Kansas Rotating Pick and Roll Offense

Saw this earlier today on ESPN. It's a breakdown by ESPN color analyst Fran Fraschilla on the offense that Kansas has been using, a rotating PNR. I haven't watched many Kansas games so far this season, but I had a feeling that they weren't running Bill Self's Hi-lo. With a talent like Brandon Rush, you'd have to think they would run a more pro-style offense with PNRs and isoloations to get Rush in space. Anyways, watch Fran break down Kansas' PNR offense and read my brief comments after,



Trends in College Basketball:

You're definitely seeing more pro-style trends entering college basketball. I was listening to an interview between Jim Rome and John Wooden back in November and coach Wooden talked about how today's college game is resembling the NBA game every day forward. Duke's new spread PNR, Kansas' rotating PNR, even the Memphis dribble drive, they are all isolation style offenses designed around the attributes of the individual with less emphasis on passing and movement.

Though I agree with Coach Wooden that the game is changing, I disagree with his belief that the game has digressed. Take the average college basketball player nowadays, much more athletic and skilled than they were back in the day, and offenses are designed to take advantage of that. Add to it that the officiating has become much more rigid, where fouls are called strictly by the book, it's easy to see why the game has moved in this direction.

I wrote about before how if Memphis were to win the National Championship, I think you'll start to see a lot of college and even HS teams follow suit with the dribble drive.

Probably the best video out there on PNR baksetball is Jeff Van Gundy's DVD on the pick and roll offense. After all, Van Gundy has coached some of the best big-little combos in the history of the NBA. Be sure to head over to the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and more of your favorite basketball topics.