Small Market Series pt. 2 - The Minnesota Timberwolves' Princeton Offense

Small Market Series pt. 2 - The Minnesota Timberwolves' Princeton Offense

Background Info

The Minnesota Timberwolves hired Coach Rick Adelman during the off season to replace Kurt Rambis; the change closed the books on the Triangle Offense for the Timberwolves but opened up another notorious offensive system - the Princeton Offense. Adding to the exciting changes for Timberwolves fans was the addition of international sensation Ricky Rubio and lauded draft pick Derrick Williams.

Combining the new additions with the existing roster of Kevin Love and Michael Beasley may have created the most appropriate match in the league.

To further discover what I mean by that let's take a look at Adelman's Princeton Offense.

Small Market Series pt. 1 - The Atlanta Hawks' Flex Offense

Small Market Series pt. 1 - The Atlanta Hawks' Flex Offense

Background Info

Recently, the redditor HumanAfterAll posted a thank you to those contributing material about small market teams. I noticed that lately I have neglected small markets with posts about the Lakers, Heat, Clippers, and Knicks so I thought I should do my part to give some small market teams some attention. The first installment will take a look at HumanAfterAll's team, the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks run a mixture of isolation plays and flex offense. The Flex Offense was popularized by Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz. Like any effective offensive system, the Hawks run their version of the Flex Offense mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of their roster. Let's take a look at the Hawks' Flex Offense.

The New York Knicks' Seven Seconds or Less Offense

The New York Knicks' Seven Seconds or Less Offense

Background Info

Those who are familiar with Mike D'Antoni are also probably familiar with his Seven Seconds or Less Offense. He was very successful with his offense with the Phoenix Suns and many Knicks fans might have been excited to see his system run with two very capable offensive talents - Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. Unfortunately, the Knicks' record has been rather disappointing so far. While much of the blame can be placed on defense, I want to take a look at their offense to see why this system is performing below expectations.

The Clippers' High Screen-the-Screener Series

The Clippers' High Screen-the-Screener Series

Last night the Clippers and Mavericks faced off at Staples Center resulting in a last second victory for the Clippers. Much of the focus will no doubt be the amazing shot Billups made to win the game shown here.

While that was a great play, I want to focus on how the Clippers put themselves in a position to win in the 4th quarter.

The play-by-play shows the Clippers started the quarter with 2 made field goals by Mo Williams, the second coming at 10:51 left in the quarter. For the next 5 minutes of play the Clippers went 1 for 9, the sole basket coming off a well-defended Billups 3pt shot. The Clippers' stretch of misses was due to poor execution and rushed shots. After the Mavericks tied the game at 78 a piece with 5:35 left on the clock, Vinny Del Negro called a timeout.

After the timeout the Clippers slowed the game down and Billups began to run their offense. Let's take a look at what they ran.

The Lakers' Strong Corner Offense

The Lakers' Strong Corner Offense

Background Info

This season brought a lot of new changes to the Lakers. One of the more interesting changes this season is the replacement of Phil Jackson by Mike Brown. Under Phil Jackson the Lakers ran the Triangle Offense, a system that brought Jackson's teams multiple championships. This year Mike Brown introduced the Strong Corner Offense to the Lakers. Brown's Strong Corner Offense utilizes some of the same concepts as the Triangle Offense and adds some new elements that are intended to add more low post scoring opportunities.

Let's take a look at how the Lakers run the Strong Corner Offense.

The Miami Heat Pace and Space Motion Offense

The Miami Heat Pace and Space Motion Offense

Background Info

Last season I discussed the Heat's double high post offense and this off-season it seems Erik Spoelstra has been busy tinkering with their playbook. The offense has been heavily modified and is now dominated by a "pace and space" motion offense. This offense emphasizes transition baskets, quick plays, and is a read-and-react system.

As I mentioned last season, the old system lacked low post scoring opportunities and suffered from poor rebounding positioning. Another disadvantage was the old system lacked read-and-react opportunities for its players because of the rigidity of the set. This season Spoelstra has addressed these concerns fairly well with a system that takes advantage of his players' high speed, great conditioning, and high basketball IQ.

Let's take a look.

Building the New Lakers Offense - An Exercise in Creating a Playbook

Introduction

Anyone that has followed the NBA in the last 20 years knows who Phil Jackson is and the significant impact he's had to the game. Since 1991, he has won 11 Championships with the Bulls and Lakers and reached the NBA Finals 13 times. He also earned a championship twice with the Knicks as a player. Unfortunately, this season was his last as a coach which ended the Phil Jackson era in Lakerland. In its place we are introduced with the Mike Brown era. This has left many to wonder what the future holds for the Lakers' triangle offense. While I don't know the answer to that, it gives us an opportunity to speculate by examining the options in front of him.