A motion offense is a category of offensive scheme used in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Motion offenses use player movement, often as a strategy to exploit the quickness of the offensive team or to neutralize a size advantage of the defense. Motion offenses are different from continuity offenses in that they follow no fixed repeating pattern. Instead, a motion offense is free-flowing and relatively unrestricted, though following a set of rules. Some examples of basic rules that are commonly used are: * Pass and screen away: Players pass to one side of the court and seek to screen for players on the opposite side of the court. The hope is to create spacing and driving lanes to the basket. * Back screen: Players in the key seek to screen players on the wing and open them up for basket cuts. * Flare screen: Player without the ball on the perimeter seeks to set a screen (usually near the elbow area of the lane) for another player without the ball at the top of the key area.

Bob Knight's version

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

was influential in the development of the motion offense. He enjoyed success for over 40 years as the head coach of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, and

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, recording 902 total victories. Knight's motion offense did not truly come to fruition until his time at Indiana. Prior to that, as head coach of

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, he ran a "reverse action" offense. This offense involved reversing the ball from one side of the floor to the other, and screening along with it. According to Knight, it was a "West Coast offense" that

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Unive ...

used during his coaching career. After watching the

Princeton offense The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy which emphasizes constant motion, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril, though its roots m ...

for years while still at West Point, Knight went to the Olympic trials in 1972 to learn about the passing game. With Newell's help, he was able to further develop his offense. Instead of relying on set plays, Knight's offense is designed to react to the defense. His motion emphasized post players setting screens and perimeter players passing the ball until a teammate becomes open for an uncontested

lay-up A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, "laying" the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jum ...

or jump shot. Players are required to be unselfish and disciplined and must be effective in setting and using screens to get open. Bob Knight won all three of his NCAA Championships as Indiana's head coach, in 1976, 1981, and 1987.

References

External links

The Many 'Motions' of Offense

Half Court Sets with Motion Offense

Continuity Offense

Motion Offense
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motion Offense Basketball strategy Basketball terminology

Bob Knight's version

See also

References

External links