Should Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense in Basketball Be Used in All NBA Teams?

As controversial as current L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is, there isn't any doubt that he's managed to prove that getting into a Zen mode while coaching seems to work. Of course, you don't necessarily have to be a Zen Buddhist to use his sense of concentration or ability to take a large problem and make it seem like a trifle. Those mental power techniques are applied in a very secular way via Lurch look-a-like Anthony Robbins as you've seen in his "Unlimited Power" infomercials and training courses that we've likely all purchased. Even Michael Jordan used that system with many agreeing that these mental techniques work. But when it comes to plain old physical strategy, Phil Jackson is also a master in basketball. He's managed to take a complicated basketball offense technique and make it work like a finely-tuned machine. And he's likely using it again this year by winning another championship for the L.A. Lakers by the time this article goes to press.

This offense system that basketball coaches typically study religiously is the Triangle Offense strategy. The process goes back more than 60 years ago with college coach Sam Berry who coached at USC and created the strategic move on the basketball court of players standing in triangular positions on either side of the court to allow easier passes and drives to the basket. Berry's initial set-up utilized the simple triangulation set-up of the center, forward and guard on one side of the court--and then two others (the off guard and the weaker forward) making up the other side of this five-player system. But this was made more complicated with different strategies involving various advantageous moves created by college coach Tex Winter who was once a consultant for the L.A. Lakers.