What is a motion offense in basketball? The motion offense is a way of getting a good open shot by continuous movement on a basketball court. The motion offense is one of the most widely used styles of offenses...
The motion offense is one of the most widely used styles of offenses in basketball today. Built on the premise of player movement, passing, cutting and setting screens, a motion offense allows a team to be flexible in the way they attack the basket.
Current Tulsa 66ers head coach of the National Basketball Association's Development League, Joey Meyer has called and defended motion offenses thousands of times and said that the different options the motion offense provides is what sets it apart.
"Most of the time teams run set plays," he said. "And the idea on a set play, you know you're going here and he's going there and everybody knows what is going on.
"But also, the negative is that the defense knows too if you scout them," he added. "You know that this guy is going to cross screen here or down screen here. But with the motion offense, it's more open court and read the defense. So, instead of having set places to go, it's more of just basic rules which give the defense something harder to adjust too."
The basic rules of the motion offense are simple: spacing, player movement, cutting, passing and setting screens. By following these steps, most times an offense should be able to get a decent shot at the basket. But, not all basketball teams are built to run the motion offense. With so much movement and precision passing it takes to run the motion, all five players on the court have to be able to handle the basketball in some form.
"When you run set plays, you can kind of eliminate certain players or positions to handle the ball," said Meyer. "But when you run the motion you have to have five or four guys that can handle the basketball."
Motion offenses can be run with almost any kind of set. Meaning, you can start with three guys out and two in the post, four guys out one in the post or even all five guys out. What the players must remember when running the motion is not to rush the play. You have to have time to let the screens develop and allow for open shots. Also, perimeter players should always catch the basketball in triple threat position. That means when they come off a screen in a motion offense, they should be in position to take a shot, dribble to the basket or make another pass.
The motion will only work if there is spacing on the floor. Teams are more likely to get good open shots running the motion offense if defenders are spaced far apart enough where they can provide help defense.
Meyer said he thinks the motion offense can be very productive when run properly, but the time it takes to develop a good shot limits the motion in the NBA. "It's a little harder to run in the NBA because of the 24 second shot clock," he said. "And it's a little harder to isolate the top individual talents that you have, but there have been a lot of people who have been very successful in college running the motion offense. And that's because it's very hard to defend."
