The Flexible “Motion Offense” as a Core Basketball Strategy

By Craig Raucher

Introduction

Craig Raucher leverages skills gained during an executive career in the transportation industry to lead the Brooklyn/Staten Island Athletic League. As director, he guides a competitive amateur basketball league that includes many former high school and college standouts. As part of his strategy, Craig Raucher emphasizes teamwork-focused fundamentals of the game such as coordinated offensive passing and shooting.

Motion Defense

One of the most flexible and intuitive types of offensive setups is the “motion offense,” which was popularized by long time Indiana State coach Bob Knight. Instead of running a series of set plays, players operate within a unified system of rules that incorporates proper passing and cutting, screen setting, and floor spacing techniques. With this coordinated system in place, players are able to quickly move into open areas of the court and take advantage of transitions

Conclusion

Ideally, with five equally talented team members, all players on the court can rotate or switch into any position, which keeps opponents guessing what is coming next. A key to the success of this approach is to avoid bunching players too closely, which leads to the possibility of turnovers due to interceptions, steals, and double-teaming.