I have a theoretical question about the Triangle that I've thought about a lot and still don't have a definitive answer for.
Would someone else maybe take a shot at it, please (?)
It's this: What ONE specific thing about the rules of basketball . . . or human nature . . . or physics is it that makes the Triangle effective (?)
Compare, for example, an in-bounds play at midcourt. What makes it possible to have a definitive tactic for that is that if you arrange 4 players in a line . . . and each goes either left or right . . . each defensive player has only a 50% chance of guessing which it will be . . . which means there's a 94% chance of getting someone open (if my math is correct). Follow me (?)
So what is the equivalent definitive tactical principle in the Triangle (?)
(1) Does it have something to do with leveraging the fact that DOING something on offense is always going to happen faster than REACTING to it on defense (?)
(2) And that MOTION increases that leverage (?)
(3) How does the "15 feet" in the Triangle relate to that (?)
(4) Or what (?)
Not an expert but my understanding is two or three things drive the philosophy
One) spacing. More difficult to double up quickly because of the 15-20 spacing
Two) inherently puts team in better position for offensive rebounding and to get back on defense
Three) it's a read and react approach so in that sense since there are no set plays it's difficult to defend. Less predictable
Sure others can add
my take:
when you work towards having five guys working as a unit, with passing in conjunction with moving without the ball, the defense will always have a harder challenge. and yes, the spacing is key, especially between the corner three position and the wing position. obviously you want the post player to be practically nailed to the post and not get shoved off of it.
you may notice that the 24-second clock does not allow for this squad to run the triangle past a certain point-- i have noticed that around 12 seconds or so the offense mostly seems to break into the two-man game, and then isolation when only a few seconds left and as a last resort. much of the problem with running the triangle is that it takes time to develop and that development is based on how well or quickly the entry pass is made. so you will often see defenses attacking the ball handler as high as mid-court in order to take enough time off the clock so that the triangle cannot be run.
it could be possible that a fully-integrated unit could run the triangle deeper into the clock but i haven't really seen that. even so, when i see kp6 and melo working on their two-man pnr game either at the beginning of a possession or later, i don't see that as a bad thing, because you are still forcing the defense to make a decision.
but back to spacing: it is not only WHERE the player is but WHEN the player goes to where he goes relative to everyone else. the choreography is supposed to be spontaneous and not necessarily directed by a "floor general."
