The words “Triangle Offense” truly deserve their place in between these quotation marks.
After all, when you think about it, we don’t only use them to simply reference other people’s quotes.
We often use quotation marks, especially in finger-motioning form, to point out titles that, despite technically being factual, seem to exaggerate the importance or severity of what said title refers to.
It’s like when someone refers to a 4-year-old Blackberry as a “smartphone,” or when someone considers the task of writing about sports every day to be a “job.” Technically these people are right, but c’mon.
Talking about the Triangle Offense sort of feels like that. There is no doubt that it is real thing. That is, an actual way of playing basketball on the offensive end.
But any discussion about Phil Jackson’s signature system always feels more like a discussion about a mythical entity than an in-game tactic.
Indeed, like most mythical things, the Triangle Offense will get its own biopic.
Earlier this month, New York Knicks superfan Spike Lee announced that he’d be producing an hour-long film about the Triangle, airing on Oct. 24 on the Madison Square Garden channel.
Spike (because it seems just wrong to refer to him as “Lee”) talked about the upcoming film with the Wall Street Journal, saying:
I’ve never done anything like this before. This is trying to explain to the average fan the triangle system. It’s sort of like the mysterious mythology and Zen that Phil Jackson has used to win six times in Chicago and five times in L.A.
The renowned film director is making the movie with the help of footage he’s recorded during Knicks preseason practices with full cooperation of team president Phil Jackson. It just makes the following comment even funnier than it already is:
Phil said of Spike Lee, ‘Spike is an avid Knicks fan who doesn’t know anything about basketball.’
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) October 12, 2014
Phil says triangle is an organized system where spacing & ball movement are critical. ‘It’s not that complicated. It’s not rocket science.’
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) October 12, 2014
It’s fascinating. Here you have two people on complete opposites of the understanding-the-Triangle spectrum. It’s what makes discussing the subject so funny, confusing and simultaneously intriguing.
The secret to arriving somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, though, probably lies in discussing the three things we know for sure about the offense, but in a bit more detail than usual. So let’s get to it:
The people who know it swear by its simplicity
Jackson told Grantland’s Chuck Klosterman in 2012:
The Triangle is extremely simple.
(Not just simple, “extremely simple,” he says.)
You just need enough energy to get up and down the floor, because it’s a 94-foot offense. Everything happens in 4/4 time, like rap music. That’s how I always described the tempo to players.
Jackson says this, mind you, shortly before saying that there are “35 different options that can be used when the ball is reversed to the top of the key.”
But what does it all this mean? The Triangle Offense, all things considered, is complicated as hell. Its basic principles, however, seem pretty straightforward:
The system relies heavily on off-ball movement. It has a shape to it but, rather than a set play, it’s more of a philosophy with principles that inform each player’s decision on the court.
Those decisions make up the read-and-react aspect of the Triangle. So if you’re using the offense, depending on however defense plays you, the guidelines of the Triangle should take care of your next decision.
What happens from there is — as the “35 options” suggests — hard to follow, which is kind of the point. It’s only right that the players and coaches on the inside of the “Triangle Offense” know it more intuitively than anyone else can even imagine.
Sports Science, in the video above, probably does the best job in explaining it at its most basic level, though.
It’s been used by incredibly talented players in the past
If you have Jordan and Kobe, you damn right your offense better work.
— You, probably.
Yes, it is a valid point to make, after all. Jackson did win 11 titles and went to 13 Finals while using the Triangle Offense, but he also did it while having Jordan and Pippen; then Jordan, Pippen and Kukoc; then Kobe and Shaq; then Kobe, Odom and Pau.
But that seems to be the other point about the Triangle: It’s tailor-made for getting the best player(s) in the league to produce as much as they can (and should), while also getting as much out of the not-so-great talents on the team (i.e. everyone else).
The importance of accomplishing that cannot be understated. And there may be no better present-day case study than the Oklahoma City Thunder and head coach Scott Brooks, who seems to get criticized for his lack of actual coaching practically every postseason.
One coach, who chose to remain anonymous, told Klosterman:
When I look at Oklahoma City, I see a team that is built to run the Triangle. They are so designed to run the Triangle that it’s almost a joke. Imagine them running a two-man game on the weak side with [Kevin] Durant and [Russell] Westbrook.
So, yeah.
Now, the Knicks are supposed to — somehow — master the Triangle
It feels appropriate that Derek Fisher be the man to bring the Triangle to New York. His career under Jackson pretty much embodied what the offense is so good at doing: Fisher may have been a point guard, but thinking back on his greatest highlights, it’s hard to yield any memories of him doing any point guard-like things, especially when you compare him to the floor generals today.
Yet, he still had his big moments. He made plenty of big shots. He played his role in the offense. Everybody has a role in the Triangle Offense.
Now, he’s bringing it to New York.
The fact that an offense known for its relentless ball movement will now be employed by the team that literally moved the ball less than any other last season with a superstar that pretty much created fewer plays for his teammates than any other is largely ironic. It also makes the story that much more entertaining.
For the first time, we’ll see the Triangle Offense being used by a team that, it’s safe to say, is not an obvious candidate for the NBA title.
You know what? I really can’t wait to see how this “Triangle Offense” works out.
Top Photo Courtesy: Facebook
Read more: http://elitedaily.com/sports/whats-the-big-deal-about-triangle-offense/800457/
Here"s Why The "Triangle Offense" Is A Big Deal For The Knicks This Year
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