The Rise and Fall of the Flex Offense

[@nin466]

Seeing Jared Dudley with hair feels illegal

[@3serio]

Right!? I never seen a young Jared Dudley…even after this video. He looks the age he is now, just with facial hair and cornrows.

[@staciemohler4624]

0:52

[@leetorry]

@@3serio dude looked like Melo-lite.

[@treywoody4706]

Ran flex at my high school in VA in 2013. This video was a nostalgia trip

[@abcdefghijklmno1009]

😂😂😂

[@jmgonzales7701]

obsolete offense

[@That_Guy2424]

I ran dribble drive forever because we had a lot of really good guards throughout my whole high school career. Then my senior year our good guards graduated and moved, so me (6'7") and another big man (also 6'7") were the 2 best players on the team so we ran blocker mover my senior year

[@joelembiid1295]

6’7 ain’t a big

[@Isaac-mk3wj]

@@joelembiid1295 it is in high school

[@GZQ9]

@@joelembiid1295 Charles barley? Zion Williamson?

[@MalcolmGDotson3]

Getting into flex and 5 out principals out of dribble drive was something I worked on as a coach. Dribble drive was primary with flashes of Flex and 5 out principals. 4 out with dribble drive can end up 3 out 2 in with 5 out principals and from there get onto flex and back to dribble drive.

[@thanos303]

@@joelembiid1295 in high school it is. Not every high school team has a 7 footer, hell not even every college team.

[@Gilmatic__]

NYC. High school class of 94. Played a year of JV at Colgate in 94-95. We practiced with varsity a lot and ran mostly flex. Adonal Foyle was there at the same time.

[@cw4959]

Grew up in North Carolina. Played a 4 out motion and a little Princeton

[@Ditteauxessay]

Grew up in NC too and same here!

[@calebcain8132]

Early 2010s small private school in Wisconsin. Ran traditional Bobby Knight motion for 2 years than switched to mainly Princeton Chin (we faced a lot of zone too).

[@cliffsauer9111]

Ulster NY class of 2000. Some flex but mainly screen down screen away. Wallkill AJ Higby runs flex and a couple good variations. Has a stampede catch. Almost like a dribble drive. I coach high school and love Dribble drive.

[@crolandw]

We definitely ran flex at my high school in the mid 2000s. My team in Montana made it to the state championship in 2007, but we also had about 5-6 other offensive sets as well.

[@Anthony-ru7sk]

I graduated in 2011 in Philly. From middle school to college all my teams ran flex. I loved it because I was a stretch 4 and loved coming off the Down screen for a mid range jumper

[@pfightingpolish]

Suburban Milwaukee area, graduated from high school in 2000. Flex was our primary offense. Head coach was a big fan of Dr. Tom Davis and, particularly, Lute Olson.

[@andyandyandy5781]

Public school arkansas, we played dribble drive motion all throughout middle and high school. We always had really talented guards that worked best putting the ball on the floor and driving and dishing

[@sabertoothbaseball3432]

I played for a John Wooden disciple, and we ran the UCLA high post offense. We also used the 2-2-1 zone press and practiced even-numbered fast breaks with jump shots off the glass and offensive rebounding on the opposite side. High school--1976-1979.

[@bradleyalexander6856]

Went to HS in MD. HS Coach was a good friend of Gary Williams so we ran flex but called it ‘Baseline’ because of the 1-4 low set (‘96-‘00). Loved the counter of a same side high-post entry for a wing back cut when teams overplayed the entry pass. The wing entry into a UCLA cut was a great counter as well. Duck-ins on the down screens, staggers for a shooter, we had lots of options. My HS Coach had the 2nd most victories in MD behind Coach Wooten.

[@chriscoccagna5917]

Tom Dichman ( TJ ) or John Brady ( Annapolis )

[@alexohara41]

Here because Flex was our primary offense in high school. Loved the looks I got off this. Now I'm a coach at my old high school, teaching this same offense. People will say it's outdated but I still think it's effective with the right personnel.

[@wizarddragon]

Bruce Pearl and Auburn are eating it up this season with the flex.

[@VisionDrivenBasketball]

Graduated HS in 2018. My senior year we went 4 out or 5 out probably 75% of the time and we ran a flex variation the other 25%. No shot clock in PA so we’d sometimes just use it to kill clock when we were winning.

[@23_CM]

This is a good video for someone like me, who’s been a basketball fan and watched it for years but never played on an organized team. Thank you

[@knickbadker1912]

I ran flex all the way until high school when we switched to a motion offense. Many of my teammates found that transition very difficult as I was the only one who had experience in tournament play which is much more focused on motion offense

[@deandrepage1048]

STS action is still successful, especially with a thicker body Small Forward as your 1st cutter that loves physical contact. And a post player uptop.

[@bjnt922]

I grew up in Houston, TX. Played high school ball in the late 90s. We were an up tempo team that looked for the fastbreak more than anything. But when we were forced into the half court ran a traditional 3 out 2 in look with a few set plays.

[@rossbernhardt368]

My dad coached high school basketball for over 30 years in upstate NY from the 80s to the early 2010s and the flex was one of his staples. I could still probably go out there and run his flex series with all the variations he made to it. Definitely brings me back!

[@ee-rd8hr]

2023, im a big man and we are running this as we speak

[@villemikkola8195]

Man u make real good videos im sure a lot of really good players and coaches watch these vids🤟🏼

[@commonsenseability]

Love this type of sports content. History of the sport and knowledge in one package

[@tisa-jimstratton4405]

Learned Flex in 1986 in 9th grade, and soaked it in through high school (back when the term "Regular" was used for basic motion (now "pattern"), and "Original" was used for what's now the "Gonzaga" entry. I've coached the Flex for 25 years in 6 countries on 5 continents. Great offense for, as Tom Davis said, for a less talented/athletic team, and always suitable for the addition of Flex counters (to defensive adjustments) and variations -- I incorporated a high screen and roll play from the ball-side post and it worked well when we needed it. Besides the Flex cut, I love how it opens up the elbow jump shot off the down screen (the "pin" down) -- catch/square/shoot! Flex on!!

[@GutsBatman]

Interesting video. I grew up watching those Tom Davis Iowa teams (as I live in state and family is largely Iowa fans) and it was both enjoyable and frustrating at the same time. He consistently won first round games and made it to the second weekend of the tournament but always felt like there was a ceiling to the success. This video explained a lot of what I remember feeling at the time, especially his quote about lesser talented players.

[@koryroberts3182]

Oregon, we ran flex when I graduated in 2008

[@jimgabrielsen]

still ran it in Oregon when I graduated in 2018

[@Dawheel90]

I played various version of Flex offence in several teams at different levels, for a total of about 10 years, it still is one of my favourite offence schemes

[@stookeyslaughter]

I ran a Kansas flex offense with my middle school boys team and had an undefeated season in 2012-2013.

[@josephleblanc9592]

Flex was one of the plays I ran back in 2014 ! 8th grade. Now I coach with my old coach and we are teaching them flex. Here to tighten some things up

[@tony3003]

Was introduced to the flex offense in 2003 which was my senior year of high school. It opened up the floor for a lot of scoring opportunities

[@johnarmstrong6227]

That pass was good enough for me to have no problems with you creating this video for the sole purpose of showing it off.

[@quinngillis7609]

Grew up where you did in the mid 90’s, Guilderland Dutchman! Shen ran this and called it Low Control. Moved to Federal Way , Wa and we ran it, called Cutter! Shout out to Coach Collins!!!

[@joshalls14]

The flex was the first offense I ever ran. Loved the video keep up the good work!

[@cjburnett31]

I grew up with the Princeton offense in my middle school & high school days. Mostly Princeton high. The video on the Bellarmine offense honestly reminded me of it.

[@ryanschumacher3448]

Flex offense is the only way I know how to play. So many options. So many chances to make basic plays that look hard. I was a 4 when we ran it, and being able to make the right pass always felt good. Used flex from 06-12.

[@gabrielperez82204]

From Philly, we ran a 5 out motion offense 2016-2019

[@MalcolmGDotson3]

As a coach I merged 5 out with dribble drive. We could get into flex if need be if the defense was caught up on stopping the motion.

[@kyleturner9885]

Ran read and react (4 or 5 out motion) through high school. Class of 2012 in Atlanta area

[@oldmanyoda7893]

I'm a high school coach in South Carolina. The Schlosser Flex is our primary man offense

[@Coachdev_32]

Grew up in Colorado Springs during the Joe Scott, Mooney, Bzdelik days at Air Force. Ran the Princeton & now coach it.

[@loufancelli1330]

Old guy here, grew up in the '80s in Central Ohio. My dad was my grade school coach and he grew up in the '40s with outside set shots, and layups (or bunnies as he called them). Our offense was primarily motion, and our defense was ALWAYS 3-2, often with switching if the opponent had a dominating player. In high school it was still primarily motion offense, with some occasional 4 corners if we were playing a particularly athletic opponent. One other thing, going back to my grade school days, jump balls were as much of our offense as inbounds plays under the basket. Every jump ball at midcourt or in the circle near our basket was designed to be a scoring play, We probably had a dozen "jump ball offense" plays -in 5th-8th grade basketball!

[@smartgames1393]

From San Diego - was actually pretty varied in my experience with a few club teams and high school programs between 2014-2016, but the most prominent system was a Princeton style system, but I'd say the system that both had the most success and was most popular with players was a five out pass and screen away offense

[@HALEIWA7]

When I was in High School we ran Flex as our continuity offense. We ran other things too. We had about 4 quick hitter plays. Almost all of which were ball screen pick n rolls. We also had a couple zone sets. I'd imagine the amount of extra stuff we ran was because I graduated in 2012 so the change from traditional continuity offenses to "run with the Suns" kind of basketball had already started.

[@scottf1000]

You should have looked at the Perth Wildcats from Australia's NBL. Run a modern version of Flex with ball screens and other options and won multiple titles with it. Amazingly successful with it.

[@davidwilliams3397]

As a coach I taught the flex as an intro to a 4 out-1-in motion offence, we would also do guard / big man pick and roll into flex to get all 5 guys moving and looking for mismatches which we can exploit for isolations and post ups and down screen screen for three point shots and double screen and staggered screen for shooters. we never used the flex on its own it was always an entry into something or set play into the flex as a motion. we would often use it to give lesser player more court time since it was easy to keep the motion going and run down the clock it was a good intro and anchor to cope with pressure and allowed lesser player not to over think the game

[@robdawgsports1060]

Class of 2017, we ran flex some but we also ran some chin later on. These were also alongside many elements of the Ricky Torbett read and react offense, specifically out of 4 out and 5 out sets (the 5 out sets mostly having everyone pass and cut but occasionally we’d bust out a version where the guys in the corners stayed put)

[@timparsons4921]

College of the Redwoods ran the Flex in the late 1970s. My coach Bill Treglown called it "Three Down." And, as mentioned in this comprehensive video, "Our security blanket."

[@emilnedved349]

Currently, most successful team in Australia's NBL, The Perth Wildcats, runs the flex. So it's cool that the flex is still alive at a pro level in some capacity.

[@gavinbicho4428]

From 4th-8th grade our travel team ran a series of 5 set plays when facing man-to-man involving lots of cuts and ball screens. Each play had 3-4 options at each point. Against zone we would overload and pass quickly and settle for mid-range jumpers. 3 time state champions so it certainly worked

[@collinscott1052]

Man this brings back memories, my high school coach ran flex till he retired in 2017 my senior year

[@unclepete803]

high school class of 96, my freshman year the varsity team was top 10 in nation. we were big on flex and motion. We had about 5 different options on flex we ran.

[@eliceasarine7780]

Graduated 1994 Dutchess County NY we ran a 3-2 motion. Picks on the box to curl or pop with the bigs going box to box.

[@squidwardtentacles4149]

I also played basketball in upstate NY. In the early 2000’s we ran Flex. By the time I hit my senior year of highschool I played in the continuity ball screen offense

[@jens-uwegordon7584]

Played for Carrol Williams at SCU. It is a good offense for big physical teams we used to grind teams up. It became slow and too rigid when us faster players were looking to open up the court. I did get a lot of elbow jumpers though lol.

[@michaelotoole1271]

Played in a motion program in HS, all bob knightesqe 5 man motion, very little sets. Coached the flex in the 2000's.

[@coffeyallday]

Kentucky, late 00s early 10s. We ran about 10 different variations of screen the screener trying to get either post touches or open threes. We had about 20 set plays and about half of them were that. We also ran flex a little bit. When we wanted to stall against teams, we would just run flex over and over and eventually someone would pop open.

[@patcoghlan3852]

This offense worked for our AAU team because we didn't have really any reliable ball handlers after a few kids got hurt with long term injuries, and so we had to figure out how to get open shots using off ball screens. We ran something similar to the Maryland offense in that we wanted to get our mid range shooters some open chances. We had a lot less success with the back door cuts and drives to the basket. All in all, it worked for what we needed it to, but it does have some limitations.

[@mattpettit9428]

Around the early 2000's AAU travel ball, the flex was unstoppable for my team. I still think if any 16 and under team runs the flex they will win. An amazing offense. The "screen the screener" moves are almost impossible for every young player to defend consistently.

[@milosjovanovic9859]

I am from Serbia. Went to highschool in the late '90s. One of my coaches at the time was obssessed about it. Definitely brought a smile on my face when I saw this video. Didn't enjoy playing it at the time: slow and boring.

[@ShareefusMaximus]

I played high school basketball in the 1980s. We ALL had to play Bob Knight's motion or John Wooden's high low. Even most pick-up games reflected the fundamental actions of those two legends.

[@Virci_]

My high school here in South Texas still runs it for all freshman, JV and Varsity teams

[@noahbreitenstein4332]

Kentucky grew up early playing in the dribble drive, but switched to read and react in my last two years of high school.

[@cidmatrix9643]

Really informative video! Thank you

[@jakereuter7617]

Yoooo! That "small college in WI" in UW-Platteville, my alma mater and hometown! So cool to find that out.

[@titleistprov69]

Ran the flex in 8th grade in Illinois, 2008 man it was fun to run when you have a smart team on the same page.

[@ThadAlbright]

Growing up in Central PA I had a coach who ran an old school offense that was a modified flex where there were constant down screens. If kind of felt like a mix of the flex offense and the Princeton motion offense.

[@slimphotog]

We ran the shuffle in the late '70s, which was a reverse action continuity offense that predates the flex. Then we ran motion, which was popular in the '80s. I knew about Carroll Williams, but I didn't know that Dr. Tom Davis ran it.

[@kcox9818]

Grew up in Kansas City, graduated in 2006. We ran Motion and a high pick and roll

[@Dougmolls]

Great analysis!

[@pjny21]

Ugh, we were drilled in motion and triangle offense. Watched Williams run it at Maryland when I went there. It really required good post scorers that Maryland always seemed to lack. The run to the 2003 ACC championship relied on Gilchrist getting hot and senior center Jamal Smith playing some of the best basketball of his career.

[@pres3505]

My team still runs that in upstate ny

[@dylanpuglisi5913]

I grew up playing in Nevin @ 5. We ran the bicep flex

[@calebkoilpillai2251]

that pass at 2:41 was slick as hell

[@HeNrY-sd8hg]

I’m growing up in Princeton so of course we run that aswell as five out side note coaching legend coach Carril told me I’d be great one day so here I am studying the game I love

[@antoniorenteria6799]

My HS coach was playing in college in the late 90s, and Flex was our base offensive set

[@Veenic22]

I grew up with the flex offense but when I got to college the ball screen came and I was definitely behind!!! I struggled tremendously but I now know that you can't stick to a particular offense. Got to mix it up

[@jarrettbuescher8049]

Grew up in flex with my dad as my high school head coach. Helped him become a hall of famer

[@goldmicmusic]

Grew up going to a small school on Long Island where we ran a 4 or 5 out motion. Most teams in our conference ran the flex so we ran it at practice

[@IceManLikeGervin]

A team can run so many different actions out of the Flex offense especially if you have five versatile and skilled players on the court at the same time. You can start the Flex from the wing, from the point or even from the post. Back screens, double screens, back cuts, guard to guard action, and more can be run out of the Flex offense in order to keep the defense from over playing the basic Flex screening action.

[@derrickrobbins8100]

I coached the Flex for my girls highschool team in 89-90 in Herlong CA

[@francisnycvideos]

The bonus content for members was great! I highly recommend subscribing

[@avantesmith6442]

HS HC in my hometown lived by the offense for years! He was really strict on the rules and making the passes and not shooting 3s lol A few years after we graduated, he told my cousin he regretted running the Flex but, mostly because he felt like it really didn’t fit us

[@sambruchhaus1510]

Stephen F Austin’s Swing Spread Offense was what I ran in high school. I believe Oregon also runs a version.

[@andrewandthecatfives]

Mid 90s Indiana. Bob Knight motion offense. Mixed in some flex and other “cutting edge” stuff such as match up zone defense.

[@Willp03]

In Indiana motion offense “5 out” is what most teams are running but at times the right corner will move to short corner, screen up and the guy on the wing will slide to the corner and have an open 3

[@CoachVicTheLandInvestor]

from san Francisco, graduated HS in 2000, we ran motion with triangle elements. At my d3 school , our continuity revolved around stagger screens...I barely remember it, lol

[@legendwest439]

Crazy I went to Dieruff class of 06'. We def ran the flex!

[@zane631]

I like the flex/swing for amateur teams that train and play a game once or twice a week. There are so many resources with different X&O's so you can cherrypick from and it will not look like an flex offense, it is just a way to start an offensive possession. I see so many amateur teams playing a ballscreen offense, but their individual skillsets are not adequate to consistently create and score easy buckets or make 3's.

[@camdencapps6894]

Have you heard of Jamie Angeli’s FLEXible dribble drive which combines the flex with DDM, maybe it could modernize it enough to see a comeback who knows? Only seen a little bit of it made rewatch this great vid! Keep doing these if you want to they are great!

[@7dude621]

Our HS team ran flex under coach Tom Blackwood in the 80's in the East Bay, CA. In games the play call was "Sant Clara!" if a team switched out of zone into man to man. I do recall one game where the opposing team was totally prepped to defend it, overplayed and switched everything and the 1st half was a disaster for us. 2nd half we just started ball faking and driving to the basket and nearly came back

[@gturcott1]

There was a great coach at Hawaii U, in 90’s and early 2000’s ran flex very well

[@nathanmartinek919]

Grew up playing Flex offense, my high school coach ran the flex from 2000-2020, just retired this year.

[@ignaziosanchez]

Dudeeeee! This video is great, i love your channel! My highschool team in Argentina ran flex, now i feel nostalgic as fuck. Keep up the good work

[@hainesfamily959]

Mark Morris High School 1989 grad under WIAA HOF Coach Dave Denny. Flex took MM to 3 straight AA state title games winning titles in '85 & '87. Also took 4th in '89 loosing 1 game only by 2 points to the eventual state champs....

[@AckoDaDon]

From the Hudson Valley in NY faced a ton of teams running this. We were a 5 out school tho

[@kobeholton2487]

We ran flex in middle school 2007 to 2010. In highschool my one coach had is do the triangle. And the other coach did flex. In Detroit Michigan

[@injusticeanywherethreatens4810]

I feel like a lot of younger teams who are eager with less talent can benefit off the strat since you dont need any Magic Johnson- level passers or any complicated passes just a group of players who can remember movements. This strat becomes far less usefiul when enemy teams have tough defenses that overplay all their targets (think the type of defense that the Raptors played on Curry in '19 Finals) cauze they ensure that their target NEVER gets an opening to make or get a pass, or a group of anticipatory stealers like Chris Paul or Tony Allen type players, and a fast break speed fiend , think LBJ or young Derrick Rose , who can exploit the heck out of your turnovers.

[@mohamedbarahim2610]

Flex was part of our DNA growing up. High School and College 90' basketball

[@conanbdetective]

On the HS team we ran motion offense. But I had the opportunity to be a player-coach for Spring/Summer League games and running with high skill individual-minded guys; so I ran the Boston fastbreak (defense to offense) and flex if the fastbreak dies. I don't like the flex, in full, but the principles can easily be learned by us kids at the time and easily transition into other sets that I prefer but would rather not have to explain.

[@yoavyarchi8796]

I've played in high school at Washington State 2 years ago. We played a lot of flex and 5 out