The Los Angeles Lakers will be running the Princeton offense this upcoming season and the coaching staff hopes the new system will help get all the stars involved. Assistant coach Eddie Jordan ran the Princeton offense during his head coaching days and he will be bringing his knowledge to Los Angeles.
The Lakers struggled a bit on the offensive end last season with Mike Brown at the helm, so there is a lot of anticipation with the implementation of the Princeton offense. Los Angeles has the right pieces to the run the system and it has some similarities with the famous Triangle offense. Both systems rely on a read-and-react process, and that is something Pau Gasol finds intriguing.
Gasol spoke to the Los Angeles Times and he talked about how he expects the Princeton Offense to help him on the offensive end this upcoming season.
“It will be a matter of being aggressive,” Gasol said. “The offense is about reads and movement. If you’re aggressive and make yourself available, you’re going to have options.
“It’s going to be a lot of looks with the movement and the quality of the players that will be out there,” Gasol said. “That attracts a lot of attention. We’ll have opportunities regardless, no matter what …. No player is worried about that, even though we have players who have the ability to score easily.”
This system will include more ball movement compared to the fairly mundane offense Mike Brown ran last season. The Lakers ran a lot of plays last season and that limited Gasol’s effectiveness. There was no room for movement or thinking on the court, instead the players just called out plays and had to execute what was being instructed.
Now, the players will get more freedom when on the court and that will surely help Gasol’s game. He can do more with and without the ball, something he liked while under Phil Jackson.
The Lakers need an effective Pau Gasol in order to reach their full potential. Gasol has not been the same player these past couple of seasons, but with the trade rumors now behind him, it is time for Gasol to dominate the paint once again.
