The Princeton Offense is a five-part play that typically takes fifteen seconds to run. The goal of the Princeton offense is not to run clock. The goal is to break a defense down because of lack of discipline. It is named after the Princeton University system perfected by Princeton's renowned head coach, Pete Carril. Second, the system is not designed to make nonathletic players compete with athletic players, as this would be impossible because of the large number of isos and ball screens run for guards. If the opposing players were that much more athletic, the guards would be trapped off the screens, and the play would break down. Third, the Princeton offense was created by Pete Carril to beat Ivy League teams like Dartmouth and Yale, not UCLA or Florida. All Ivy League teams run some sort of ball control offense, meaning that Princeton needed to develop a system to match their common opponents. Finally, the Princeton offense works against both man to man and zone defenses, and not just against man, as many think. As touched on earlier, the Princeton offense is a five-part play that typically takes around fifteen seconds to run. The whole offense is predicated on discipline and preparation by the offensive team, as Princeton coaches spend lots of time doing studies on individual players and their defensive habits. There is maybe one set defensive play per game that a well-coached Princeton offense won t recognize from its scouting. Part One Part one of the Princeton offense is a high post entry and a strong side over the top cut. In fact, everything runs through the high post entry and through down screens. Part Two Part two is ball screening, although ninety percent of the time the guy with the ball will try and break his cheating defender down by faking towards the screen and going the opposite direction. The goal of this tactic is to either lead to an open lay-up or cross-court kick out for an open three pointer. A key point is that there are no dribble drives and a very small amount of the mid-range game in the Princeton offense. Part Three
Part three of the Princeton offense involves the guards posting up on other guards, as Carril and his staff believed that guards in the NCAA are not coached on how to defend a guard who posts up. All guards in the Princeton offense are taught to shoot hook shots off the post. Part Four Also, speaking of something each player in the Princeton offense must be capable of, part four is simply the following: Every player on the floor is able to shoot three pointers. Part Five Finally, part five of the Princeton offense doesn t even involve the offense. It s the Princeton defense, or a matchup zone. Much in the same manner as on offense, players who run the true Princeton system are taught every thing about their opponent s offensive tendencies. There is not a play an opponent will run that a true Princeton team will not know how to defend. The general conception of ball-control and a slow down game that are associated with the Princeton offense are actually due to the Princeton defense. A player who is struggling on the offensive end will often try to make up for it on the defensive side. Running the Princeton Offense Constant Motion Helps Offense Wear Down Defenders The Princeton offense uses patience and constant motion to wear down opponents and get the offense easy looks at the basket. Chasing a team around the floor for 30 seconds only to have them score an easy layup on a back door cut can be demoralizing for any defense, but that is what the Princeton offense is designed to do. Perfected by former Princeton coach Pete Carril, the Princeton offense uses constant motion and patience to frustrate teams.
Setting Up the Princeton Offense The offense begins by spreading the court. This is accomplished with four of the five players starting outside the 3-point line and usually above or even with the free throw line. The offense is initiated by a series of picks and cuts to the basket, but that is as structured as it gets. From there, the offense relies on savvy players to be able to read the defense and make the appropriate cuts. The main goal of the Princeton offense is to get a back door cut leading to a layup, but if the opponent gives up the 3-point shot, that also is one of the main weapons. The basic offensive element in the Princeton offense is the give-and-go. The give-and-go element is where a player passes the ball to a teammate and immediately cuts to the basket, hoping to catch his defender looking away or flat on his feet. If the layup is not there, the cutting player continues through the lane, and returns outside the 3-point arc to maintain spacing and keep the lane open. The player with the ball first reads the cutting player to determine whether the pass should be made, then either passes the ball and cuts, or dribbles the ball to set up another back door option. The Dribble Setup The give-and-go is not the only way the Princeton offense can set up the chance for an easy layup. Players in the Princeton system need to have three qualities to be successful: 1) the ability to shoot the 3-point shot; 2) basketball savvy to know when to cut and where to pass the ball; and 3) the ability to handle the ball effectively. The final point is important because of another way the offense generates scoring opportunitiesthe direct dribble. In the direct dribble, the player with the ball will drive directly toward a player defending a teammate. This forces the second defender to choose between stopping the drive or covering his man. At the same time the player is dribbling toward the defender, the offensive player that he was covering cuts to the basket for the back door cut and the layup. If the layup is not there, the player with the ball checks for a drive opportunity, a shot, or passes it out to the top of the key. Keep It Moving What is happening away from the ball is just as important as what is happening with the ball in the Princeton offense. While at times it may seem that the Princeton offense is a two-man offense, it relies on all five players to be moving to create secondary cuts to produce scoring opportunities.
After the initial backdoor cutter clears the lane, players off the ball can set back screens to free up teammates to cut down the lane for easy baskets. The secondary cutter usually comes from either the wing opposite side of the court from the ball or from a player at the top of the key. Where ever the cut comes from however is not as important as the fact that all players on offense keeps moving. This does a couple of things. First, the constant movement of the offense forces the defenders to be chasing the offensive players and tires the defenders out. Second, the movement forces the defender to play his man and not help out on the backdoor cuts leaving the lane open for the layup. Against the Zone Many teams may be reluctant to run the Princeton offense against a zone, but the Princeton offense can be run against any type of defense. If teams decide to pack in tight zone defense to take away the back door cuts, players in the Princeton offense should be proficient at shooting the 3-point basket and will quickly shoot the defense out of their zone. For other types of zone defense, the constant motion of the Princeton offense makes it difficult for defenders to pick up which players are in their area of responsibility. Also, with a zone, the offense can cut through the gaps in the zone leading to opportunities along the baseline and even in the middle of the zone itself. Spreading the Offense While the offense started in Princeton and got its name from the school, several programs now run the offense. The most notable team to run the offense is Georgetown under John Thompson III. Other notable college programs to run the offense include Northwestern, Arizona State, Air Force and the University of Colorado. The offense is also run in the professional ranks, as Sacramento, New Orleans, New Jersey and Washington all run a version of the offense. Basketball Offense - Princeton Offense Writing an article on the Princeton offense is not an easy task as there is really no set "pattern" per se (such as the flex offense). Instead, it's more of a way of playing offense using certain principles that require the offensive player to read the defense. For the most part, it is unstructured, using screens and cuts, reading and reacting to the defense. The Princeton offense
was pioneered by Pete Carril at Princeton some years ago. Variations are used by college teams (Georgetown, Northwestern, Arizona State, Air Force and Colorado) and NBA teams (New Jersey, Washington, Sacramento, New Orleans). It has been said that this offense might benefit a team whose players are less athletic than most of their opponents. However, I don't think this is correct, as the Princeton offense requires all players to be good passers, ball-handlers (dribbling skills), and good outside shooters (3-point shots), as well as possess a high basketball IQ, or savvy. If you have a bunch of players like that you can probably win with any offense! Since players must have a good understanding of the game and know how to read the defense, this offense would not be an ideal choice for a youth or middle-school level team in my opinion. This offense would fit a team lacking tall post players, but with good, smart perimeter players. The Princeton offense is a more deliberate offense, oftentimes with many passes each possession. This tends to slow the game down, controlling the tempo, usually resulting in lower game scores. Coaches have to be completely committed to this offense as it is a free-lance offense with less control from the bench. Certainly, however, plays and quick hitters can be called. The Princeton offense can be used against man-to-man and zone defenses. Against zones that pack the paint, open 3-point shots, attacking the gaps in the zone and attacking the baseline are effective techniques. The hallmarks of the offense are the spread offense and spacing, constant motion, the back-door cut and lay-up, hitting open 3-point shots, flare screens and screens away from the ball. The basic set can be 4-out with 1-in (either at the high post, or low post), a 2-3 high set, or a 1-2-2 (5-out) set. A smart post player with good passing skills is important as the offense will tend to revolve around the center, who is often a playmaker. When in the 4-out high or 2-3 high set (diagram A), you can see that all players are located at or above the freethrow line extended. This creates space underneath for cutting, especially back-door cuts. The high set and constant motion help eliminate the helpside defense inside. A variety of entries are possible... pass with give and go, UCLA cut, dribble-at with back-cut, high post feed, weavescreen, etc. Princeton Offense Part I--Reading (the defense) is fundamental By Fran Fraschilla
Special to ESPN.com Pete Carril's last win as the coach at Princeton, a stunning upset over UCLA in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, will always be remembered for its final play: the "trademark" back-door lay-up. Although the Yoda of college basketball has spent the last six years in relative obscurity as an assistant coach and consultant for the Sacramento Kings, his legacy continues to live on in the college and NBA game. Just look at teams like Princeton, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Air Force, Samford and the New Jersey Nets. Each employs Carril's system of offense with a good deal of success. With a premium placed on passing, cutting and intelligent movement without the basketball, the offense is the epitome of what good team basketball should look like. There is an understanding that offense is a series of two- and three-man plays and that all five players cannot compete for the ball but, rather, share it. We will cover, in the next two Basketball 101 "classes", the Princeton Offense, in two parts: the Low Post offense and the High post offense. Pay attention and don't turn your head or you'll get "back doored". Part I: The Low Post Offense Find the Center: The offensive thinking in the Princeton system is for the ball to go through the center so that he can be the playmaker. So, in both transition or in a half-court set the important thing is to "find the center" or the 5 man. Alignment: The offense starts in a 2-2-1 alignment with the center (5) on the ball side. It is important to
determine the places on the court from which your perimeter players can best drive to the middle. It really helps if all of those players can dribble and pass from both sides of the court. First cut: The 1 passes to 3 on the wing and cuts through to the opposite corner. Every single cut in the offense must be made at full speed and with authority. The 2 then fills in at the top of the key. First Back Door: If 5 is fronted in the low post and the offense cannot be started through him, 3 dribbles hard at the elbow. If 2's man "tightens up" to overplay the pass to 2 or turns his head to look at the ball, 2 back doors hard to the basket. The 3 is taught make his bounce with one hand off the dribble -- it's a
quicker pass than picking the ball up with two hands -- right off 2's defender's butt. Post Feed: The 3 feeds 5 in the low post and drifts to the corner for the possible open 3-point shot if his man leaves to double team. If 3's man doesn't double team 5, the spacing on the perimeter is ideal for 5 to go 1-on-1. The Next Look Another Back Door Cut: After 5 catches the ball, 2 cuts through to the opposite corner as 4 fills in at top of key and 1 replaces 4. If 4's man looks for ball or tries to overplay 4, 4 back-door cuts to the basket
looking for a bounce pass from 5. This is why it is crucial that the 5 is an excellent passer. Slip Split: Another option in the offense when 5 has the ball is for 2 to screen away for 4. The 4 must always watch his defender. If the defender starts to cheat over 2's screen, 4 back-door cuts to basket and receives bounce pass from 5. Pass Out and Dribble At: When the ball is passed out of the low post -- in this case to 2 -- 2 dribbles hard at the next player on the perimeter, the 4. Again, when 4's man turns his head, 4 back-door cuts to basket and looks for a 1-hand bounce pass from 2.
If 4 is not open, 1 replaces 4 and receives the pass from 2. The 4 posts up and 5 comes up to set the "flare screen'" for 2, who gets jump shot on pass from 1. Another Pass Out and Dribble At: When 5 passes out of low post to 3, remember 2 has cut through and 4 starts to replace him at the top of the key. The 3 dribbles hard at the elbow and sets up back-door cut by 4. The 1 replaces 4 and, if 3 throws it to 1, 5 will "flare screen" for 3 for a jump shot.
Term of the Day Back-Door Cut: Anytime an offensive player on the perimeter is denied a chance to catch a pass, it is an excellent opportunity for him to use the defender's aggressiveness against him by changing direction and cutting to the basket. Final Word As you can see, this offense is based on good spacing of your offensive players on the court, the intelligence to "read" how the defenders are playing and, then, executing the fundamentals to make the correct play. It has proven, time and time again, to be a great way to neutralize another team's superior athletic ability -- especially in Princeton's case. So, we'll end Part I with a quote from Pete Carril, "In this life, the big, strong guys are always taking from the smaller, weak guys; but the smart take from the strong."
Now, on to the Princeton high post sets Part II By Fran Fraschilla Special to ESPN.com In Part I of the Princeton Offense, we covered the low post offense within this system. Now we will cover the high post offense. Remember, we emphasize how important the center is in this offense because he is the primary playmaker. Also, keep in mind that the other four players are interchangeable, so it would not be unusual to see three or four guards out on the court at the same time. Part II: The High Post Offense The alignment and first cut of the high post offense in the Princeton Offense begins when the point guard (1) passes to the off guard (2) and cuts through the elbow area, looking to brush the center's man as center (5) flashes to the elbow. You'll notice that there are three perimeter players on the opposite side of the court from the center.
Pass and Slip Split On the pass to the center, notice the backdoor opportunity for the small forward (3) if he is overplayed. After the off guard (2) passes to the center (5), he screens away for the power forward (4), who slips the screen and back-door cuts to basket if his man "cheats" to get over the off guard's screen. As soon as the power forward (4) cuts, the off guard (2) pops back out for the pass from the center and the shot. Or, when the center (5) comes over to screen, the 2's man naturally "jumps" toward the screen. That allows the off guard (2) to "reject" the screen and drive to the basket. Notice, also, that on the drive to the basket by the off guard, if the point guard's man leaves to help, the off guard is able to pass to the point. This is known as "penetrate and kick" or "draw and kick"... as in, draw the defender and kick it to the open man.
Here's an example of the center (5) passing back to the off guard (2), who uses the center's screen as the small forward (3) down screens for the power forward (4). Another option if for the off guard (2) to pass to the power forward (4), as the center (5) sets a "flare screen" for him. If the off guard's defender goes under the screen, he has the jump shot.
Now, if the off guard's man follows him over the top of the screen, he has a great driving angle to the basket, and if the point guard's man helps again, we have the "draw and kick". By the way, this is what Dicky V. means when he says a player is a "3-D guy" -- drive, draw and dish. Pass and Post Split On pass to the center (5), the off guard (2) screens for the small forward (3) in a "post split". The small forward "reads" his defender and if the defender plays off him, he will use the screen for the jump shot. The point guard (1) sets a "flare screen" on the other side of the court, primarily to keep the defenders occupied.
Post and Post Slip Split If X3 plays his man "tight", the small forward (3) will fake coming off the screen and back-door cut to the basket for a lay-up. Once the 3 back cuts, the off guard (2) pops out to the wing. As the center (5) passes back to the off guard (2), he will come over to screen for him, and when 2 uses the screen, the center can "pop" out for the jumper, or "roll' to the basket. On the other side of the court, the small forward (3) uses the "staggered double screen."
If the off guard's man jumps toward the screen, 2 drives it baseline, as, hopefully, the "staggered double" will occupy three defenders on the opposite side of the court. The Spin Dribble Once the point guard (1) has cut through, and the center (5) flashes to the elbow and is denied a pass, the off guard (2) reads this and spin dribbles back to the power forward (4). If the 4's man "cheats up" as 4 steps to the ball, the power forward will back-door cut as 2 throws the one-handed bounce pass by the defender.
If the power forward (4) is not open, the off guard (2) passes to the point guard (1) as 4 posts up on the block. The off guard then uses 5's "flare screen" for the jump shot. Or... The drive and the "draw and kick" with 3.
There are so many more options we can get into, but it would take all the college basketball season, the NBA season (remember to watch the New Jersey Nets run this offense) and into next football season. We have given you, however, the basic idea of what to look for in the "Princeton System". Remember, it is an offense that has been around a very long time in the Ivy League. But, now, Carril's influence has extended to the ACC, the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the NBA. As the saying goes, "Everything old becomes new again." Princeton Offense Part I--Reading (the defense) is fundamental By Fran Fraschilla Special to ESPN.com Pete Carril's last win as the coach at Princeton, a stunning upset over UCLA in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, will always be remembered for its final play: the "trademark" back-door lay-up. Although the Yoda of college basketball has spent the last six years in relative obscurity as an assistant coach and consultant for the Sacramento Kings, his legacy continues to live on in the college and NBA game. Just look at teams like Princeton, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Air Force, Samford and the New Jersey Nets. Each employs Carril's system of offense with a good deal of success. With a premium placed on passing, cutting and intelligent movement without the basketball, the offense is
the epitome of what good team basketball should look like. There is an understanding that offense is a series of two- and three-man plays and that all five players cannot compete for the ball but, rather, share it. We will cover, in the next two Basketball 101 "classes", the Princeton Offense, in two parts: the Low Post offense and the High post offense. Pay attention and don't turn your head or you'll get "back doored". Part I: The Low Post Offense Find the Center: The offensive thinking in the Princeton system is for the ball to go through the center so that he can be the playmaker. So, in both transition or in a half-court set the important thing is to "find the center" or the 5 man. Alignment: The offense starts in a 2-2-1 alignment with the center (5) on the ball side. It is important to determine the places on the court from which your perimeter players can best drive to the middle. It really helps if all of those players can dribble and pass from both sides of the court.
First cut: The 1 passes to 3 on the wing and cuts through to the opposite corner. Every single cut in the offense must be made at full speed and with authority. The 2 then fills in at the top of the key. First Back Door: If 5 is fronted in the low post and the offense cannot be started through him, 3 dribbles hard at the elbow. If 2's man "tightens up" to overplay the pass to 2 or turns his head to look at the ball, 2 back doors hard to the basket. The 3 is taught make his bounce with one hand off the dribble -- it's a quicker pass than picking the ball up with two hands -- right off 2's defender's butt.
Post Feed: The 3 feeds 5 in the low post and drifts to the corner for the possible open 3-point shot if his man leaves to double team. If 3's man doesn't double team 5, the spacing on the perimeter is ideal for 5 to go 1-on-1. The Next Look Another Back Door Cut: After 5 catches the ball, 2 cuts through to the opposite corner as 4 fills in at top of key and 1 replaces 4. If 4's man looks for ball or tries to overplay 4, 4 back-door cuts to the basket looking for a bounce pass from 5. This is why it is crucial that the 5 is an excellent passer.
Slip Split: Another option in the offense when 5 has the ball is for 2 to screen away for 4. The 4 must always watch his defender. If the defender starts to cheat over 2's screen, 4 back-door cuts to basket and receives bounce pass from 5. Pass Out and Dribble At: When the ball is passed out of the low post -- in this case to 2 -- 2 dribbles hard at the next player on the perimeter, the 4. Again, when 4's man turns his head, 4 back-door cuts to basket and looks for a 1-hand bounce pass from 2.
If 4 is not open, 1 replaces 4 and receives the pass from 2. The 4 posts up and 5 comes up to set the "flare screen'" for 2, who gets jump shot on pass from 1. Another Pass Out and Dribble At: When 5 passes out of low post to 3, remember 2 has cut through and 4 starts to replace him at the top of the key. The 3 dribbles hard at the elbow and sets up back-door cut by 4. The 1 replaces 4 and, if 3 throws it to 1, 5 will "flare screen" for 3 for a jump shot.
Term of the Day Back-Door Cut: Anytime an offensive player on the perimeter is denied a chance to catch a pass, it is an excellent opportunity for him to use the defender's aggressiveness against him by changing direction and cutting to the basket. Final Word As you can see, this offense is based on good spacing of your offensive players on the court, the intelligence to "read" how the defenders are playing and, then, executing the fundamentals to make the correct play. It has proven, time and time again, to be a great way to neutralize another team's superior athletic ability -- especially in Princeton's case. So, we'll end Part I with a quote from Pete Carril, "In this life, the big, strong guys are always taking from the smaller, weak guys; but the smart take from the strong."
Now, on to the Princeton high post sets Part II By Fran Fraschilla Special to ESPN.com In Part I of the Princeton Offense, we covered the low post offense within this system. Now we will cover the high post offense. Remember, we emphasize how important the center is in this offense because he is the primary playmaker. Also, keep in mind that the other four players are interchangeable, so it would not be unusual to see three or four guards out on the court at the same time. Part II: The High Post Offense The alignment and first cut of the high post offense in the Princeton Offense begins when the point guard (1) passes to the off guard (2) and cuts through the elbow area, looking to brush the center's man as center (5) flashes to the elbow. You'll notice that there are three perimeter players on the opposite side of the court from the center.
Pass and Slip Split On the pass to the center, notice the backdoor opportunity for the small forward (3) if he is overplayed. After the off guard (2) passes to the center (5), he screens away for the power forward (4), who slips the screen and back-door cuts to basket if his man "cheats" to get over the off guard's screen. As soon as the power forward (4) cuts, the off guard (2) pops back out for the pass from the center and the shot. Or, when the center (5) comes over to screen, the 2's man naturally "jumps" toward the screen. That allows the off guard (2) to "reject" the screen and drive to the basket. Notice, also, that on the drive to the basket by the off guard, if the point guard's man leaves to help, the off guard is able to pass to the point. This is known as "penetrate and kick" or "draw and kick"... as in, draw the defender and kick it to the open man.
Here's an example of the center (5) passing back to the off guard (2), who uses the center's screen as the small forward (3) down screens for the power forward (4). Another option if for the off guard (2) to pass to the power forward (4), as the center (5) sets a "flare screen" for him. If the off guard's defender goes under the screen, he has the jump shot.
Now, if the off guard's man follows him over the top of the screen, he has a great driving angle to the basket, and if the point guard's man helps again, we have the "draw and kick". By the way, this is what Dicky V. means when he says a player is a "3-D guy" -- drive, draw and dish. Pass and Post Split On pass to the center (5), the off guard (2) screens for the small forward (3) in a "post split". The small forward "reads" his defender and if the defender plays off him, he will use the screen for the jump shot. The point guard (1) sets a "flare screen" on the other side of the court, primarily to keep the defenders occupied.
Post and Post Slip Split If X3 plays his man "tight", the small forward (3) will fake coming off the screen and back-door cut to the basket for a lay-up. Once the 3 back cuts, the off guard (2) pops out to the wing. As the center (5) passes back to the off guard (2), he will come over to screen for him, and when 2 uses the screen, the center can "pop" out for the jumper, or "roll' to the basket. On the other side of the court, the small forward (3) uses the "staggered double screen."
If the off guard's man jumps toward the screen, 2 drives it baseline, as, hopefully, the "staggered double" will occupy three defenders on the opposite side of the court. The Spin Dribble Once the point guard (1) has cut through, and the center (5) flashes to the elbow and is denied a pass, the off guard (2) reads this and spin dribbles back to the power forward (4). If the 4's man "cheats up" as 4 steps to the ball, the power forward will back-door cut as 2 throws the one-handed bounce pass by the defender.
If the power forward (4) is not open, the off guard (2) passes to the point guard (1) as 4 posts up on the block. The off guard then uses 5's "flare screen" for the jump shot. Or... The drive and the "draw and kick" with 3.
There are so many more options we can get into, but it would take all the college basketball season, the NBA season (remember to watch the New Jersey Nets run this offense) and into next football season. We have given you, however, the basic idea of what to look for in the "Princeton System". Remember, it is an offense that has been around a very long time in the Ivy League. But, now, Carril's influence has extended to the ACC, the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the NBA. As the saying goes, "Everything old becomes new again." Princeton Offense There's a nice article about former Princeton coach Pete Carril and the motion offense popularly associated with his teams: Carril has not been a college coach for 11 years. But he is wearing a Georgetown cap, and people keep calling to talk about the precise pass-and-cut offense that he supposedly invented but never called the Princeton offense. "I didn't call it anything," he said. To him, it is only basketball, and it is not complicated. Carril does not understand why no one talks about other offenses the way they do about Princeton's. But people are calling him, and they are suddenly curious, as if there is some mystery to be unearthed, a round-ball archeological dig looking for the key to Georgetown's success. He's right, of course-- the "Princeton offense" is just basketball, and the basic idea is pretty simple: you never stop moving. It's devastating when it's done well. Or even not that well-- I
used to play occasionally with my friend Dave in college, and he was astonishingly effective for a guy with no significant talent for the game beyond an ability to hit a wide-open two-hand set shot. You woul;dn't think that would get you very far, but he used to literally run in circles around the three-point line, never stopping, until his man would get fed up with chasing him and drop back into the middle. And then, next thing you know, he would be wide open, hitting that goddamn set shot... The thing about the "Princeton offense" is that it's really difficult to commit to. It's awfully tempting to just settle down somewhere convenient and wait for the ball-- either staking out a particular spot for a jumper, or settling down in the post to call for the ball. Or even standing off to one side, to watch a teammate try to create a shot for himself. Once you do that, though, it breaks everything. The "Princeton offense" really requires all five players to be in constant motion. Any one player stopping in place jams the whole thing up-- the court isn't that big, and almost any point on the offensive end will be the point that somebody else needs to move into to keep things going. The necessary dedication to team basketball is hard to come by in this NBA-ified world. Guys who have the talent to "create their own shot" by driving to the basket are highly praised and rewarded for doing that, so they will. And very quickly, the game breaks down into a set of loosely connected games of one-on-one. At which point, it becomes difficult to watch. A real five-on-five game, though, with everybody cutting and moving all the time, is a joy to see, if you know anything about real basketball. The current relevance of this, of course, is that Georgetown runs a variant of the "Princeton offense." They do occasionally break down a bit into static basketball, owing to the fact that they have seven-foot Roy Hibbert in the center, and it's too tempting to just pound it in to the big guy. At their best, though, they place a really nice brand of offensive basketball. This, of course, is due to the fact that coach John Thompson III was a player at Princeton. The Times article reminded me that there's a story about playing in a lunchtime pick-up game at Princeton in Alexander Wolff's Big Game, Small World-- a game which turns out to include Thompson III, then an assistant at Princeton: John, whose namesake father is the TNT commentator and former coach at Georgetown, had passed for more assists than any forward in school history as a Tigers co-captain. "Drift!" he would yell in the middle of a game, or "Curl!" At first the words made little sense to me, but regulars seemed to know just what to do, so I watched and imitated. John was so much the coach that he would call out those commands to players on the opposing team, too. Nothing escaped his
notice from his accustomed spot on the wing. He'd make quite a head coach one day, I thought, especially after an incident during my first noontime visit. A loose ball ran out of bounds and several of us took the obligatory couple of hard steps in pursuit before giving up. I could hear the wry tone of his father in John's interjection: "Nice fake hustle!" Anyway, Georgetown plays Ohio State tonight, in the less annoying of the two Final Four games (the other features the intensely irritating Florida Gators versus the stick-a-fork-in-your-eye ugly UCLA Bruins). If they win, expect it to be attributed in part to the mysterious "Princeton offense," even though it's just basketball. Insight into the Princeton Offense Thanks to Coach Welling for passing along a March 2003 story from The Daily Princetonian about the Princeton Offense, described by the author as "nothing more than a big toolbox." If the right tools are used at the right times, open baskets will be as common as birdhouses in shop class. If not, however, the Tigers will crumble. According to the article, in the Princeton office, "If anything is open, either a shot or a drive, take it." ~~~~~~~~~~ Princeton does not utilize any of the common basketball techniques, such as pick-and-rolls and isolation plays. The Tigers use unconventional tools such as the drive drill, drift screens, and offball screens. While many teams use off-ball screens, Princeton differentiates itself by the two options involved, a backdoor cut or a shot. Off-ball screens are key to running the offense and are pretty simple as far as the Princeton offense goes. One player holds the ball looking for a pass. A second player then screens the defender of yet a third player. The third player is the key to this part of the offense. He makes the decision of what
to do based on the quality of the screen and how the defender is hindered by it. He can either come off the screen for an open outside shot or make a backdoor cut to the hoop. One of the basic starting sets for the Princeton offense is the "1-2-2," also known as "Five-out," since all five players position themselves around the three-point arc two in the corners, two at the wings, and the center at the top of the key. Let's run through a few examples of what could happen from here. This is where the "drive drill" comes in. The center, with the ball, drives directly at the defender of one of the wing players. If the defender is laying off this player, the center hands the ball off to the wing player and simultaneously screens that man's defender. The player who just received the hand-off (originally in the wing) now ideally has an open shot at the top of the key. Luckily, the offense is still prepared for an athletic defender who can still stop the shot. While all this exchange is going on, the wing and corner players on the other side of the court are "drifting." The drifting wing forces his defender in toward the elbow. When he realizes that the open shot is not there, the player from the corner sprints to screen the wing's defender at the elbow. Without an open shot, the man with the ball dribbles to the top of the key and waits for the player with the screened defender (the original backside player at the wing) to decide whether to cut to the basket and drive or come off the screen and take the three. What if there is still not an open shot? The center meanwhile has been drifting back to help screen the defender of the wing player with whom he originally drive-drilled. That wing would then get another chance to choose drive or shoot. In the simplest recycling of the offense, he would drive to no avail then kick out to the one player not used yet: the player in the corner of the original drive drill. At that point, the offense could start all over. That seems complicated enough, but now we reach the staple of the Princeton offense: the backdoor cut. Back at the original drive drill, the wing at whose defender the center is driving will take the backdoor cut if his man is playing him tightly. The backdoor cut ideally leads to an easy layup if the pass is made. If the backdoor pass cannot be made, the center who still has the ball dumps it off to the corner player stepping up. The center then drifts back up to the top of the key as if to set back up or to look for a shot. The cutting player who did not receive the pass, however, has turned around and makes an "upthe-side screen" for the center at the elbow of the side from which he had originally cut. This should leave the center the opportunity to get open down low. If the center cannot make a play in the post, he simply kicks it out to the corner player who has
drifted back after passing the ball into the center. This leaves an open space for an off-ball screen to the original backside wing player. If all that does not work, junior Ed Persia can knock down an NBA-range three-pointer.