The Oak Hill "32 Series”

Фото: The Oak Hill "32 Series”

In the last four years, my team averaged 96 points per game, not only thanks to our offensive transition that takes up so much time during our practice sessions, but also because of our defense and rebounding, two basketball aspects absolutely fundamental to a good offense. A coach can’t have success if he doesn’ have great players and I can say I have had great athletes and players during these years. Many of them have gone on to play in the NBA.

32 SERIES STARTING LINEUP

The play I’ll describe in this article is what I call “32 Series.” We often use it in the offensive half court. We called it “series” because the starting lineup is always the same, a 3-2, with three external players and two internal: a playmaker, 1, set in the central lane of the court; two players, 2 and 3, on the wings, outside the three-point line; and two internal players, 4 and 5, set in the two low-post positions on both sides of the court (diagr. 1).

32 AWAY

1 begins the play by passing the ball to one of the wings, in this case 2, and then goes to the opposite wing. At the same time, 3 goes down, cuts along the baseline, and arrives in the corner on the strong side (diagr. 2).

When 4 arrives at the elbow, 2 passes him the ball, and 4 then gives it to 1. After the pass, 2 brings his defender on 5’s screen, coming up from the low-post position. He then cuts to the basket and tries to get a pass for a shot from the painted area (diagr. 3).

If he doesn’t succeed in passing to 2, 5 and 4 make a stagger for 3, who cuts, goes up to the free-throw line to get the ball from 1 and shoot (diagr. 4).

32 SHUFFLE

We always begin with the same 3-2 set. If the playmaker, 1, dribbles to one of the wings, 2 in this case, both 2 and 3 goes to the nearer corner while the post on the weak side, 4, makes a flash cut and goes outside the three-point line to receive the ball (diagr. 5).

When 4 receives the ball from 1, 5 makes a step outside and screens for 2, who makes a “shuffle” cut and tries to get the ball from 4, who is near the basket. If 2 doesn’t receive the ball, he goes on with the cut in the area. After the screen, 5 immediately turns himself to the ball. Now 4 has two possibilities: he can pass to 2 or he can dish to 5. If any of these choices is not possible, 4 gives the ball back to 1 (diagr. 6).

If 2 doesn’t get the ball in the cut, he sets himself near the area, fakes to go to the basket, and then receives a vertical screen from 4. He can now go beyond the free-throw line to catch the ball from 1 (diagr. 7). If we can’t get a shot, we come back to our 3-2 starting lineup, with 3 external and two internal players.

32 CORNER

In this option of the “32 offense,” the player who decides the play movements is the one in the central lane of the court: 1, 2, or 3.

If the player in the middle is 1, he passes to one of the wings, 2 in this example, and cuts to the corner. The low post on the weak side, 4, cuts to the high elbow, and then goes outside the three-point line, in the central lane of the court (diagr. 8).

During the pass from 2 to 4, 5 cuts fast in the area to receive the ball and play high-low. If 4 doesn’t succeed in getting the ball to 5 (and in this case, 5 sets himself io the other side, in the low-post position), 4 makes the ball change sides and passes to 3, who can play pick-androll with 5. He tries to let him play one- on-one in the low post. At the same time, after the pass to 3, 4 makes a stagger with 2 for 1 (diagr. 9).

If 3 can’t pass to 5, he passes the ball to 1, who has gone out from the stagger of 4 and 2 and has set himself in the central lane of the court. 1 can try to shoot, pass to one of the posts, or restart the offense with one of the options of the “32 Offense.” This begins with 4, who sets himself in the low post, while 2 is on the wing (diagr. 10).