I'm Lost in the Bermuda Triangle
I am not a great Basketball mind. I barely understand the 'pick n roll', and outside of the obvious isolation play, I couldn't identify an NBA offense watching it on TV.
But now we have the triangle, and I wanted to look into it. Here is my beginners novice guide.
1 - The name comes form the triangle shape made by three players on the ball side - (the post, the wing, and the corner)
2 - Emphasizes spacing between offensive players (15-20 feet) - but traditionally overloads the ball side of the offense (if the ball is on the left side of the floor - 4 of the offensive players will also be on that side.) The Lakers run a slightly different version that doesn't overload the floor - I'm guessing these are Kobe rules to get him more isolation.
3 - The triangle does not have set plays, rather it is reactive to the defense. Players are supposed to be constantly reading the D, then moving accordingly to exploit the situation. This is where the complexity comes in - a player must constantly read and recognize the D and then know exactly how to respond based on their present position. There are clearly thousands of permutations and thus the high learning curve.
4 - The triangle offense seems to emphasize picks in the low post - generally to open up a player streaking the baseline to the corner for a 3, or clearing a passing lane to the other post player.
5 - The triangle emphasizes post player passing. I'd argue the triangle hinges on this. The motion of the triangle is all about getting the ball to the post player (high or low) who then must make the critical read of the defense and react. If working properly, the triangle will feed the post player - who then make 'the' play - either scoring himself or getting the assist.
6 - The triangle almost always leaves a guard at the top of the key for defensive purposes - this guard is there to provide some resistance to any break away.
7 - The PG role seems limited to three important variables - hitting a corner 3, the athleticism to constantly run the baseline, and the intellect to absorb the complex defensive read/react scenarios. The last two skill sets seem universal to all players in the triangle. I would argue the triangle de-emphasizes the point guards need to dribble drive, ball handle, set up plays, and picks on top of the key or the wings.
8 - As far as I can tell, the Lakers (Phil Jackson teams) and Wolves are the only teams that run the triangle - although wikipedia says the Nets and Pacers dabble in it.
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So the history of the triangle makes sense to me. Phil Jackson implemented the triangle as a response to the "Jordan Rules" of the Pistons - this was a straightforward shut down Jordan approach. The triangle was put in place to get Jordan to give up the ball, trust his team mates, and foil "Jordan Rules" defense. Lo and behold, this also worked with Kobe. After watching LeBron James the past few years, and all the frustration he's had with teammates and the need to dominate every possession, I think he would benefit from the triangle. (I think this begs the question, is it the triangle philosophy or Phil Jackson's player psychology that gets the super-star to share and trust his teammates?)
I think it's fair to say that the Wolves do not have the Jordan/Kobe/LeBron problem.
A - The wolves do have 3 very talented PG's who excel in the things that the triangle offense de-emphasizes (ball handling, high picks, dribble drive, play calling/making). I'm guessing all 3 PG's have the mental capacity for the triangle, Flynn and Sessions have the athleticism (Rubio, not so much), but none of them have the 3-pt shot needed (although that could be developed). The triangle seems to de-emphasize a major Wolves asset - emerging to elite PG play.
B - The Wolves big men are a triangle mixed bag. Kevin Love would seem the perfect triangle post player. Very smart, excellent passer, but might get knocked for athleticism. Al Jefferson is the perfect anti-triangle player. Can't pass out of a double team, doesn't make reads, and no athleticism. I don't think any of the other big men on the roster have the talent or smarts to make significant contributions to the triangle offense (Cardinal is smart enough, but lacks the talent - Hollins has the Athleticism, but little else).
C - It goes without saying that the Wolves wing talent doesn't measure up either. There is no Jordan/Kobe/LeBron talent to harness to the team. However, the Wolves wing talent wouldn't work for any offense, let alone the triangle.
I like Rambis, but the triangle seems the wrong way to go. A PG like Steph Curry would have made much more sense than Flynn or Rubio (although you can argue the Rubio pick made sense in any scenario since he'll always have high trade value). The triangle also alienates and diminishes our best player - Al Jeff. I've been saying the Wolves should trade him since last year, but this pretty much demands he be traded and diminishes his perceived value. I believe Love will be great in the triangle, but I believe Love will be great in any offense.
My preference for this team was to emulate the Hornets. Have a PG centric team surrounded by really athletic guys. I think the roster is in better shape to support that offense with the bevy of PG's, Hollins and Brewer providing athleticism, and Love (while not athletic) providing outlet passes, smart plays and rebounding. Surely Love could emulate and improve on David West's undersized PF role - and better yet, Love is not undersized at PF. My vision would still leave Al Jeff out of the equation, but I'd make damn sure early on to play the 2 man game with him for the first two months to establish high trade value then ship him out.
My conclusion- The triangle stinks, the Wolves should revert to a two man game, trade Al, then run the rest of the year.
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What you say about our players is true...
…but only to certain extent. The triangle (or triple post) offense is incompletely conceived in most people’s minds as the two most successful teams running it have had the dominant wing player of that player’s decade. Therefore people assume you must have a dominant wing player. I think this is incorrect—it’s like if the only sheepherding dogs you’ve seen were Border Collies, you’d naturally assume that a Corgi wouldn’t be very good at sheepherding because it doesn’t look anything like a Border Collie. Both are a case of ‘weak’ inductive reasoning (All successful triangle offenses I have seen have awesome wing players, therefore a triangle can only be successful if you have an awesome wing player).
The recent stellar play and production of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum should alleviate all fears about whether the triangle will diminish Big Al’s game. I don’t understand how those two guys are just overlooked. Reading what Derek Fisher had to say about it, and what Rambis has had to say about it (as well as Jackson), I really do believe that the triangle is about getting open looks for players, and it just so happens that two of the deadliest finishers in Jordan and Kobe have had the luxury of playing in it. I think players struggle with it because they’re either: 1) used to individually beating people in isolation, or 2) used to a very tight coaching and a ‘running only these set plays’ leash.
I guess the best analogy to how I am beginning to understand the triangle is in comparing this year’s Vikings offense to last year’s. If this year’s Vikings (with Favre) is like the triangle, then what you see is a player quickly reading the defense and picking them apart. Has Adrian’s production suffered (he’d be Al Jeff in this analogy)? Absolutely not. Instead everyone is doing better because the offense is predicated on finding and taking shots at the weak spot of the defense, and when necessary pounding away with Adrian.
If we compare last year’s Vikings offense to last year’s Wolves (pre-triangle), then we get Adrian pounding away and having success but with marginal other success from the rest of the team. That is, Adrian carried that team but with not much help (Berrian’s good season not-withstanding). Likewise we just pounded away at teams with Al-who carried us last year-and despite a ‘good’ season from Foye (kinda Berrian in this case) the rest of the Wolves really didn’t provide much.
So, what can we take from this analogy? You need a star player (Brett Favre in the analogy, Jordan or Kobe historically) who can see and initiate the offense and set the tone, by which everyone else gets better. This is why I think Love will help a lot on offense, but I also why I have solid hopes for Sessions and Flynn and Brewer. Put them with a DWade type and they might explode (like Sidney Rice or Percy Harvin). The trick is going to be finding/acquiring a DWade type player.
"Come on Eddie, let's get serious."
by biggity2bit on Nov 20, 2009 2:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
It's not even their primary set
It’s been repeated consistently that the team isn’t running this a lot (Rambis estimated 20% of the time). The bigger issue in all of this is that he’s consciously choosing to put players in uncomfortable situations now to make them better players down the road. Players aren’t used to not having a coach call plays out there, so the question is whether the reward of self-reliance and 5-man basketball, which can go far, is worth the problems that are arising and contributing to losses. There should be debate about whether that’s the best route or if they should handle Flynn like Milwaukee’s handling Brandon Jennings (not that Flynn would’ve dropped 55 on anyone).
by pagingstanleyroberts on Nov 20, 2009 4:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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