I know its just the preseason, but in the Bulls pre-season game last night, Hassell led the team in assists playing SF. And, of course, Pippen was consistently among the Bulls assists leaders while in Chicago and in the Triangle. Is that a normal outgrowth of the Triangle offense? Does Rick Fox usually have high assist totals? Is he the primary passer into the post on the Lakers?
not necessarily. only in situations where your small forward is also your best penetrator/facilitor. for example, if the rockets were running the triangle, i imagine the person with the most assists would be cuttino mobley, the shooting guard. why? because the strong side triangle would be set with cat on the wing - having the option of 1) penetrating, 2) dishing to the post (ming), 3) calling ming up for the pick, 4) shooting the j (least likely out of the triangle), or 5) swinging the ball back up top (without getting into long heypee explanations, in this situation, that would NOT be the point guard, more than likely it would be the small forward). as for the bulls, jordan was far and away the best penetrator, yes. but to put him in the position that scottie was in with the triangle would isolate the rest of the team. scottie became the facilitator of the offense, with jordan coming around on sets to receive the ball. of course, when crunch time came around, jordan was always around to iso. or when necessary/desired, jordan could always do a guard "quick post". who's the facilitator again? pippen. damn i guess i did begin a heypeeish explanation oh well. if you have any more ?s feel free to ask.
Trenton Hassell playing SF is a joke (to begin with). He played both guard spots in college, so he knows how to dish. While he's an able defender, he's too short to play against most 3's. Second, both of the PG's last night showed that they were more interested in being SG's, than PG's. That will probably change.
I don't know because the Triangle is based on all five players passing so I think it's just coincidence that Hassell led them in assists. He is not noted as a great passer, but the Triangle is an "equal opportunity" offense that enables anyone to tally a great number of assists if the right players are in the right spots.
