Offense Wins

Book excerpt: Over the span of an 11-year professional playing career, Joe Crispin played for approximately 28 different coaches in the NBA, ABA, CBA, Greece, Poland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine. He played fast, slow and everything in between for coaches all over the world. His diverse experience and unique perspective led him to clarify twelve principles that every player wants in basketball offense. Currently the head coach at Rowan University, this was written before he ever coached a game at any level of play. He wrote as an 11-year professional to better inform his future coaching self. The only words from the coach come as practical lessons in applying these principles to his teams today. The old adage is that defense wins championships, but as Crispin contends, that is only true when you can score (or in the NBA, when you have 2 or 3 of the best offensive players in the world). Offense matters immensely to every basketball player in the world (and even more to the fans). It affects how well you play defense and even how you choose to play defense. Offense wins in more ways than you think. No matter what level you coach, Crispin's principles will challenge you to think through your philosophy and adjust your teaching in order to prepare a happier and more effective basketball offense. You may even end up believing that offense wins.