I'm losing most of my perimeter scoring to graduation and don't have a great replacement plan in place (yet...I'm only in season 2 of coaching). I currently run the Flex at slow tempo but given my lack of returning perimeter scoring, I think I need a more-low post focused game plan for next season. Is Triangle the best offense to use for low post? Or should I keep with Flex and just turn down the 3-point frequency for my players?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

https://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=6657

Personally I wouldn't switch offenses just because I'm losing a lot of PER players, it takes 2-3 seasons to get everyone up to speed on a new offense so it won't help you next year anyway. I think your idea of turning down 3-point frequency is a good one. If you like or are successful at recruiting players for Flex (high PER, SPD, BH) then stick to it, having a down year is unavoidable sometimes.

Changing offense/defense is a long term commitment, not something I recommend every year or two. Recruit players for your program, don't change the program for your players. That said, if you want to run a different style, early in your tenure is a good time to switch.

Everyone seems to have a little different take on what attributes are more important for each set. You get a feel for what works for you after a few seasons. Consensus seems to be that flex does emphasize and utilize per scoring a little better than others. So if you stick with flex, you'll want to find some more players with an outside jump shot. Generally speaking, at D3 I leave 3pt settings at -2 unless a player is either above 70 per, or above 50 per with a 170 speed/bh/per combo. I'll make exceptions based on individual matchups on a game-by-game basis.

If you switch to triangle, you'll still want to have some perimeter shooting. But triangle also utilizes LP and pass more, ath/spd/bh a little less than the others. Motion and fast break are, IMO, more about playmaking, so emphasize ath/spd/bh above the LP/per/pass.

Stick with Flex and recruit at least 1 shooter. You don't NEED per to be successful btw, even in Flex. I had some good teams with Ramapo with very little Per but I had superior ath/spd.

But what's going on with your defense? You have good defensive IQ in M2M and decent in Press but you're playing zone. Are you trying to switch to zone? If so, I'd still continue playing M2M or Press until you have better IQ in Zone. Or go with M2M/Press combo.

One of the biggest misnomers (big word, I know ;) ) is that you have to be good at 3 point shooting to be a perimeter offense. Any 50-80 perimeter shooter can be effective in the Flex at -2. Especially at Div III.

I agree. Don't change offenses or defenses. It's easier to change teams than to change either one of those.

And to be honest, your team takes way too many 3's.

Posted by mobbish on 2/28/2017 11:49:00 AM (view original):
I'm losing most of my perimeter scoring to graduation and don't have a great replacement plan in place (yet...I'm only in season 2 of coaching). I currently run the Flex at slow tempo but given my lack of returning perimeter scoring, I think I need a more-low post focused game plan for next season. Is Triangle the best offense to use for low post? Or should I keep with Flex and just turn down the 3-point frequency for my players?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

https://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=6657

If you have good perimeter lets just say 70 and above is when I go +2 the whole season. You can have good perimeter and still go to the paint and shoot 2's. Good perimeter doesn't always mean you have to shoot threes. It means his range if its 70 and above are good for shooting threes the whole game.

I run Triangle with my Miles team and I have had success with a 9 man lineup and won a championship with a 9 man lineup. It is ran through the small forward as a first option. You can run it through the back court if you have good perimeter 60-70 +1 and 70 and above +2 .

Don't change your team offense just yet. You haven't learned anything about offense/defense yet. I would say triangle/motion/flex in that order are the best offense and run with a 10 man lineup. I haven't ran motion yet in 3.0 but did in 2.0 but had lack of success due to my conference in play.

Posted by Benis on 2/28/2017 1:02:00 PM (view original):
Stick with Flex and recruit at least 1 shooter. You don't NEED per to be successful btw, even in Flex. I had some good teams with Ramapo with very little Per but I had superior ath/spd.

But what's going on with your defense? You have good defensive IQ in M2M and decent in Press but you're playing zone. Are you trying to switch to zone? If so, I'd still continue playing M2M or Press until you have better IQ in Zone. Or go with M2M/Press combo.

I'm trying to slowly switch over to zone, figuring that the DEF of most of my starters was too low to be successful at M2M. Sounds like I might be better served playing M2M as the IQ on zone gets higher, though.

Posted by mobbish on 2/28/2017 2:11:00 PM (view original):

Posted by Benis on 2/28/2017 1:02:00 PM (view original):
Stick with Flex and recruit at least 1 shooter. You don't NEED per to be successful btw, even in Flex. I had some good teams with Ramapo with very little Per but I had superior ath/spd.

But what's going on with your defense? You have good defensive IQ in M2M and decent in Press but you're playing zone. Are you trying to switch to zone? If so, I'd still continue playing M2M or Press until you have better IQ in Zone. Or go with M2M/Press combo.

I'm trying to slowly switch over to zone, figuring that the DEF of most of my starters was too low to be successful at M2M. Sounds like I might be better served playing M2M as the IQ on zone gets higher, though.

I agree wait until your zone Iq's are at B or B+ and higher.

Make sure you understand zone def and how to use it effective. It took my almost 15 seasons to be really effective with it. When to switch from 2-3 to 3-2, when to doubleteam, who to play at SF. For a newbie it might get frustrating. PM me if you have any questions.

Stick with flex. Give more distro to your good players, and you just naturally will shoot less 3s.

That's what I've done too. Supposedly flex will have a lot of similarities to "motion" which works welll with multiple scorers. Just get the ball to your top 3 or 4 and let it roll.

Posted by all2matt on 2/28/2017 11:01:00 PM (view original):
That's what I've done too. Supposedly flex will have a lot of similarities to "motion" which works welll with multiple scorers. Just get the ball to your top 3 or 4 and let it roll.

Yeah, flex is a mixture of triangle and motion.