Big Spacing & Middle Man Decisions
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Early this year we had a tremendous conversation on the podcast with Converse University Head Coach, Nick Pasqua 🎙, and in what has become one of the most popular episodes in 2024, we openly discussed some hard hitting topics like being fired, difficult paths in coaching, becoming comfortable in your own skin, and the perseverance needed to break through in a tough business. In addition to those subjects, during our “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” segment, we wandered into a tantalizing part of Coach Pasqua’s offense, which was how he combines the great “Euro Ballscreen Continuity” with “Princeton Offense” to create a unique hybrid motion.
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After our conversation we just had to dig a little deeper, so we asked Coach Pasqua back to join us for a “Film Room” session on SGTV to dive into his installation, insights, and teaching points behind the offense that he calls “structured but random.” And share he did…
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In Part 1 of this 2-Part series, Coach Pasqua generously introduces us to all parts of the offense including:
- The 4 and 5 “tandem” spacing and rules
- Converse’s “Trips” concepts and the actions they will play out of it
These are two fundamental building blocks that allow the offense to maintain its alignments and dictate which offensive concepts they will use.
4 & 5 “Tandem” Spacing
The ability to quickly recognize and reorganize into preferred alignments (stay tuned for more on this in Part 2) is the cornerstone that allows Converse to toggle between ballscreen continuity and Princeton actions. This “alignment recognition” enables the offense to “stay random” and maintain flow through the middle of possessions without having to stop, back it out, and reset. Therefore, key to creating the floor balance and these alignments is the spacing and synergy between the 4’s & 5’s.
As Coach Pasqua highlights in our session, their offense is essentially always looking to get to “Trips” spacing on either the strong or weak side of the floor. To create these situations, the 4 and 5 must work in unison, never being on the same side of the basketball line and more or less maintaining a “high-low” relationship with each other.
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*Note: Above is an example of Converse playing in what would be considered “Euro Ballscreen” Motion, characterized by continuous empty ballscreen action on one side, with a trips alignment set on the other. For much more on Euro Ballscreen Motion you can watch our 2-Part Series HERE {🔒} and HERE {🔒}.
Zooming In: In the example above, when both the 4 and 5 find themselves on the same side of the floor, the 5-man corrects the floor balance by switching sides as the 4-man flows into an empty-side ball screen. This action triggers the 5-man to lift to the elbow, creating space should the 4-man roll, and forming their “Trips” on the opposite side. Converse then flows into their “UCLA” Screen action on the backside (more on that later).
Zooming In 2.0: Referring still to the example above, instead of flowing into the empty-side PNR, the 4-Man could have played to the left side of the floor, creating the “Trips” alignment and triggering one of their (many) concepts. In this situation, and as shown below, the 5-Man would have held his position on the same side of the floor before lifting to the elbow to free the rim and play to the next action.
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*Note: This constant “freeing of the rim” by the 4’s and 5’s is a sneaky good part of what Mark Pope and BYU did so well last season. We highlighted that concept deeper HERE {🔒}.
With the 4 & 5 constantly playing a “2-Man” game within the possession, Coach Pasqua’s offense can always get to an empty-side ballscreen or their “Trips” spacing.
As Coach Pasqua has continued to adapt this offense to the strengths of different teams, particularly when playing with 4 Guards around 1 Big, he will have the sole big pop on most middle third ballscreens to maintain their floor balance and ensure his offense can transition to the next action smoothly. Coach Pasqua has found if they roll the big and no scoring solution presents itself, the offense struggles to find their next alignment to play out of. Additionally, as we detailed in our recent breakdown on the “Get” Rescreen {🔒}, the middle third ball screen can create a lot of clutter for the ball handler when the big is rolling at the same time, so the pop keeps the paint free or forces the defensive big to be late on the next action.
Additionally, when playing with 4 Guards he has incorporated Princeton “Snap” action or flares to solve poor floor balance and create their “Trips” action (again stay tuned for more on this next week in Part 2)…
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Middle Man Decisions
With their alignments established and their preference to play to “Trips”, Coach Pasqua aims to introduce randomness into their actions and steer away from solely running the “Burn 45, Corner Fill, Burn 45, Corner Fill…” sequences. To achieve this outcome, he assigns the responsibility to the “45 Man” or “Middle Man” in the “Trips” to call out the intended action. This approach adds a layer of unpredictability to their offense, with each call triggering a structured quick hitting action, but the defense remains uncertain about which action the offense will play to. As Coach Pasqua discusses in the video, a vital component to achieving the “Randomness” is for the 45 Man to observe which action unfolded previously and avoid playing to the same action again.
In Part 1, we detail Coach Pasqua’s UCLA Screen and Shallow Cut calls…
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Zooming In: Shown above, and covered in our “Film Room” session, Coach Pasqua speaks on the teaching points of the Bigs receiving the UCLA screen and emphasizes how they must “Win the Race” off the screen.
As for the Shallow Cut, we discuss how this action allows Converse to seamlessly flow into a variety of “Princeton” actions…
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Zooming In: In the clip above, Converse is “playing small” and in more of a 4 guard lineup, thus creating a “Trips” with 3 Guards. Knowing the UCLA Screen is better suited for a big in the slot position, the middle man calls out the Shallow Cut. From this position, the offense can play directly into a Step Up Screen or to the Princeton Pinch.
With the offense able to transition seamlessly between different spacing configurations and the middle man triggering various actions, the groundwork is laid for each possession to be completely random, toggling between ballscreen and Princeton concepts.
To expand upon these teaching points including:
- Filling to Score
- Pinch or Pick Decision?
- Big Men using the Dribble
- Attacking Unders
- And much more…
View Part 1 now on SGTV!
