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Calipari's four-out offense (Memphis dribble-drive)

With the 2019-20 roster now set in stone, much has been made of what the offensive strategy will be. The common catch phrase has been small ball. Although many college coaches would argue whether Kentucky will actually have a small lineup, the chances are pretty good that they won't have two bruisers patrolling the paint as they did last season with P.J. Washington and Reid Travis.

For starters, I'm not totally convinced that it will be all four and five-out offense. I'm sure John Calipari will give the lineup of Nick Richards and E.J. Montgomery a go. Montgomery has a load of potential and could be the most important player on this team. But even if he flourishes, there are reasonable doubts about Richards' back to the bucket game.

In other words, there are more lineups on this roster which would feature four players on the perimeter playing around one big than a three out-two in look. While the news on the recruiting cycle hits a brief lull, we thought we might look at three different stages in the last decade of Calipari playing a more spaced out offense: his last season at Memphis, earlier years at Kentucky, and last season's look when he did spread it out somewhat.

Today, we will look at part one when he famously implemented the Memphis dribble-drive. Interestingly enough, he is still noted for that look even though it hasn't been his bread and butter in years. Vance Walberg is the originator of the dribble-drive and the individual who taught it to Calipari who made it famous. The offense is based on dribble penetration by athletes who can blow by their man.

This is not to say that this will be what Kentucky runs next season. This is speculation and I don't claim to have inside information on it. But we do have plenty of information of what Calipari ran before when he didn't go with two posts, and this was one of his looks.

Let's look in this segment at how it looked with the 2007-08 Memphis Tiger team who finished National runner-up.

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This initial clip and perhaps another one or two may not tell a lot, and it may not look like a lot is happening. But I want to detail the alignment.

If I drew a line from the front of the rim on one end to the front of the rim on the other right down the middle of the floor, we would have what is called a help line. Next draw a line from sideline to sideline that crosses the foul line and intersects the help line. This splits the half court into four quadrants. The two quadrants above the foul line are considered the guard spots. The two below the foul line to the baseline are called wings.

All four quadrants should be filled outside of the tree-point line. This provides floor balance and spacing for dribble penetration. Also, notice that the low post player is in the opposite short corner. He is rarely on the ball side. If he was, it would clog up driving lanes. This was not an offense for back to the bucket big men.

With this team, Derrick Rose could feast by penetrating from the top. It is tough to help or double when the ball is in the middle of the floor and there is appropriate spacing. We will highlight in more clips today on the options he had. But I truly believe he is one of the best college players ever to lace up the sneakers. It was unfortunate about his knees. He was reminiscent of studs who had the same ailment like Bernard King and Bill Walton. .

Personally, I think this is a good look for Ashton Hagans. He looked like a point guard late last season who played better in space than in traffic. His forte is penetrating. Obviously, there will be lots of pressure to make decisions, but that improvement is expected in his sophomore season.

This one may look more vague than the first clip. In fact, the shot isn't even shown, but the dribble drive principles are clear in this short clip.

First, notice the point guard dribbles to the elbow area and jump stops for a handoff to the wing cutting out of the left corner. The rule of thumb is for the wings to drive into the lane through the high post or mid post and not the baseline side. The more help defenders they can draw, the better. From there the first option is to kick the ball out to the opposite wing either for a 3-pointer or a similar type of drive action.

I'm not sure that the right wing should have cut on top of the dribbler. The plan is to kick to the wide side of the floor then fill to the open corner as we will see later. Also notice that the low post is still on the opposite side.

Here we have the same initial action. The point guard dribbles to the elbow area and jump stops for the handoff, except this time it is on the right side of the floor. The movement without the ball is better here. In the pure dribble drive, there isn't a lot of movement or screening. It is simply an open floor situation with a straight ahead dribble.

But notice on the guard to guard pass up top, the passer cuts through to the unoccupied corner. Also, check out the spacing. Both guards and wing spots are filled. It is also important that the center is in behind the back board and the players in the corners are below the blocks. The reason is the higher up off the baseline they play, the closer the defenders are to help against penetration. Every inch of space is critical.

This is simply about a very athletic and skilled perimeter player being unguardable in a one-on-one situation. The questions will be how good will Hagans, Immanuel Quickley, Tyrese Maxey, Johnny Juzang, Kahlil Whitney, Dontaie Allen, and Keion Brooks be in that situation. My guess on an overall basis is pretty good.

Now, let's get into some options that the dribble drive creates. Rose gets deep into the lane. The first noticeable thing is that when he picks up his dribble, there are five Kansas players or ten feet in the paint. There are three defenders within an arm's length of him.

The defensive player who is directly in front of him and makes him pick the ball up is actually assigned to Robert Dozier who receives the pass and shoots the open 3-pointer in the corner. That is where the pressure gets put on the defender. Do you help on the ball and give up an open shot, or do you stay on your man and let Rose have a layup?

One other thing I have noticed from experience and observation, the elite offensive players would rather have isolations than ball screens. They don't believe anyone can guard them individually, and they don't want a screener and another defender brought in on top of them. You never saw Lebron or Kobe in a ball screen unless it was just to create a switch. With Derrick Rose at the point, there were very few ball screens.

Here is another entry that a lot of teams use. The two guards replace each other or "x." Some teams will hand off every time. This is particularly effective if the defense switches and a mismatch can be created. This was just bad defense by UCLA, and is surprising for a Ben Howland coached team. There is no communication on a simple guard to guard switch.

But this brings up the next option. Rose gets so deep that the only line of defense left is the center. He has to step out to stop the ball, and give up the lob. Just like the defender who had to make the decision on the kick for the three pointer, this one has to pick his poison; give up a layup or an alley.

There is still two more options besides this. If the defender in the left corner commits early to stop the drive them the kick for a knock down three is there. If the backside rotation is quicker, and the defensive player guarding the opposite wing pinches down to front the post, he can then be sealed for a skip to the corner and another open outside shot.

No matter the look in a four or five-out set, it is important that this upcoming Kentucky team have good 3-point shooters.

In this final clip, Memphis makes one last adjustment. In several previous plays, the point guard has begun the action by picking the ball up around the elbow area which is followed by the handoff to the wing cutting out of the corner.

UCLA is expecting that, and the corner's defender starts to cheat up the line so he can perhaps jump the handoff. Chris Douglas-Roberts sells the cut with a hard jab, then back cuts. This is a set play or quick hitter. The low post Joey Dorsey stays opposite so if Douglas-Roberts is picked up farther out on the floor the dump down could occur for a dunk of his own by Dorsey.

Montgomery, Whitney, and Brooks have the explosion to play downhill from the there or four. The one and two will generally fill the guard spots, and the three and four will occupy the corners. It could also be a good look for Richards. He is not required to post with his back to the bucket. He only needs to be able to catch and clean up with facing the rim. I would also expect more ball screens with him in which he could get the lob or catch the pass in tight quarters off the roll.

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