Just re-watched Coach Pop's DVD called
My Favorite Drills and the Motion Offense earlier this week and thought of this thread. While watching the Spurs play on TNT last night, I was once again struck by how sound their offensive execution is. They ran it to perfection last night, and that was without Tony Parker, who was out with an injury. In fact, "perfection" might be the best word to describe the offensive design.
Before looking at the Spurs' system, remember that any offense requires players that can execute the fundamentals of dribbling, passing, screening, cutting, shooting, posting up, and rebounding well. You know the old saying: "It's not the X's and the O's that matter so much as the Jimmy's and the Joe's." It amazing, though, that the Spurs are effective year after year regardless of what players surround Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili.
That said, the Spurs run an "option" motion offense, one that is truly an "equal opportunity" system. It shares several traits with John Wooden's UCLA offense and Tex Winter's famed version of the triangle offense. In essence, it is a motion offense in that the ball and players are constantly moving. However, it isn't "motion" in the truest sense since there are prescribed movements based on where the first pass is made and the subsequent cut the ball handler makes. This first pass-and-cut is determined by the defense. Hence, each possession is initiated and performed based on the defined movements dictated by the defense. This provides structure while also letting the players play--Pop doesn't need to call plays because the offense reacts to how the defense chooses to guard. In addition, the offense offers solid offensive rebounding opportunities while allowing solid defensive balance, which is probably part of why the Spurs are always an effective defensive squad.
The offense is best run when it starts in transition. Coach Pop instructs his players to push the ball as much as possible. Once in the half court, there are two base options, Strong and Weak, and then a secondary option called Loop. They also have an "automatic" high/spread pick and roll built into the offense anytime a player passes from the corner back to the player at the lane-line extended in Strong. I could go through the X's and O's, but this blog actually does so pretty well (with explanations of several video clips) for those interested:
http://spursmotionoffense.blogspot.com/2012/04/strong.html
http://spursmotionoffense.blogspot.com/2012/04/weak.html
http://spursmotionoffense.blogspot.com/2012/04/loop.html
Coach Pop teaches a series of counters for these options, too, making them difficult to defend. Using the theory that the defense can't take way everything all at once, this offense makes defenses pay by exploiting the openings that their choices create. These counters include back cuts, slipped screens, dribble hand offs, and pick and rolls.
http://spursmotionoffense.blogspot.com/2012/04/counters.html
http://spursmotionoffense.blogspot.com/2012/04/pick-and-roll-within-offense.html
This is wishful thinking, but I would love to see Syracuse utilize this type of offense (an options-based motion). It would reduce the stagnation in the half court, and it may allow players to find their own niche more effectively. Coach Pop claims that it takes new players the better part of a season to learn all of the counters but that, as the players do, they all find their own ways to contribute. Additionally, he says the players learn how each of their peers best fit and begin creating opportunities for each other. Perhaps this would solve Syracuse's issue of essentially playing 4-on-5 at the offensive end like we seemed to do when BMK was playing. Coach Pop also states that his players develop the full range of their fundamental skills in this offense as opposed to just one or two specialized skills. As a result, the offense improves over the course of the season, something SU's teams don't always achieve.
At any rate, I admire Coach Pop's approach to the game. Spurs basketball may not be flashy, but their fundamentally sound execution is a brilliant sight to behold.
