Tex Winter's Triangle Offense
1991 to 1998. The system behind six Bulls titles
Tex Winter learned the game from coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California and built Barry's ideas into his own system, the triple-post offense. He wrote a book about it in 1962, and in 1985 he joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach.
The Bulls had Michael Jordan, but defenses could double-team him. When Phil Jackson became head coach in 1989, he made Winter's system, now called the triangle, the Bulls' offense. Three players formed a triangle on one side of the floor, about 4.5 to 5.5 m (15 to 18 ft) apart. Instead of running set plays, players read the defense and passed, cut or screened toward the open spot. Jordan was not convinced at first, but Jackson argued that one player could not beat a good defense alone.
Chicago won six NBA titles, in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Winter followed Jackson to the Los Angeles Lakers, who won three more from 2000 to 2002. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
What changed
The triangle answered the double team with spacing and reads. When the defense sent two players at Jordan, the ball moved to the open player, so stopping one star was no longer enough to stop the team.
In the Dictionary: Spacing