Circular Logic: Why the Lakers' Offense Should Use More Than Just the Triangle

If you've paid any attention to the NBA in the past two decades, then you certainly must have heard the term "triangle offense." It's merely the playbook that coach Phil Jackson has utilized to collect 11 championship rings.

They say you can't argue with success, and the Zen Master's numbers speak for themselves. Yet, I believe it's high time for a change in philosophy. Watching last year's NBA Finals slugfest between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, it was crystal clear that the Lakers won because of defense and rebounding, not offensive precision.

The triangle wasn't good enough, and the Lakers were fortunate to come out on top. (It hurts me to say this, but it's the truth.)

I'm not recommending Phil scrap the triangle. Not only would that be an unforgivable insult to venerable coach Tex Winter, the architect of the offense, but it does also remains a useful weapon.

However, it shouldn't be the only weapon. James Bond never saved the world with just a handgun.

What exactly is the triangle?

Although delving into the triangle's complexity is another article for another day, maybe I should provide a little background on the offense, demystify it before I explain why it's not some mythically perfect basketball set.

Simply put, the triangle offense is predicated on providing optimal spacing for your skilled scorers, allowing them to maximize opportunities to put the ball in the bucket.

Furthermore, the beauty of the triangle resides in its fluidity. It presents myriad ways to attack a defense, depending on what the opponent decides to take away. Within the triangle every move has a counter, every cut a rotation, and it's up to smart offensive players to make the right reads.

Theoretically, the triangle is supposed to work under any circumstances, against anybody. But it's not that straightforward. In reality, the triangle is reliant upon elite perimeter shot-makers like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. Otherwise it is susceptible to stagnation. Since there are few screens, on-ball or away from the action, there is no guarantee that players will come open or find themselves favorable mismatches.

As we've seen in the past couple years, it is often up to Kobe to take advantage of the space created by the triangle and use his superior talent to score. In essence, it is often up to Bryant to bail them out.

The inconstant efficacy of the triangle offense was never more apparent than when the Lakers' bench was on the court. If the athletic subs (Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar, etc.) weren't getting easy baskets in transition, they regularly struggled to get good shots.

If the Lakers had other sets, such as flex motion or double baseline screens to free up shooters or even  basic pick and rolls, they could make life much easier for themselves and more difficult on opponents. Outstanding defensive teams like the Celtics couldn't zero in on stopping the triangle, and the Lakers could exploit different matchups.

Plus, Kobe's getting older and more banged up, so it would be nice if he didn't need to work as hard.

So why wouldn't Jackson make any changes to the Lakers' offense this preseason? It's not as if he'd be overhauling the system; in fact, a couple new sets would be relatively easy to implement.

It all goes back to Phil-osophy. The triangle offense is an extension of Jackson's belief that players need to figure things out for themselves. For example, he is notorious for refusing to call timeouts during tough stretches of a game, instead forcing his players to adjust and work through their problems.

Phil is also a master of managing complicated personalities—the egos of Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe and the wackiness of Rodman and Artest, to name a few—and the triangle is the ultimate offensive test of chemistry and trust. (You could see its failure in the Lakers' 2004 Finals loss to the Pistons, when Jackson had arguably his most talented team ever.)

Moreover, under the current system Phil is able to relax on the sidelines with his trademark bemused countenance rather than constantly barking directions.

So the Lakers will probably run nothing but the triangle offense this season, and they might win another championship doing it. But I promise the road would be easier if they became a little more geometrically diverse.