Boston College's Flex Motion Offense in Action

There was a great game today that probably didn't get much publicity because neither team is a top 25 team and the ACC only has 2 teams that have a real following this year. The game was between Boston College and Virginia Tech. I like both teams because I like both coaches and the way their teams play. Al Skinner and Seth Greenberg are great because they're old school. Their teams value each possession and favor quality over quantity.

I've watched a couple of Boston College games so far this season and though they are young this year, I think they are running Al Skinner's flex motion offense pretty good overall. I took clips of their offense today after watching most of the first half. Here are a couple of sequences,



There are a lot of teams that run flex or are flex-based, but Boston College probably runs their flex more than anyone else in the country. They really keep their players tight together and cycle through using the whole shot clock.

High Post to Baseline Flex Motion:

I'm only going to diagram the first sequence. For a more complete look at the full motion, take a look at my post on the Boston College flex motion earlier last Oct.

They usually start either in a box or 1-4 medium set. One of the forwards from the low block will come up to the high post above the FT line to receive the first pass. O3 then cuts across the lane, O5 waits for O3 to clear then comes up to the high-post forming a double high-post.

After the pass O1 clears to the opposite wing. O4 does a bounce pass to O5 from elbow to elbow. O3 after clearing out sets a flex screen for O2 who comes underneath. O5 finds O2 for the easy lay in underneath.

Summary:

Both teams played great in the first half I thought, very well executed offense. I didn't watch the second half but the game went to OT and the Hokies managed to gut out the win on the road. BC's flex is really tight in that you'll see the players very close together. You would think that would be a bad thing with all the congestion but what they do is from that congestion is they explode to the wings, to the high-post, then they collapse back down and cut to the basket. So it's a constant bunch, then explode, then collapse. It takes a few iterations but it does result in great open shots underneath the basket when run properly.

There are some great flex videos out there but probably the best out there is Gary Williams' DVD on the flex offense. Coach Williams is the highly regarded coach at another ACC school, Maryland. Got a coaching question, head over to the X's and O's Basketball Forum and find some great advice from a great community of coaches.