I just play at the LA fitness and people always run the "person with the ball dribbles to the 3 point line and throw up a prayer, then don't play defense." hahah
Simple offense, yet very effective against younger defenses. Also great and getting kids used to offensive movement and screen setting, so this is a good one for a younger team to get down befor moving on to a more complex motion offense where correct reads must be made. Awesome diagram, thanks!
I hated this offense in high school. The coach left no room to reacting to the defense, forcing passes the opposing team knew were coming. Basketball players should not be drones. Though, this may have been a coaching error, not systematic.
I agree that robotic implementation passes up many opportunities. Robotic implementation of the Open Post has the same issues -- and doesn't even start with the initial screen down low. One thing I will teach day 1 this year is that about 50% of the picks in college and pro ranks never actually get set -- and that my guys are to learn from this. I will also use the term "pick & roll/slip if available" over and over so they are always looking for this. I teach that the person equally likely to be open is the screener. The Flex as described gets some movement and screens going so they don't just stand around, but there are many roll/slip opportunities early into the offense that the outlined play just ignores completely. 4 on the baseline to roll back to the basket after the initial pick on 5 is a "slam dunk" waiting to be taken advantage of without a doubt. (Still not my favorite offense, though -- I agree.)
Great point, Lee. Any offense can be effective if the players and coach running it take advantage of its strengths. If a defender is going to cheat on screens assuming the outcome, a slip is a great move to keep him on his toes and to run him off of big screens later if he corrects. Any time a defender is sleeping they should be made to pay the price. Especially, as you stated very well, if that results in a direct move to the basket. Good luck this season!!!
This is just the basic pattern. Once players understand the basic pattern there are so many "counters" to what the defense will inevitably do. It's a great offense to teach players how to screen, read, and react both as the passer and the cutter. It also is a great offense to teach players how to read driving lanes and hard first step attacks BEFORE the receive a pass. There is a reason why so many NBA teams run variation of this offense. Most notable Jordan's Bulls (Triangle) and more currently GSW. How do you think they get so many pin downs and flare jumpsuits off the "flex cut" action on the weak side? The pattern is basic, the options are limitless and impossible to guard if taught correctly to smart players.
Honestly, sounds like you just had a bad coach. I love the flex. Some coaches just get too bogged down in their “system” or aren’t capable of teaching kids how to score when a play breaks down
Man I Love This Videos! There Very Informative!!!! I Love The Animations Diagrams, Their Good Cause They Show How Offenses and Defenses Work!! Thanks!!!!
This is an excellent offense. I highly recommend that you teach your players how to cut to the basket when a defender cheats the pass. In addition if your players don't know how to set and use screens this offense is ineffective.
I'm a freshman using this play for my varsity team and it's effective if they know what to do but if they don't it's a mess and we are running into each other
When you're coming off the baseline screen, does it matter if you come off it baseline side or above? This diagram shows it happening both ways. I always thought it depends on how the defender is playing you. That would make the most sense to me. However, I just watched some younger kids learning this the other day, with no defense, and the coach was correcting the kid for coming off the screen the wrong way.
Essentially it's a read and react. Read how the defender defends your cut and from there decide where you should cut. Preferably the cut should be above the screen because of an easier layup once caught. It might be a tougher angle to make the layup if the cut was made underneath the screen.
Just think of the shape of a table, or the Greek letter pie. Everyone is moving fluidly within that shape. Once you get that down, you just need to understand where the screens are happening. It seems confusing at first, but it's really just the same thing over and over again. There's no post-specific role to remember -- everyone is moving in the same path.
