Breaking Down Florida’s Five-Out Offense Against Elon

By
Eric Fawcett
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During Mike White’s tenure at Florida we have generally seen the same offensive systems, centered around dribble drive, Princeton, and some continuity ball screen. The Gators haven’t been as poor offensively as a lot of fans perceive, but they have never been elite.

 

This season when the Gators took the floor against Elon in their season opener it was immediately apparent that they were playing a different offensive style than we have seen under White. They spaced the floor to all five players behind the three-point line and started to run off ball actions to free up shooters and generate lanes for cutters, and it was leading to open shots and layups. 

 

It was a huge departure from what the Gators have run recently, and therefore was extremely exciting.

 

This five-out style of offense has been popularized in the NBA as of late and has been quickly filtering into the college game where coaches find that keeping the paint open allows for dribble drives that are tough to guard.

 

To help you see and learn the offense, here is a breakdown of what plays the Gators ran to open their season and what you might expect to see moving forward. 

 

Here you can see the Gators spacing five-out around the perimeter. Colin Castleton is able to get a step on his defender and no Phoenix player is in position to help due to the way the floor is spaced.

 

Next you’ll see a play that’s commonly referred to as “stagger twist.” A stagger is a double screen on the perimeter, and the twist is when the player receiving the screens cuts through the middle of the screeners instead of running off the full stagger. It is often used to free up a shooter but in this case Florida uses it to get a clean post entry into Colin Castleton.

 

The next set you’ll see is actually somewhat similar to what the Gators were doing the last couple of seasons in their Princeton offense. It’s a pinch post action where a player enters the ball into the high post and then sprints over the top of that player, curling towards the rim with a cut.

 

 

The next action you’ll see is probably the most popular set in the NBA right now and it’s something you’ll soon see everyone running it in college. It’s called Chicago action, or a pin down into a dribble handoff. The team that has ran this better than anyone in college recently is Loyola Chicago who used it to make their NCAA Tournament runs. Here is the Gators using it to get a wide open three for Tyree Appleby.

 

 

The next two sets you’ll see are out of the “delay” series, another regular offensive scheme you see in the NBA regularly. In the delay series it’s often up to the players in the action to make the reads of what the play is going to look like more than a call from the bench. The first read is a curl.

 

 

Now you’ll see a similar play but a different read–the delay action turning into a pin down.

 

 

Lastly, here is a staple of the five-out offense that’s used heavily by teams who use this scheme and for good reason, it’s easy to execute. It’s called “zoom” action–a dribble handoff into an immediate ball screen.

 

 

The biggest strength of this offense is that it’s very difficult for opposing teams to prepare for. Many of these sets have multiple possible reads out of it, meaning defenses can know exactly what’s coming and still have trouble defending it. In the delay series they can know there is going to be a convergence of two players, but there are so many options out of it that their isn’t one action they can take away. The dribble handoff into ball screen? Still extremely difficult to defend, even though you know it’s coming.

 

Florida’s five-out offense will get a major test on Sunday against Florida State, where they will get to challenge themselves against one of the best defenses in the country.

Eric Fawcett
Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.

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