Posted on 10/10/2018 8:53:35 PM PDT by chrisinoc
Tex Winter, the innovator of the “triangle” offense used by teams that won 10 of the last 19 National Basketball Assn. championships, died Wednesday. He was 96.
Kansas State University, where he coached from 1953-68, announced that he died in Manhattan, Kan.
Winter spent nine seasons with the Lakers as an assistant coach and consultant, and proudly claimed to have earned a basketball-related paycheck for 63 years of his life.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This offense is just as revolutionary as Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense for football.
The offence works so well, because the pro stars don’t like any offense. This one gives them a strategy that allows them to go to the basket if they can or pass. Its simple and creates a one on one. The bulls could have lots of stars on the same court with the triangle. And each star could score. Of course once Michael got into a one on one he went for the basket. If the defense collapsed he knew right where to kick the ball out to a waiting Steve Kerr or John Paxton.
Wished the offense had worked when Winter coached at Long Beach State. He had some pretty good talent, including Craig Hodges and three other players who played in the NBA but in six seasons he never made the NCAA playoffs in an average basketball conference. It got so bad the PA announcer would never mention his name because he got booed so often.
Tex Winter spoke at my high school basketball banquet in the Spring of 1971 when he was the coach at the U. of Washington. Very engaging an funny as hell.
Favorite joke was, “When I was just a very young child, my parents abandoned me in Kansas when they took a wagon train out to the Pacific Northwest. I found ‘em.”
There was some very good competition in their conference during those years. Long Beach wasn’t exactly an attractive place with much of a campus life.
“There was some very good competition in their conference during those years. Long Beach wasn’t exactly an attractive place with much of a campus life.”
The real competition came when UNLV and New Mexico State came into the PCAA/Big West Conference during Winter’s last two years. But in the first two years of Winter’s era he had the best talent in the conference but did not win.
When you conference gets one bid, at most. It’s hard for a mid-major to get in. His first couple of years is just trying to get better players in the program. Not easy when the better players have lots of options at more attractive schools.
Wished the offense had worked when Winter coached at Long Beach State. He had some pretty good talent, including Craig Hodges and three other players who played in the NBA but in six seasons he never made the NCAA playoffs in an average basketball conference. It got so bad the PA announcer would never mention his name because he got booed so often.
I think Jackson was required to make Winters great. Jackson made the best out of great assets with unhelpful personalities.
RIP.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.