NBA BASKETBALL
A Great Offensive Strategy for the NBA... that Nobody Wants
<February 7, 2002>

By Gene Williams

If you had a winning offensive system that has produced eight world championships in 12 years, you would assume that every team would want to implement this system. That is the way NFL teams operate, but surprisingly not in the NBA.

When the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl in 1986 much was credited to Buddy Ryan “46” defense. It also launches the careers of multiple refrigerator type fullbacks. But most importantly NFL teams adopted variations of “46” defense that Buddy Ryan introduced. It launches the era of ferocious defenses in the late 80's and early 90's. Then came the legendary ' professor of offense' Bill Walsh. The San Francisco 49er west coast offense produced multiple Super Bowl victories. His coaching staff was raided by numerous teams who wanted to win a super bowl ring. NFL teams adopted and copied the west coast offense, after all it was a proven and successful offensive strategy.

A person would think that the NBA would do the same. If there was an offensive strategy that won eight NBA championships, two Eastern Conference semi finals appearances in 12 years, you would see teams rushing to adopt that strategy. But that is not the case. In fact they are running away from this successful offense. They can try to devise a way to defend against the triangle offense, but they cannot find a way to implement the triangle into their system.

Let's look at the NBA. The Boston Celtics are legendary in championships and teamwork. The fast break was synonymous with the Boston Celtics in the early 60's and teams tried to copy this successful fast break strategy. If we move to the 80's, there is Pat Riley and Showtime. Everyone started looking for the 6'9 point guard to duplicate Magic Johnson success and we are still waiting for his successor. Then came the 'Bad Boys' in Detroit. The muggers and thugs of the NBA. But these muggers won two world championships with tough thuggish physical play along with a great point guard in Isaiah Thomas. When the New York Knicks decided to become the new ‘bad boys’ the NBA thought better of this and changes were established to protect the star players. In the 30 plus years of basketball history from1960 to 1990 there has been no significant offensive strategy to revolutionize the way the game is played.

There were always a few innovators among the coaching ranks such as Don Nelson when he was with the Golden State Warriors. Don Nelson would have 7'6” Manute Bol shoot three pointers to draw out the opposing centers. He created an exciting offense of Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond. It was called 'Run TMC.' They were a very explosive ball club, they were an exciting team to watch. It helped to sell season tickets but it did not produce any championship rings. In 1990 the Portland Trailblazers under Ric Adelman were touted as having the best athlete's in the NBA. They made it to the finals twice in the 90's and both times when they were losing they resorted to a one on one street level play. It became painfully obvious that great athletes without an offensive strategy cannot win a NBA world championship.

The modern day NBA team is based around a superstar Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, etc. this is good for NBA marketing, but it boils down to a team running and gunning at will without any concept of what it takes to win a championship. In baseball you may be able to buy yourself into the World Series like the Florida Marlins. But in the NBA that idea does not work. Ask the 1999 Portland Trailblazers. Without a doubt it was the best team that money could buy. They had an overload of talent designed to stop the Lakers, but they ran into the heart of the triangle offense. It became apparent, talent without an offensive strategy is an exercise in futility. Two years later, and the Trailblazers are struggling for a playoff spot. Since 1991 the most dominant offensive system in the NBA has been the triangle offense and yet unlike the NFL, no other NBA coach or general manager has carried out this proven winning system.

In 1991 Phil Jackson ,Tex Winter, introduced the triangle offense to the Chicago Bulls. It was not an easy task to persuade the world greatest player to forgo individual achievements for the opportunity to win a world championship. At this point in MJ career, he had an abundance of awards and accolades but he had not won a single conference final let alone a NBA title. Critics contend that Phil Jackson inherited the worlds greatest player in Michael Jordan. But they forget that Doug Collins coached Michael Jordan for eight years prior and not a single championship ring, not a single appearance in the championship game. The worlds greatest player did not win a championship until after the triangle offense was established into the Chicago Bulls system. The triangle was not invented for MJ but was created in the late 40's for the college game.

Clearly the Chicago Bulls was the most dominant team in the 90's.The Chicago Bulls dispelled a lot of previous myths such as you cannot win a championship without a dominant center. Bill Cartwright was on the downside of his career when he joined the Bulls and they won three in a row. This was the first three peat ever since the Boston Celtics. During the second three peat it was center by committee Luc Longley and Bill Wennington. During MJ vacation to baseball the offense made it to the Eastern Conference semi finals both years. During the Chicago Bulls dominance of the NBA in the 90's team tried to devise defensive tactics to stop the triangle offense, but not one NBA team established the triangle offense for their team.

The Los Angeles Lakers had loads of potential with their young superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal under the direction of Del Harris and others, but they were regularly bounced out of the playoffs by the Utah Jazz. During the 1998-99 season the Lakers were embarrassed and humiliated by San Antonio Spurs. Enter Phil Jackson and his crew, once again inheriting a team full of potential. Phil takes the same team that was swept and humiliated by the San Antonio Spurs a year earlier and goes on to win a NBA championship for the 1999-2000 season. Once again the triangle offense produces another championship ring. In the 2000-2001 season the Lakers posted the best post season record ever of 15-1. In the 2001-2002 season the Lakers are the overwhelming favorites to win it all again. Phil Jackson and Tex Winter are working on their third three peat. This is unprecedented in NBA history. Despite the success of the triangle offense, not one NBA team has established the triangle offense.

The critics suggest that you need great players to run the offense. This is suggesting that Tracy McGrady , Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, and the stars are not capable of running this offense. Maybe it is the coaches that are not able to teach this offense and general managers do not understand the triangle offense. We have witnessed over the past 12 years the triangle offense has become the most dominant offensive strategy since the Boston Celtic fast break.

Since 1990 though to 2001 in 11 years the triangle offense has produced eight championships and two eastern semi conference appearances. No other system in basketball has produced such remarkable results. With this type of success you would think that teams would raid the coaching staff. In 1993 the Dallas Mavericks hired Quinn Buckner as their coach. Quinn introduced the triangle offense to the franchise and to the team. Players complained that the offense was too slow and complicated and subsequently during this learning process the Mavericks won 13 games. At the end of the year Quinn Buckner was fired and so went the triangle offense. In 1998 Jim Cleamons was selected to coach the Dallas Mavericks, where he tried to introduce the triangle offense. But without the support from the General Manager and having a young inexperienced team, Cleamons as a manager was doomed, and he was replaced by Don Nelson. These are the only times that an attempt was made to introduce the triangle offense by a NBA team. Dallas has never really competed for a NBA title.

The most important question is why have not the other NBA teams tried to copy, pirate, or steal this winning system. If the NBA owners were anything like the NFL owners, why have not these owners forced a general manager to hire a coach that can implement the triangle offense? So many NBA teams go through a rebuilding year, why not rebuild with a proven offensive strategy? Teams like Cleveland, Denver, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, etc that have never made it to the big dance. Why not implement a winning system like the triangle offense? Why have not Paul Allen tried to buy Tex Winter away from the Lakers? They could go after ex-players Ron Harper, Jim Paxton, Scottie Pippin, Steve Kerr these players know the intricacies of the triangle offense. The triangle offense is a simple but complex strategy of moving the ball and players around the court. It requires dedication and intelligence. It requires a budding super star that is willing to give up his individual goals for the sake of the team and with the prospects of winning a NBA championship. There is more to this game than running and gunning. Ask Jason Williams who has been exiled to Memphis for his fancy passing and showboating antics. Ask the Milwaukee Bucks with their 3 sharp shooters, but with no real overall game plan. Ask all the aging superstars , Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Dominique Wilkins, their number one wish was to when a championship ring. They realized at the end of their careers that scoring titles, MVP's do not mean a thing when you do not have that ring.

The NBA is full of great players who have no real concept of how this game should be played. It is obvious that the NBA is full of Coaches and General Mangers that have no idea of how to win championships. The system is right in front of them. It has been tried, tested, and proven. When MJ went on vacation Phil Jackson made it to the Eastern Conference semi finals with the system. Teams like Cleveland, Golden State, Denver, Minnesota, Atlanta, and Washington should run and embrace this offense. At least they can make to the conference semi finals which in most cases, that would be historic. But what it really requires is an owner to find a general manager who can buy or kidnap Tex Winter, Jim Cleamons, or any one of the past coaches or players associated with the triangle offense. They must be dedicated to the triangle offense, after all it is the most dominant offensive strategy in the NBA.

This would require that coaches would have to think and coach and not be babysitter to these high paid athletes. But that is another article for another time. Can you imagine where the NFL would be if the other teams did not adopt the west coast offense? Or no other team copied Buddy Ryan legendary “46” defense? But yet there has been a successful basketball offense that has accounted for eight world championships, and not one NBA team has carried out this system.

If the goal of every team is to win a NBA championship, why have not they embraced the most successful system ever in the NBA?

You can view other works of Mr. Williams at nbatoday.net.