Basketball's triangle offense is beautiful to watch and extremely effective. Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls used it under Phil Jackson, and Jackson's current Los Angeles Lakers, with Kobe Bryant, also run it.

Here's Jonathan Abrams of the Los Angeles Times describing it:

The triangle offense revolves around reads and reaction, rhythm and rotations. Its basic principles include penetration through ball entry at the high post, with spacing and cuts predicated off the pass.

One key component is that players are interchangeable and should be able to play any position. If worked to precision, Winter says, a player should always be open.

And every good scheme contains a bailout plan.

The final option of the offense is having a Jordan or Bryant available to go one-on-one should all else fail.

The triangle is created by the center in the post, a forward at the wing and a guard in the corner. The weak side features a guard at the top of the key and a forward who are free to play a two-man game should the ball rotate there.

From there it's all cuts and ball movement and can get complicated.

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What's beautiful about basketball's triangle offense is hwo pretty it is on the eyes. Everything has a purpose. Each pass, each move a player makes, has a purpose. It allows players with very marginal talent -- Luc Longley, anyone? -- to succeed in it.

We'll post more on basketball's triangle offense in the near future on this page.