Byron Scott has been linked to the Princeton offense. He was an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings between 1998-2000, right at the beginning of Rick Adelman’s tenure implementing the Princeton offense. Back then, it was Jason Williams at the helm with Vlade Divac and Chris Webber becoming an elite passing trio and one of the top offenses in the league.
Byron took what he learned early on and applied it to the New Jersey Nets. The first year was a struggle. The following two years, the Nets were among the top offenses in the league and made the Finals consecutive times.
Byron should implement the Princeton offense again. Look at how awesome it could look for the Lakers.
When Mike Brown implimented the offense two years ago, the offense was not the problem. The defense was. Coach Nick shows what clean looks the Lakers got when the Lakers ran the offense.
The offensive production isn’t done by the talent of the players alone. The Princeton offense gives great looks to the star players and keeps the action moving on the weakside. Kobe Bryant gets very easy looks at the basket on backdoor cuts and rhythm jumpshots. The high post skills of Julius Randle, Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, and Carlos Boozer are complementary to the offense. They’ll also get great looks off of drives to the basket, mid-range jumpshots, and isolation situations with great post position.
Jeremy Lin is a product of a pick-and-roll offense. That simple play led to “Linsanity” over a two-week period for the New York Knicks. He nearly averaged 25 points per game and 10 assists per game during that stint. However, keep in mind that Harvard played with a strict offensive structure as well. While Lin likes to play with energy, aggression, and speed, he will be able to utilize that in transition situations. He’ll also be able to utilize those tools in the Princeton offense, just like Jason Kidd, Jason Williams, and Mike Bibby before him. While all four point guards have varying levels of triple threat skills, they were all capable three-point shooters, great passers, and adept at getting to the hoop. Lin, just so happens to be the best of the four point guards at getting to the hoop and finishing. Imagine what he can do when his jumpshot becomes more pure.
There is a lot of upside to the current Laker team. It isn’t just the free agent acquisitions of Ed Davis, Carlos Boozer, and Jeremy Lin. The Lakers have a head coach with a link to the Lakers past. That same Laker head coach is experienced with an offensive structure that has been successful as creating great scoring teams.
Kobe Bryant told Carlos Boozer on twitter:
Kobe's message to Carlos Boozer: Come ready. Come ready to surprise some people.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) July 25, 2014
Maybe Laker fans should be anticipating a surprise of their own.