IUPUI's Spread Offense Almost Beats Indiana

Watched the first half of the battle between Indiana teams, Indiana and IUPUI. My first game of the year watching Indiana so I originally wanted to see some box sets now that Coach Tom Crean is the head coach. Unfortunately, IUPUI played zone defense so Indiana ran zone offense the whole first half. Instead, I was watching IUPUI's 5-out offense and thought I would take a closer look.

I think most people who think 5-out, automatically think Princeton. But I think you can run a lot of stuff out of a 5-out set. Because there are no players posting up, most people believe it will be hard to get open shots, but I think the 5-out can create a ton of opportunities simply because of the spacing, just like Duke's spread offense they switched to last year and is still running this year. Here are a few sequences from the first half, the PNR, the drive and kick, and the straight drive,




Basic 5-out Set:

They sometimes start out in a 1-4 high look but really their base is basically a 5-out high, with the forwards, O5+O4 at the top of the key. It actually resembles a 1-2-2 look with the corners moved up high to the wings,


Basic PNR:

Nothing revolutionary here. Very much like a spread PNR like Duke plays or Florida or the Suns under D'Antoni. The key is that since everyone is spread, the spacing allows more room for the pick and roll to jumper,


Drive to the Rim:

With the spacing, it's almost elementary for the drive. Much like the dribble drive offense, you play to your strengths. If you have players that can play face up and drive, then you shouldn't force them to play back to the basket,


Drive and Kick:

Duke runs alot of the drive and kick. Here, the IUPUI guard is not quick enough to get all the way to the cup but drawing in the defense and kicking it out to the guard who has shuffled to the corner to hit the 3-pointer,


Summary:

I think if you have quick guards that can shoot 3-pointers, you could really go either way with the spread offense or the dribble drive motion. I think with the spread, you don't technically really need any true back to the basket forwards. The dribble drive uses the drop off more and so you do need that forward in that low post spot for both the drop but also the offensive rebounds. I didn't watch the whole game, but IUPUI was close throughout and lost by 3 to Indiana.

As for Indiana, I think they'll be OK. They were hit hard with players leaving and sanctions for scholarships, but Coach Crean runs a tight ship so they'll rebuild the right way.

For a similar styled spread offense, take a look at Keno Davis' DVD on his Spread Dribble Drive. It's based on a 4-out 1-in but the principles are very similar. Coach Davis was the 2008 AP coach of the year and head coach of Providence. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.