Tara VanDerveer: Stanford's Triangle Offense

with Tara VanDerveer,
Stanford University Head Women's Coach from 1985 to 2024;
1,216 wins (when retiring, was #1 all-time men's/women's coach in wins, #1 All-time in wins);
2021 NCAA National Champions;
3x NCAA Championship Coach (1990, 1992, 2021);
5x National Coach of the Year;
11x Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year;
13x Final Four;
2x NCAA National Championship Runner-up;
1996 US Women's Olympic Team Head Coach (Gold Medal);
distinguished member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011);
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2014);
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2002);
Women's Sports Foundation International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1998);
WBCA's Carol Eckman Award (2018);
Ohio State Head Coach from 1980 to 1985;
4x Big Ten Regular Season Champions;
played college basketball at Albany and Indiana

In a storied 40+-year coaching career, Tara VanDerveer has established herself as one of the top coaches in the history of both collegiate and international women's basketball. In this on-court demonstration, Coach VanDerveer presents the Triangle offense in a whole-part-whole manner. She shows the entire offense and explains each position, breaks it down through explanation and drills, and then adds defense to show the whole offense against defense. The benefits of this offense is that it is hard to guard, fun to coach, players enjoy it, takes advantage of one-on-one match-ups, has a lot of options, it fits with an up-tempo style of play and is flexible because all positions are interchangeable. Coach VanDerveer stresses that the triangle is a very teachable offense that combines continuity with structure. Keys to the triangle offense are passing and spacing. To accelerate the learning curve for the offense, she uses a 4-on-0 half-court drill. Players execute the triangle and score, and on the following possession, players move to the next position. One becomes the two, two becomes the three, etc. The drill is run on both ends so players rotate from one end to the other. This drill is essential for developing interchangeable positions on the floor. By rotating positions on the move, players are forced to execute and think on their feet. VanDerveer constantly stresses the importance of little things like squaring up, passing away from the defense, getting open and spacing. To make this drill competitive VanDerveer lets the offense keep the ball as long as they score against the defense. Against pressure defense, the "forward blast" creates an open back door cut and lay-up. The dribble hand-off is a weapon in this offense because it is so difficult to defend. This video will allow any coach the opportunity to learn the triangle's secrets and strengths by sharing the breakdown drills run by the Cardinal women. The triangle can yield amazing results because of its spacing, diversity and flexibility. From the Chicago Bulls to Stanford to the middle school level, the triangle has proven to be one of basketball's best offenses.

64 minutes. 2006.