THE BOX OFFENSE

When looking for an offense that can either get your team into a set play or any other offense, one of the most effective ways to accomplish this is to run the box offense.  The box offense has been used by many teams through the years and is capable of taking advantage of a team that runs effective three-around-two offense whether it is a set offense or a free-lance offense.

Advantages of the Box Offense

The first advantage of the box offense is that it is relatively easy to teach.  Just about every set offense is simple to teach, but this one takes it to a new level.  The box offense has pre-sets and sets that can be learned quickly and many variations that players can figure out fast.

Second, the box offense allows for post ups and post entry throughout the entirety of the offense.  The pre-sets and the sets are designed to get the ball into the post.  This helps the offense score more points because those teams that are able to get post penetration are more likely to score and less likely to come away with empty possessions.

Finally, the box offense runs many of the offensive maneuvers a team will see during the course of the season.  By having exposure to the variety of maneuvers that a team will face on defense, teams that run the box offense will be prepared for the season ahead.  This is because when teams scrimmage with the box offense, they see the offensive maneuvers on a daily basis so nothing that opposing teams in games run will be anything new or different..

Disadvantages of the Box Offense

One major disadvantage of the box offense is that it can become predictable.  The way in which this offense can become predictable is that since it is normally a set-play offense, other teams can easily scout the offense.  Those teams that can figure out the offense have the best chance of stopping it.

Another disadvantage of the box offense is that it requires a particular type of personnel.  The personnel required is a three-around-two type personnel.  This means that three players must be perimeter-type players while the other two players will primarily play in the post.

Box Offense Pre-Sets

In the box offense, we will run four pre-sets that will all have the same look at the start.  The point guard will have the ball in the middle of the floor while #'s 2 and 3 start on the low blocks and #'s 4 and 5 start at the elbows (Diagram 1).


Diagram 1

The first pre-set shown is called "Pop".  Here, #'s 2 and 3 will pop to the wings on their respective sides and look to get the basketball.  This pre-set favors the wings as far as their getting the basketball is concerned.


Diagram 2

The second pre-set is called "Down" and, like "Pop", is designed to get the ball into the hands of our wing players.  #'s 4 and 5 will set down screens for #'s 3 and 2 respectively as they cut to the wings on their respective sides (Diagram 3).  After the cutters come off of their screens, #'s 4 and 5 will come high to the elbows on their respective sides and look to get the basketball.


Diagram 3

The third pre-set that we run is called "Cross".  Like the two previous pre-sets, the pre-set is designed to get the wings open to receive the basketball.  When the pre-set is called, #'s 2 and 3 will cross low and come off of down screens set by #'s 4 and 5 respectively (Diagram 4).  Once the wings have come off of the screens, #'s 4 and 5 will come high to the elbows on their respective sides.


Diagram 4

Finally, the last pre-set that I will show is geared towards the big men and is called "Kentucky".  Here, #'s 2 and #3 will rub off of the big men on their respective sides in an effort to get them open (Diagram 5).  The rub must be between the man and the ball and it is designed to clear away any man defending the big men.  The cut off of the big men will result in the wing players coming to the wings on their starting sides.


Diagram 5

Box Offense into 1-4 High Offense

All of the pre-sets for the set plays out of the box offense are run from a 1-4 high set (Diagram 6).  We have the posts set up just below the free throw line-extended and the wings above the free throw line-extended.  This set up is designed to give us a better chance of getting back doors should we enter the ball into the high post.


Diagram 6

Post Entry

The main play in the box offense has a variety of ways to run the offense.  The first entry is to hit the post with a pass (Diagram 7).  Whenever we pass the ball to the high post, we look to hit the backdoor cut first.


Diagram 7

If the backdoor is not open, we continue the play.  The cutter will come off of a down screen by the help-side post as shown in Diagram 8.  The post can pass to either the cutter in the corner or hit the screener on the high-low duck-in.


Diagram 8

When the ball is passed to the corner, the ball can then be passed into the low post (Diagram 9).


Diagram 9

Should those passes not be available, the other wing cuts through the middle of the lane looking for the ball (Diagram 10).  If he does not receive the ball, he will go through to the ball-side corner.  Meanwhile, the point guard spots up at the help-side slot and gets in the sight of the post.


Diagram 10

Wing Option

Another option that we have is the entry pass to the wing.  Because most of our entries favor entry to the wing, this is the most-frequently run play in the box offense.  When the ball is entered to the wing, the ball-side post drops to the low post while the help-side post sets a back screen for the point guard (Diagram 11).  The wing can pass to either the post or the cutter off of the back screen.


Diagram 11

If neither pass is available, the player setting the screen in the high post steps out and receives the ball from the wing (Diagram 12).  His first look is to hit the other post on the high-low duck-in.


Diagram 12

If the ball cannot be passed, we have a pressure release that can be executed.  The wing dribbles at the high post and forces the backdoor (Diagram 13).  If the backdoor is not there, the pass is made to the opposite wing.


Diagram 13


Diagram 14

If the pass is made to the high post from the wing, we will work a back screen with the wing and the point guard (Diagram 15).  We can either hit the cutter off of the back screen or hit the screener coming to the wing.


Diagram 15

If the pass cannot be made, we will run a pressure release.  The player screening and popping to the wing will cut backdoor and the player who came off of the back screen will work up the lane line before popping to the wing (Diagram 16).  We will run this pressure release until someone comes open.


Diagram 16

Once the ball has been reversed from wing to wing, we will run screen the screener action (Diagram 17).  The wing will screen away for the low post and the high post will set a down screen for the wing.


Diagram 17

Once we have completed running the play, we will get back into a three-around-two look (Diagram 18).  From here, we can bring the posts high and try to run the post option or get into another offense.


Diagram 18

Dribble Entry

Another way to get into the offense off of the pre-set is the use of the dribble entry.  This is typically run if we cannot enter the basketball to either the wing or the post on the pass.  Here, the point guard dribbles out the wing and looks to set up a possible backdoor (Diagram 19).  If the backdoor is not open, the point guard must keep his dribble alive.


Diagram 19

Diagram 20 shows what can happen if the backdoor is not available.  The ball-side post rolls to the ball-side low post and the help-side post steps across his man and comes to the high post.  From here, the offense is run the same as if we were running the wing option which is detailed in Diagrams 21-23.


Diagram 20


Diagram 21

Diagram 22


Diagram 23

Box Offense Audibles

To keep the defense off balance with our set offense from the box offense, we oftentimes use variations of the offense so that we can run other plays and take better advantage of our personnel.  The set offense as presented earlier is an auto for us.  We will call audibles to take advantage of our personnel and we have counters for whatever the defense tries to take away.  Here are a couple of those audibles.

The first audible is called "Pinch".  Here, the play starts similar to the post entry that is run as the main play in the box offense with the backdoor off of post entry (Diagram 24) and the down screen for the cutter with the duck-in (Diagram 25).  However, unlike the main play, there is a throw over to the help-side wing can also be made.


Diagram 24


Diagram 25

When running the pinch post, we will look to hand the ball off to the point guard from the high post (Diagram 26).  The point guard will look to shoot or attack the rim off the dribble.


Diagram 26

If we are unsuccessful in getting the handoff (Diagram 27), the point guard will pop back to the ball-side wing and look to receive the pass back from the high post (Diagram 28).


Diagram 27


Diagram 28

If the ball is thrown back to the wing off of the pinch post play, we will run a side pick-and-roll (Diagram 29).  The player who started as the help-side wing comes up to the help-side slot before the ball screen is set.  The point guard has several attack options with the ability to drive to the basket and/or dump the ball off to the other four players.


Diagram 29

"Gator"

In lieu of the wing option, we will run an audible called "Gator".  The play starts with the point guard making a pass to the wing and cutting to the ball-side corner (Diagram 30).  The ball-side post will set a screen for the help-side post who will come over the top looking for the ball from the wing.  The help-side wing will move to the help-side low post area.


Diagram 30

If we are unable to enter the ball to the low post, we will pass to the high post (Diagram 31).  The help-side wing will pop back to the wing on his side and look to receive the reversal from the high post.
 


Diagram 31

Once the reversal is completed, the low post will set a back screen for the wing opposite the ball (Diagram 32).  We will look to hit the cutter making the shuffle cut.


Diagram 32

If the shuffle cut is not open, the play continues with two actions as shown in Diagram 33.  The first of these is that the player who set the back screen will flash to the ball-side high post.  The other is that the post player in the high post will set a down screen for the player in the corner opposite the ball.


Diagram 33

After #1 comes off of the down screen set by #5, #5 will set a down screen for #2 (Diagram 34).  If the ball is swung to #1, he can pass the ball to #2 at the wing or hit #5 on the slip.


Diagram 34

"Gator" Counters

When we run "Gator", there will be moments where we cannot execute certain parts of the play.  When this happens we have a number of counters that we can execute.  The first of these is the dive option somewhat similar to what happens in the basic box offense play (Diagram 35).  When we run the dive option, we are looking to hit the high post on the backdoor.


Diagram 35

If we are unsuccessful in hitting the backdoor, the help-side wing will pop to the wing position on his side and receive the pass from the player dribbling on the dive counter (Diagram 36).  Once he receives the ball, the high post player replaces the low post who will then side a side ball screen (Diagram 37).


Diagram 36


Diagram 37

If we are not able to make the pass from the point man to the feeder in "Gator", we will look to hit the feeder for a backdoor by faking high then cutting backdoor (Diagram 38).  If that pass is not available, the player starting as the ball-side wing will set a down screen for the player in the corner for a jump shot (Diagram 39).


Diagram 38


Diagram 39

Dribble Option from "Gator"

The second of the two options to enter into "Gator" is the dribble option.  It is run the same way as the dribble entry into the main set play in the box offense.  In Diagram 40, the point guard dribbles to the wing and forces the backdoor to come open.  If that is not there, the ball-side post will screen away for the help-side post, the help-side wing will go to the help-side low post, and the ball-side wing will cut to the ball-side corner (Diagram 41).


Diagram 40


Diagram 41

From this point, the rest of "Gator" can be run.  Diagrams 42-45 illustrate the remainder of "Gator" with all of the action shown and described earlier in the article.


Diagram 42


Diagram 43

Diagram 44


Diagram 45

Quick Hitters from the Box Set

If we decide that we do not want to run a set offense or a pre-set within the box offense, we can use this opportunity to run some quick-hitting plays.  All of these plays are designed to get our best players shots within the set.

The first play is called "Strong" (Diagram 46).  On this play, #1 will pick a side and dribble to the wing while #2 sets a cross screen for #3.  Coming off of the cross screen, #3 will look to post up on the ball-side low block while #2 will come off of a double-down screen set by #'s 4 and 5.

The complimentary play to this is called "Weak" (Diagram 47).  We will have the same dribble-entry action looking to post up #2 instead of #3.  Because we post #2, #3 will come through the double-down screen.


Diagram 46


Diagram 47

The next quick hitter is called "Flare" and can go either way.  Here, #1 will pass to either post and the opposite post will set a flare screen (Diagram 48).  On the entry, the wing player on that side will pop to the ball-side corner to clear out for the rest of the action on the play.

If the post is able to get the ball back to the point guard off of the flare screen, we will run screen-the-screener action with the remaining wing player setting a back screen for the post player who received the post entry pass from the point guard before receiving a down screen from the player who set the flare screen (Diagram 49).


Diagram 48


Diagram 49

The last quick hitter I will present is a play from Larry Brown called "Winner".  The play runs in two parts and can result in a three-point shot or an immediate post-up for an easy two.

In Diagram 50, the point guard will dribble the ball to a side and get a high ball screen from either post.  The post who does not set the ball screen will come off of a stagger double set by #'s 2 and 3 and look for the post entry pass from #1.

Should the post entry pass not be available, #'s 4 and 5 will set down screens for #'s 2 and 3 respectively (Diagram 51).  Here, we will look for the three point shot in the corner or at the top of the key.  We can also pass to the posts slipping to the basket after setting the down screens if the defense switches.


Diagram 50


Diagram 51

Teaching the Box Offense

When teaching the box offense, it is always best to teach the offense whole method.  Breakdown drills can always be incorporated, but it is always best to start with teaching the offense five-on-zero before doing any breakdown drills or running the offense against a live defense.   Only when the whole offense is mastered should there be any exposure to a live defense or any breakdown drills teaching parts of the offense.

RETURN TO MEMBERSHIP AREA

© 2010-2017 Alan Peel Enterprises