'Dribble drive' offense transforms basketball

ATLANTA — John Calipari admits that when it comes to coaching basketball, he used to be pretty old school. He learned from Larry Brown, who learned from Dean Smith, who learned from Phog Allen. It doesn't get any more old school than that.

"I was like a classroom teacher who had basically been using the same lesson plan for over a dozen years," said Calipari, the head coach at Memphis. "Then one day something comes along and inspires you and reinvigorates you."

That something is the "dribble drive motion offense" that Calipari learned, modified and installed just three seasons ago. The results have been pretty good. Going into tonight's NCAA South Regional semifinal game against Michigan State, Memphis is 101-9 (35-1 this season) since Calipari installed the offense.

What is the dribble drive motion offense?

Let's just say that what the spread offense has done for college football (see Appalachian State over Michigan), Calipari and others believe this system can do for college basketball. It is, when run properly, the great equalizer for teams that have speed and shooters but not height. It is, proponents say, the Next Big Thing in the sport.

"The dribble drive is like the spread offense in football because it uses speed to put a lot of pressure on a defense," basketball analyst Larry Conley said. "One of the toughest things to do in basketball is to guard a good ball-handler off the dribble. This offense forces a defense to do that."

And, like the spread offense in football, the dribble drive has quickly filtered down to high schools.

Wheeler, one of the highest-scoring teams in Georgia this past season, employed it with great success. Wheeler advanced to the state Class AAAAA championship game before losing to Norcross 57-54.

"If you've got the right parts, it can be very effective," Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb said. "You have to find guys who can beat people off the dribble. If you don't have those, you can't run this offense. But if you do, it can be hard to stop."

The offense had humble beginnings. It was developed by Vance Walberg, a successful high school and junior college coach on the West Coast. Calipari made three trips to learn it from Walberg, who was 133-11 in four seasons at Fresno City College.

How popular has this offense become? Calipari and Walberg gave a clinic last year and more than 400 coaches showed up. Calipari expects that number to double the next time they hold a clinic.

Why is it so popular?

It can be as simple as a player dribbling past a defender for an uncontested layup. Or it can be as complex as a quarterback coming to the line of scrimmage with an unlimited number of options to change the play.

Here are the basics:

The offense begins with four players stationed around the 3-point line. The post man, who would be located at the top or the bottom of the free-throw lane in a conventional offense, plays away from the ball in order to give the ball-handler a lane to the basket. Each player on the perimeter has to have the ability to dribble and get to the basket.

"Bob Knight's motion offense is based on passing and screening," ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said. "Pete Carril's offense [at Princeton] was based on passing and cutting. I think passing has become a lost art. This offense takes advantage of what today's players do best, and that is dribble and drive to the basket."

The offense begins when a player gets the ball on the perimeter and looks directly at his defender. If the defender backs off to protect the drive, the player takes the 3-point shot. If the defender guards him closely, the player dribbles to the lane. If he can't get to the basket for the layup, he has several options. He can kick the ball outside for a 3-point shot, he can find the big man, who should be open because his defender left to help on the ball, or he can pass to a teammate and the process can start all over again.

"When the offense is run right, the ball-handler should be able to close his eyes and know where the open man is," Calipari said. "People think it's all freelance. It's not. There is a lot of decision-making going on. There are a lot of options on every play."

More and more schools are going to this offense, said Fraschilla, because conventional big men are few and far between.

"If you've got a Roy Hibbert [Georgetown] or Tyler Hansbrough [North Carolina], that's great," Fraschilla said. "But those guys are rare. But there are a lot of medium-sized guys out there who can handle the ball."

The offense is far from foolproof. If a team does not shoot the 3-pointer well, defenses will simply sag back to stop the drives to the basket.

In Memphis' only loss of the season, 66-62 to Tennessee on Feb. 23, the Tigers hit five of their first eight 3-pointer attempts. But Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl stuck with alternating between man-to-man and zone defenses, believing that Memphis would not stay hot from behind the arc. He was right. Memphis missed 16 of its next 19 3-point shots.

"When Memphis is shooting the ball well from the perimeter, it's going to be very difficult to beat them because their guys are so good off the dribble," Pearl said. "You just can't let them get into the lane. You'll definitely get beat if you do that."

Tony Barnhart writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: tbarnhart AT ajc.com

Staff writer Todd Holcomb contributed to this article.