The 6 best basketball offensive strategies to help you win the game

The 6 best basketball offensive strategies to help you win the game

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6 min read

If you’ve ever seen 76er Matisse Thybulle in action on the court, you've likely noticed his ability to switch between different styles of play in an instant. Whether it's an up-tempo fast-break style, to shoot before the defense can catch him, or a slow play, so his team can set up a half-court offense, he is a master of offensive strategy.

Matisse Thybulle in action for the Philadelphia 76ers.

While some strategies are intuitive, others are preplanned. Offensive strategies reference all of the tactics used to execute a style of play. While the goal is always the same– to make it up the court for an open shot– there are many different strategies to get there.

This article breaks down 6 key basketball offensive strategies, looking at fundamentals, benefits, and drawbacks. While some events, like Run the Racks focus on just the shot, we are here to remind you that getting open to take the shot in a game requires an offensive strategy.

6 Basketball Offensive Strategies to Help You Win The Game

Motion Offense

Motion offenses aren’t about memorized play. Instead, they rely on offensive players’ instincts, game knowledge, intuition, and their ability to apply set principles to the play at hand.

Motion offenses are highly adaptable to different types of defense and unlike set-plays, they’re flexible, meaning all players on the court might get a shot. One of the most popular examples of a motion offense is the Princeton Offense. As the name suggests, it was pioneered at Princeton University.

Princeton Offense

The Princeton offense aims to slow down the pace of play through controlled passing, dribbling, and focused teamwork. This is a strong offense in the sense that you’ll see scoring opportunities from the low post or perimeter, and also works well for less athletic teams dealing with a super speedy opposition. That being said, the Princeton offense isn’t the easiest to execute because it relies totally on the intuition of the players.

For the Princeton offense to work, the players should be in a 2-2-1 formation: two in slot positions, two on the wings, and one in the low post. To get there, all five players need to react to the defense, and leverage screens, cuts and passes. If everyone on the team doesn’t set up, it’s hard to get an open shot.

Continuity Offense

A successful continuity offense requires constant player movement, ball handling, and screen setting. When he’s playing point guard, Red Bull athlete Cole Anthony says, “I’ll never cheat the work.” That philosophy is required to run a successful continuity offense, because the goal of this offense is to eventually get the team back to the starting formation.

Cole Anthony

Continuity offenses, like the ones detailed below, can be played out again and again until the offense scores. Two of the most popular examples of a continuity offense are shuffle and wheel.

Shuffle Offense

A shuffle offense also relies on fast-moving players who can stay in constant motion. The offense’s roles are interchangeable, depending on what’s happening on the court.

This offense style opens up a range of options for the players while forcing the defense to react to a number of maneuvers. However, because a shuffle offense is what’s known as a ‘patterned offense,’ it’s easy for the opposition to see what’s coming and stay one step ahead.

In a shuffle offense, the first cutter brings the ball towards the wing and passes to the point who is at the top of the key. Then, the point passes to the feeder. Meanwhile, the post is establishing a screen for the first cutter. If all of the above isn’t executed to the T, then nobody will get to where they need to be.

In this case, the post will set another screen. By then, the second cutter should be able to move to the center and get a chance to shoot.

Wheel Offense

The Wheel Offense is another example of a continuity offense. It’s designed to combat man-to-man and zone defenses. Like the name implies, the players move in a constant circular motion.

Wheel offenses are adaptable offenses with interchangeable positions, so you don’t have to rely on particular players. That being said, it works best when the team is made up of strong shooters, cutters, and confident ball handlers.

Red Bull Half Court

One of the most common setups of a wheel offense is a 1-3-1 formation. The point guard passes the ball to the shooting guard on the wing. The center moves towards the weak side of the paint, while the power forward takes up the low post position. The small forward tries to shoot from the foul line.

The drawback of this type of offense is that players can fixate too much on completing the sequence rather than playing intuitively and reactively.

Triangle Offense

Also known as ‘Triple Post Offense,’ the Triangle Offense is a continuity and motion offense.

To begin, the center, forward, and a guard create a sideline triangle on one side of the court. The remaining two players move to the other side of the court creating a two-person game. You should be left with three cross-court triangles, which create space for free offensive movement, effective ball control, and scoring opportunities from all sides.

Bear in mind that the Triangle Offense isn’t the easiest to play out, meaning it requires that players memorize the play from back to front and draw on their game intuition to use it effectively.

4 Offensive plays to execute

Pick and Roll

Also known as a ‘ball screen’ or a ‘screen and roll,’ the pick and roll is simple yet effective. It’s used during Triangle offenses or against zone defenses to throw off the defender.

To execute, one player sets a screen for his teammate who has the ball. With the defender locked up, their teammate gains a wide-open shot. If the defender beats the screen and follows the player with the ball, the screener can get the ball and shoot long-range or drive towards the net to shoot.

Give and Go

Give and Go, otherwise referred to as ‘pass and cut,’ is when a player passes off to his or her teammate, cuts to the basket, and then gets the ball back to shoot.

If you’re able to keep the ball with your best ball-handlers, this is a surefire way to get some opportunities to score. Having said that, pass and cuts are super recognizable so if you want to avoid giving too much away to the offense, you need to act quickly and accurately.

Red Bull Half Court

Isolation Offense

Isolation plays are all about creating one-on-one game situations. These usually involve the strongest offensive player, meaning teams can usually count on this offense to work. Understandably, though, some teams might not want to place all the pressure on one player alone.

In an isolation offense, the strongest player gets the ball while their teammates create space by drawing their defenders towards one side of the court. This leaves the strongest player in a one-on-one setup. If they’re able to get around their defender, they can drive to the basket for a shot.

Fast Break

As the name suggests, a successful fast break requires you to be fast! Fast breaks are all about the element of surprise, gaining the offense time to move the ball up the court relatively unguarded.

This works best for teams with agile and athletic players who are able to commit fully (and at high speed) to the play. Try to avoid running this play if your players tend to get a little sloppy when they’re playing at high speed since this can lose you your competitive edge. Fast breaks are the calling card of the Red Bull Half Court.

Final Thoughts

If you need a real life master class on effective offensive play, look no further than the upcoming Red Bull Half Court tournament. Teams of 3 will go head-to-head and a winner, off to New York for the world finals.