Dribble drive motion

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The Dribble drive motion, or Memphis attack, is a basketball offensive strategy invented by former Pepperdine University basketball coach Vance Walberg and popularized by University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari. The offense focuses on spreading the offensive players in the half court set, such that the point guard can drive through the defensive gaps for a layup or dunk, or kick out to the perimeter if the defense collapses on the driving guard.[1] The offense is also known by various other names, including the AASAA offense (for attack, attack, skip, attack, attack), the Walberg offense, three or key and "Princeton on steroids". [2][3]

[edit] Basic principles

As devised by Walberg, the Dribble drive motion offense is predicated on some basic principles. Like the Princeton offense, it is a "four-out" offense. That is, only one "post" player (generally the center) plays under the basket, while the other four players play the "perimeter", outside of the three-point line. Unlike the Princeton offense, which is built upon passing to players who cut towards the basket, the Memphis offense uses a player (usually the point guard) to dribble-drive towards the basket. Depending on the response of the defense, the driving player can either take a lay-up, pass to the post player to shoot, or "kick-out" pass to one of the perimeter players. If the ball is returned to the perimeter, the player that receives the pass either takes a three-point shot, or dribble-drives to the basket themselves, restarting the entire process.[4][5]

The offense uses no set plays, and instead relies on the speed and decision making of its players, primarily the point guard. "I feel we're teaching kids how to play basketball instead of how to run plays" says Walberg of his offense.[4] Coaches that rely upon the offense, such as Wahlberg himself, as well as Memphis coach John Calipari, do most of their coaching work in practices rather than games. Calipari himself has changed his coaching style greatly to adapt to the Dribble drive motion style of play.[4]

[edit] History

In 1997, Vance Walberg invented the offense, which he named the AASAA, or "attack-attack-skip-attack-attack", while at Clovis West High School in Clovis, California. While coaching at Clovis West, Walberg created the offense to take advantage of the skill set of his point guard Chris Hernandez, later the starting point guard at Stanford. After several years of tweaking the system, he brought it with him to Fresno City College, where he coached from 2002–2006.[4]

While at dinner with Memphis coach John Calipari in October, 2003, he described the basic principles of the offense.[4] Calipari would implement the offense for the 2005–2006 season at Memphis, for which it is sometimes known as the Memphis attack offense.[5] Ever since he implemented the dribble-drive motion offense, John Calipari has taken the Memphis Tigers to great success. His Tigers made 3 consecutive Elite Eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and even made it to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game in 2008. That same season, Calipari's Tigers set an NCAA single-season record for most victories in a season with 38 wins. Based upon his success, by the 2007–2008 basketball season, at least 224 junior high, high school, college, and professional teams were using some form of the Dribble drive motion offense.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ DeCourcy, Mike (2007-08-20). Pepperdine's offense is a recruiting tool, too.
  2. ^ bruchu (2007-07-07). Small Ball Revolution, Memphis Attack.
  3. ^ Katz, Andy (2007-09-19). Calipari committed to turning Memphis into legit contender.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wahl, Grant (2008-02-18). "Fast and Furious". Sports Illustrated 108 (7): 49–56. Time Inc.. 
  5. ^ a b DeCourcy, Mike (2008-01-18). Breaking down Memphis' dribble-drive motion. The Sporting News. NBC Universal. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.