Princeton Offense Blog

Article on Princeton Offense

2008-07-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Found another good article on the Princeton Offense and its principles. Main article link is found here. Thanks go out to Ernie Woods at Hoopstactics.com for putting the article together. You should really check the whole article out.

Here is a little preview.

Princeton Offense - Entries

One of the nice things about the Princeton offense is that it is very flexible in that it can be initiated with almost any type of entry. The various entry cuts are predicated automatically by the ballhandler's entry pass or dribble clear. The off guard (Hawk) and high post rub (UCLA) are the most commonly used entries to initiate the offense; however, recently, the Mid Screen entry is becoming the entry of choice. All entries can be ran equally on both sides of the floor.

Hawk Entry - Weakside Guard Rub

Ballhandler O1 passes to O2 and rubs off O5's high post screen to basket. O2 passes to wing O4 and cuts to opposite corner.

If O1 is not open on basket cut or post up, 04 passes out to O5 initiating wing exchanges or down screens.

UCLA Entry - Strongside Guard Rub or Basket Cut

Strongside guard O1 makes a wing entry pass to O4 and rubs off O5’s high post screen to basket. Note: O1 also has option of making a direct "Give & Go" cut to basket.

If/when O4 cannot pass to O1, O4 makes a reversal pass out to O5 initiating wing exchanges or down screen action.

Mid Screen Entry

O2 clears to opposite corner as ballhandler O1 drives off O5's high post screen. O1 has option or turning the corner and driving to the basket or passing to wing o4 and cutting to the basket.

If/when O4 cannot pass to O1, O4 makes a reversal pass out to O5 initiating wing exchanges or down screens.

Dribble Clear Entry - Strongside Wing

O1 dribbles clears wing O4. O1 looks to feed O4 on back cut to basket or post up.

If wing o4 is not open, 01 makes a reversal pass out to O5 initiating wing exchanges or down screen action.

Zipper Entry - Wing Loop

O1 dribble clears wing O4 as high post O5 rolls down to set a down screen. O1 looks to feed O4 popping out or O5 posting up against a smaller defender if the defense switches.

If defender X4 should over play and deny the passing lane, O4 immediately back cuts to basket for an over the top lob pass from O1.

High Post Entry

Ball handler O1 passes to high post O5. O1 and O2 cut directly to basket looking for possible feed from O5.

If not open on basket cuts, O3 and O4 set down screens for O1 and O2 crossing under the basket. Note: O1 and O2 have option of faking the cross and popping out directly off of O3's and O4's down screens.

The 1-3-1 Match Up Zone Defense

2008-06-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Whenever I watched John Beilein's West Virginia team in 2007, I always was impressed by their motion offense due to its backdoor plays. I also liked their defensive strategies as well. It was always a hard defense to crack. Here is a good article explaining that 1-3-1 zone they played.

The 1-3-1 Zone

I explain a similar style match-up zone in my defensive system book. Check it out.

Another Version of the Open Post Offense

2008-06-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice link to another version of the open-post offense, similar to the Princeton Offense in that it keep the floor spread and there are a lot of opportunities to backdoor your opponents.

Open Post Offense, Double Up

Vanderbilt's Version of the Princeton Offense

2008-06-16T14:47:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post a link to another great article describing a version of the backdoor, Princeton-style offense run by Vanderbilt.

Here's a little sample:

"Let's begin by parsing the appellation of this offense. Calling it the Princeton Offense is like calling Yankee Stadium "The House That DiMaggio Built." While Princeton made this offense popular, Pete Carril did not invent it. I cannot say just how far back it goes, but the Boston Celtics ran this type of offense as their high-percentage game as far back as the late 1950's when Coach Red Auerbach had sleight-of-hand wizards like Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman in his backcourt. The Celtics usually relied on this offense to get demoralizing crip shots once their vaunted fast break gave them a nice lead.

Initially Carril's Princeton teams played at a faster pace. They employed a pressure man-to-man defense and relied on the fast break. Players like Geoff Petrie, John Hummer, Armond Hill, Brian Taylor, and Ted Manakas could run with anybody. The faster-paced Tigers won the 1975 NIT when that championship meant you were one of the top 20 teams in the nation. The Tigers scored 80 or more points in three of the four NIT games.

As 1975-76 approached, Coach Carril was faced with a dilemma. Too much of his team's tactical speed had graduated. His roster wasn't proficient for playing pressure man defense. What he had was a group of intelligent team players who were fine shooters. So, Carril installed a match up zone defense and relied more and more on his backdoor offense and less and less on a transition game.

Princeton still continued to win, sharing Ivy League dominance with rival Penn for the next two decades. Player like Barnes Hauptfuhrer, Frank Sowinski, Billy Omeltchenko, and Bob Roma continued to bring Princeton all-Ivy accolades. Other Ivy stars followed in the ensuing years. Make no mistake about it; Princeton kept winning because Carril kept identifying top talent that could enroll at the excellent school.

That's enough about Princeton. Let's return to the Ivy League school of the Southeastern Conference.

Let's move forward to 2003. Vanderbilt had just completed their worst basketball season since football assistants were coaching the team. Included in the low-water mark was a 62-point blowout loss to Kentucky. The offense had difficulty just advancing the ball into the scoring zone. By the time the next season started, Vanderbilt was now running their version of the backdoor offense. With exceptional talent playing together as a team and with Matt Freije leading by example, Vandy began 2003-04 with 12 consecutive victories. The season culminated with a trip to the Sweet 16 and 23 wins.

The same offense has remained in place since then. How does it work? To start with, this is not a set pattern offense where each player has a specific duty to carry out (like a football play). Each player is presented with multiple options based on how he perceives the defense to be playing. Thus, each player must make split-second decisions while the game is progressing. A player might have four or five different options available to himself in just five seconds of action. When the offensive players recognize the defensive weaknesses on a possession and execute the philosophy correctly and on the same page, it usually results in an embarrassing defeat for the defense on that possession. If there are enough embarrassments, Vandy wins the game."

Here's the direct link for the rest of the article.

Open Post Offense - Another One of My Favorites

2008-06-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a good description of another offense I have run as a coach that is very similar to the Princeton Offense due to its spacing, constant motion, and emphasis on reading the defenders when cutting. Check it out.

OPEN POST OFFENSE

OPEN POST VERSUS ZONE

ESPN Article on Princeton Offense

2008-06-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a link for a two-part series on the Princeton Offense written by former college coach Fran Fraschilla. Definitely worth a read, although not as comprehensive as a coach would like. For a better, more detailed description, please check out my book.

Part One

Part Two

Classic Princeton Footage

2008-06-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

From the 1996 Upset of UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Video quality not great, but still good to watch and study. What a great game!

The Princeton Offense Playbook

2008-06-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

The Princeton Offense Playbook

Princeton-Style Offense: Unravel the Mysteries

After seeing the Princeton Offense in action many times in the NCAA tournament and watching the constant motion, precise passing, and backdoor cuts that make this offense what it is lead to many upsets, I became very interested in discovering the secrets of how the offense works. I had a difficult time finding information about the offense because very few teams besides Princeton ran it, and the coaching staff there liked to keep their offense in house, with good reason. So I set out to study as much tape on the offense and do as much research as I could to find out exactly how this offense works. After much hard work, I believe I have put together an excellent description of my understanding of this special offense with this book. It is 52 pages and includes sections on the following topics:

The basic postions, sets, and basic cuts used in the Princeton Offense
Each of the four main patterns used in the Princeton Offense, each based mainly on where the center is located.
Set plays that can be used at the end of quarter or game situations.
Drills that can be used to teach the offense and practice the specific passing, dribbling, and shooting skills needed in the Princeton Offense.

Each page of this self-published book contains three to six diagrams that show the various positions, cuts, and screens used in the offense, along with detailed descriptions of what the diagrams are showing. (Please see the pictures in the listing) I believe this book will help coaches at any level that are interested in teaching this offense to their players. With hard work and a full understanding of the many options this offense presents, teams will become very hard to stop on the offensive end of the court. Feel free to ask if you have questions and check out my other coaching books as well.

This book can be purchased as a PDF file that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of payment. Cost is $19.99. Payment made through Paypal.

Encyclopedia of Continuity Offense Playbook

2008-06-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Encyclopedia of Continuity offenses

The Encyclopedia of Continuity Offenses: Ten Simple, Yet Effective Offenses That Can Be Used On Any Playing Level

Continuity offenses are based on running a patterned offense over and over - the offenses are popular at both the high school and college levels, because it is easy to have teams learn several different basic(good for junior high and high school), but these offenses also offer the flexibility of runnning many different options off of the many pattern(good for college). For this book, I put together detailed descriptions of ten continuity offenses, some well-known, while others are probably new to most coaches. All of the offenses include diagrams and descriptions of the basic pattern, but also several additional options that can be run off of the same pattern and to counter certain defensive techniques like switching screens. The offenses in this book are as follows:

The Flex Offense
The Triple Shuffle Offense
The Staggered Shuffle Offense
The Princeton Continuity Offense
The Reverse Screening Offense
The Option Offense
The Low Post Offense Version One
The Low Post Offense Version Two
The Wheel Offense
The 1-3-1 Offense

This self-published, 84 page book contains three to six diagrams(per page) that show the main patterns of each offense and several options that can be run out of the main pattern, along with detailed descriptions of what the diagrams are showing. (Please see the pictures in the listing) I believe this book will help coaches at any level that are interested in teaching patterned offenses to their players. Feel free to ask if you have questions and check out my other coaching books as well.

This book can be purchased as a PDF file that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of payment. Cost is $19.99. Payment made through Paypal.

Complete Team Defensive Playbook

2008-06-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Complete Team Defensive Playbook

The Complete Team Defensive System: Half Court?? Yes Full Court?? Yes Man to Man?? Yes Pressure?? Yes Match-Up Zone?? Yes

There is an old saying in coaching that "DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS". If you have coached for any period of time, you know that this is very true, and having a strong defensive system for your team is of upmost importance. For this book, I put together detailed descriptions of a complete team defensive system, based mainly on strong man-to-man principles, but also one that incorporates things like half and full court pressure and trapping, and even a match-up zone that can be used solely as a base defense. The topics covered in this book are as follows:

A basic man-to-man philosophy with rules.
On the ball defensive principles
Off the ball defensive principles
Post defense (several different options)
On the ball screens
Off the ball screens and defending cutters
Pressure options
The match-up zone
The importance of rebounding
Final thought on the system

This self-published, 78 page book contains two to four diagrams(per page) that show the main principles of the defensive system, along with detailed descriptions of what the diagrams are showing. (Please see the pictures in the listing) I believe this book will help coaches at any level that are interested in building a strong, complete defensive system for their team. Feel free to ask if you have questions and check out my other coaching books as well.

This book can be purchased as a PDF file that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of payment. Cost is $19.99. Payment made through Paypal.

Welcome to My Blog!

2008-06-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, and welcome to my new blog. On this blog, I will periodically be posting about basketball coaching strategies, namely about the Princeton Offense. I will be including videos or articles I find interesting and think are worth sharing. I will also have links where you can purchase my three books dealing with the Princeton Offense, among others. Hope you enjoy the blog!