to an easy layup. If the backdoor cut isn’t open, the top of the key and player at the free throw line can run a two-man game with tons of space to put pressure on the opposition’s on-ball defense.
The New York Knicks are 3-8 and have scored 100 points twice this season (both in their last two games). They perfectly illustrate that the Triangle is easy to learn but difficult to master because of all the responsibility lay on the players to keep the ball moving and not just play as a team, but think as a team. Once the Knicks become more comfortable in the freedom of the offense they should improve their 93.9 points per game.
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