The flex offense is one of the oldest used offenses that is still used throughout basketball today. In today’s game with wide open offense centered around the dribble drive, the flex offense focuses on good off-ball screens, cuts, and timing. I still used the flex offense because of the versatility the offense gives in making simple adjustments to give it just enough change that should make the offense work to your players strength. Since the flex offense does not utilize the dribble drive, teams do not have to be greatly skilled to run the offense. It always requires constant movement from all 5 players on the floor. The guards will eventually end up on the inside and the post players will end up at the 3 point line while running the offense. Teams have to have all 5 players capable of catching and passing the ball. It is also best when the team does not have a standout player but all 5 players are about equal skill. Because all 5 players will be moving and catching and passing the ball, it takes advantage of defensive teams that make mistakes. When the defense makes a mistake or misses an assignment then an offensive player will come open and that is who will shoot the ball. If all 5 players are able to score then the effectiveness of the offense becomes very hard to guard because one defensive mistakes leads straight to a shot. The defense has more to do with who shoots the ball rather than the offense. I like this offense at the younger grades because it forces all players to use all fundamentals. This will help with skill development at the age. It is not a hard offense to run but it does take some time to learn the basic movements. It is a repeated movement offense so once a player learns the offense then they will always be able to run the offense from that point forward. This is the basic movement.
It is a couple of simple movements and screens. Then the ball is reversed to the other side of the floor and the same movement and screens are repeated. In the first picture(top left) the offense starts in a 4 out 1 in offense. The 1 man (point guard) has the ball. The 5 man is the trail man for transition. The 4 man is the rim runner getting out in front and then going ball side. The 2 runs the right side in transition and the 3 man runs the left side. This basic transition ends with the 4 out 1 in formation for the flex offense. If nothing happens with the transition then the 1 man will pass the ball to the trailing 5. On the pass moving across the midline, there is a flex screen towards the ball. In this case the 2 man flex cuts to the ball using a screen by the 4. If this is open then the offense shoots a layup. If not then the 1 man sets a down screen for the 4 man(top right). This is a screen the screener movement for the offense. If the 4 man helps off on the flex screen then the 4 man should be open coming up from the down screen. After the down screen, the 1 man relocates to the corner. Now at this point there has been a reversal pass, flex screen and down screen. After all of this the offense is now reset in the starting positions but with the ball on the other side of the floor. Now the offense starts to repeat. The 5 man reverses the ball to the 4. The 3 man flex cuts using a screen from the 2 man. The 5 man sets a down screen for the 2 man. If the 3 is open on the flex cut then he gets a pass. If the 2 man comes open off the down screen then he gets the shot. If the defense guards the screens and cuts well then the offense has know reset and is ready to repeat the same movements again. This can go on forever until a cutter comes open. Now the last piece of the basic movement of the offense is the corner option.
What happens if the ball is passed to the corner? Well the passer simple turns and screens away. In the above pictures, the 4 man passes to the corner. He turns and sets an away screen for the 2 man. The 2 man comes across to the ball side position. The 4 man stays in the spot left by the 2 man. Everybody is still in the 4 out 1 in position. If the 1 man can not do anything with the ball in the corner, then he passes back up to the 2 man who reverses the ball over to the 4 man. When the 2 man passes to the 4 man then the flex screen, down screen happens just as before. The 1 man would cut through and the 2 man would set the down screen for the 3 man coming up. This simple corner away screen keeps the ball and players moving no matter where the ball is passed.
The flex offense uses all 5 players continuously. It keeps offenses from having a bunch of players stand around and watch 1 or 2 players dribble and shoot all the time. I like it because it keeps all players engaged all the time and puts a bunch of pressure on every defensive player not to get lost. It also has a bunch of simple adjustments that can be made to really turn the flex offense into a very versatile system. I use the flex offense a bunch in late game situations with the score being a 1 or 2 possession game. While a lot of coaches and people think the game of basketball has passed the flex offense, if used correctly it can still be quite an effective offense to use.
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