Toy Story, The Godfather, Home Alone, The Bourne Identity… some of Hollywood’s greatest films just begged for a sequel (or trilogy!) Last week’s Part 1 of Converse University Head Coach, Nick Pasqua’s 🎙, “Hybrid Ballscreen/Princeton Continuity” is already one of the most popular/viewed breakdowns of the year on SGTV. We don’t have a high level executive demanding we send Woody and Buzz out on another adventure, but what we do have is a bunch more of additional material to build on last week’s pairing of Euro Ballscreen and Princeton concepts within Coach Pasqua’s offense.
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In Part 1, we discussed how his offense spaces with two bigs to maintain their “tandem” alignment as well as the role the middle man within their “Trips” actions plays in signaling which action they’ll play to next. Today, we will see how the various “Trips” actions contribute to the desired randomness within a single possession and the major role the Princeton Offense plays in maintaining pace and flow during the middle of possessions.
Structured…but Random
To begin Part 2, we open our Film Session with Coach Pasqua discussing their “Chase” action (following the ball for a potential DHO) out of the “Trips” alignment…
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With several different actions defined in “Trips,” Coach Pasqua equips his offense to seamlessly move from one “Trips” sequence to another, ensuring the offense always “shuffles the deck” and doesn’t repeat the same sequence within possessions. Above was “Chase” followed by a PNR “Hi-Low” look, and below is that same “Chase” action instead flowing into a Pinch Post catch and “0 Cut” finish…
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Maintaining Flow
The challenge within any offensive possession is maintaining flow from one action to another. As discussed last week, we focused heavily on the role the bigs play in spacing off one another to create the necessary alignments for their offense to continually establish “Trips” and string together multiple actions at pace. As Coach Pasqua has evolved and adapted the offense over time, a great unlock in all of these actions was finding a way to play with four perimeter players around one offensive big, instead of always two. This is where some of the Princeton concepts have helped unlock the overall flow and return to “Trips” spacing when needed.
In playing more “4 Out” and without a partner big to fill behind or roll/replace off a ballscreen, the offense can get stuck in unfamiliar alignments. To keep things fluid and put them back into a familiar alignment, Coach Pasqua began using more of the Princeton “Snap” action.
Possessions are won and lost in the middle. Playing to the Princeton “Snap” or Pinch, Coach Pasqua has found solutions to fix possessions without having to back things up and reset. Understanding this value, to finish out our “Film Session,” Coach Pasqua talks us through his 5v0 “Scramble” Drill, which he uses, especially early in the year, to teach his players how to recognize alignments and flow into their offensive concepts.
To learn and view more on the Princeton “Snap” and Coach Pasqua’s “Scramble” Drill, become an SG Plus Member to gain access to the complete “Film Room” session on SGTV!