The 3 Outside-2 Inside Offense

Фото: Youth Team of Siena

Giulio Griccioli began coaching with the youth team of Siena in 1998 and was also a member of the first team coaching staff that helped guide Siena to three national titles, one Saporta Cup, and participation in three Euroleague Final Four championships. Since 2005 he has been in charge of all Siena youth teams, and these teams have won five Italian titles in different age categories.

Premise

We created this play some years ago to give our top Siena youth teams an effective style of play that would combine their athletic talents and their basketball skills. Our basic idea for the first age group, the Under 15, was to attack the defense one-on-one, either with a drive, a cut, or a pass, or, in a later phase, by utilizing screens. This same idea forms the basis for developing our passing game: we want to give to the players of the top youth level team, the Under 21, all the possible offensive solutions without running a complicated offense, but still maintaining maximum individual autonomy for the players to "read-and-react" to the defender's moves. In this way, the players, who are all in their last year of youth competition, will be better able to adapt to senior basketball the following year.

Rules

We have a few basic rules:

• Three perimeter players are positioned at guard/wing and wing/corner on both sides of the court.
• Two inside players take on the middle lane of the court, high, low, and middle post (one of these two players is what I term a "faked" inside player, because he will always face towards the basket).
• One perimeter player must always be on a quarter of the court.
• When an inside player goes down, the down inside player goes up: they must always be opposite of each other.

We define the "areas of competence" for the players (diagr. 1 and 2); the perimeter players must not invade the area of the inside players, and vice versa. We understand that if an inside player screens for a perimeter player, or a perimeter player screens for an inside player, there is practically an "invasion" of an area, but the following moves, that we will describe later, will establish the proper "area of competence." The basic premise of this offense is that there is constant movement with the inside players, who must cut and screen in the lane. If they don't move enough, they effectively limit the moves of the other three players, who exchange their positions by cutting along the baseline, but rarely in the middle of the lane. If there is the chance that the play could be started by a dribble drive by one of the perimeter players (diagr. 3), we will usually have the inside players cut or screen and create the moves for the other teammates. We advise the inside players that if one of them gets the ball in the middle lane of the court, the other must try to get open in the lane (diagr. 4).

First situation: screen away from the ball

In diagram 5 we see the situation where the inside player, 5, who is now set outside of the three-point line, makes a diagonal screen away from the ball. In this way we have a situation where there is no perimeter player on that side of the court, so the perimeter player nearest on the baseline cuts and recreates balance for the offense (diagr. 6). Our goal is to play according to "read-and-reaction." We attack, read the defensive reaction, and then move from there. After this first screen, the inside player 5 can make a second screen (I have to emphasize that this is one of several different options he can use), go to the low post position, and receive the ball from the wing (diagr. 7 and 8). The inside player, 4, on the low post on the help side, then moves in the opposite direction of the other inside player, 5, and screens for the teammate on the perimeter, who cuts on the baseline (diagr. 9). The big man, 5, then rolls and gets the inside position under the basket so he can play high-low with the perimeter player in the middle of the court (diagr. 10). On the first down screen, the screener's defender could "show," so in this case the screen-er can immediately pop out at the three-point line to get the ball and shoot (diagr. 11), or else he can play with the inside player, who is now posted up down low (diagr. 12). This is one of those cases where the perimeter player plays inside and the inside player plays outside. If the perimeter player on the low post does not receive the ball, we continue the play with a down screen, a cut and a replacement, or with a back screen for the big man. Our goal here is to get the ball to the player in the low post (diagr. 13). Ball in the low past

When the ball is in the low post, we must have the proper spacing inside and outside of the three-point line, so we want:

• A player on the ball side as a safety for an outside pass if the low post is double-teamed.
• A player, who moves to the corner of the free-throw area outside of the three-point line.
• A player under the free-throw line extension and outside of the three-point line.
• A player at the low post opposite to the ball (diagr. 14).

To get to these spots on the court we can move in several ways. Everything starts from the idea that the player, who passes the ball to the low post, then cuts at the free-throw line corner and sprints strong to the basket. If 5 receives the ball, the cutter stops at the low-post spot on the help side, while, at the same time, the other players on the perimeter all spot up (diagr. 15). If a different player (usually the other inside player) gets the ball in the low post, we want 5 to get positioned inside the lane on the opposite side. He will then make a screen so the perimeter player has a chance to cut and then pop out, while 5 moves down to the low post spot (diagr. 16). The perimeter player, who has received the ball in the middle of the court, now has several options. He can play with the inside player, 5, who comes high to play the pick-and-roll with him (diagr. 17) and he can pass to 5, who can play high-low with 4 (diagr. 18), while the other perimeter players spot up.

Ball to the high post

If the ball is in the hands of the high post, 5, several things can occur:

• An immediate hand-off pass to play with the passer (diagr. 19).
• The fake of a hand-off pass and then a screen away from the ball of the perimeter player (diagr. 20).
• The cut of the passer around the inside player, and then he spots up at the low post on the ball side, which makes it possible for a two-man play of 5 with the wing (diagr. 21).
• Again, after a cut of the passer, 1, around the inside player, and then the spot up at the low post on the ball side, the inside player, 5, screens for the wing (diagr. 22). If nothing happens, 5 makes a hand-off pass to 2, then rolls down low, while 1 pops out, receives the ball from 2, and quickly passes to 5 (diagr. 23).

Second situation: screen for the other inside player

In the diagrams 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 we can see different solutions for the two inside players: a vertical screen and a back screen. I want to emphasize the critical importance of the collaboration between 4 and 5 with a high-low pass, instead of the possible solutions created by the perimeter player, who has popped out at the three-point line and then drives to the basket (diagr. 29). The perimeter player has to understand that this screen between the inside players creates the proper spacing on the perimeter. If nothing happens, 4 reverses the ball to the other wing, 3, and we start a new collaboration between the inside players, thanks to a cut or a screen of 4 for the perimeter player, or a move of the other perimeter players (diagr. 30).

Third situation: screen on the ball

Starting with a pass, the offense can also begin by a screen on the ball for the point guard, or for the wing (diagr. 31 and 32). The rules are then the same for running the offense: one of the inside players goes down and the other comes high. Naturally, if one inside player does a pick-and-pop-out, the other inside player takes a strong position inside the lane (diagr. 33). From there, we use the perimeter players to pass the ball inside. If the defense doesn't permit this, we can also continue again with cuts or screens, which create movement for the other players (diagr. 34).