During this past season, nearly every basketball fan in the country went into semi shock when they heard that a 5'10 sophomore named Jack Taylor from Grinnell College in Iowa scored 138 points in a single game (58 in the first half and 80 in the second half).
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Overview of the grinell offense and jack taylor scoring 138 points in a single basketball game
1. 1
Overview of the Grinell Offense and Jack Taylor Scoring 138 Points in a Single Game-HoopSkills.com
Overview of the Grinell Offense and Jack
Taylor Scoring 138 Points in a Single Game
by Coach Dave Stricklin
http://hoopskills.com
During this past season, nearly every basketball fan in
the country went into semi shock when they heard
that a 5'10 sophomore named Jack Taylor from
Grinnell College in Iowa scored 138 points in a single
game (58 in the first half and 80 in the second half).
Now we could probably debate for hours on
questions such as "Why did his coach still have him in
the game when his team was ahead by 70 points?" or
"Why did the opposing coach let that happen? Did he
switch defenses? Switch defenders? Try a Box and 1?
Put two defenders on him? Try denying him the ball?
Etc." Instead, however, this article is going to briefly
discuss the Grinnell offensive system that helped
produce such ridiculous numbers.
Several years ago Coach Dave Arsenault found himself in a dilemma that is
familiar to many NCAA Division III programs, who are not allowed to offer athletic
scholarships.
Since his program was losing much more often than they were winning, Coach
Arsenault was having trouble finding enough players to field a full roster.
Players who found themselves outside of the normal playing rotation of 7-8
players would just quit and those who could see the writing on the wall would
refuse to play in the first place. It became obvious that the only thing worse than
playing on a horrible team was sitting the bench on a horrible team!
2. 2
Overview of the Grinell Offense and Jack Taylor Scoring 138 Points in a Single Game-HoopSkills.com
In an effort to get things turned around Coach Arsenault implemented what he
calls "The System" which is somewhat similar to Paul Westhead's Loyola
Marymount Fast Break but only ten times faster.
Here are the system's keys to success:
Grinnell takes at least 25 shots more than its opponent
Grinnell takes at least 94 shots over the course of the game
The ball should be shot every 12 seconds, or quicker if possible
At least half of these shots are three-point attempts
Grinnell rebounds at least 33% of its own missed shots
Grinnell forces their opponent into at least 32 turnovers
Originally, Coach Arsenault divided his squad into three separate "teams" of five
players each. Each team had a point guard, a shooter, a post player who could
and would sprint every possession, and two athletes. Likewise each team of five
had its own quick hitting offense based on the strengths of its players, especially
its shooter who always got the first two looks at the basket.
They ran this one play each and every time and if it didn't produce an open look
for their shooter then anyone was free to take the first available open shot.
Defensively, the Grinnell teams pressed nonstop trying to get steals and creating
turnovers but were satisfied with giving up wide open shots as long as they were
taken quickly.
What made the system unique was that the groups were evenly divided in terms
of skill level and personnel and they rotated in and out of the game approximately
every minute. Play one minute and then rest two minutes while the other two
groups played. Everyone plays. Everyone has the green light to shoot and there's
no such thing as a bad shot.
The focus was no longer on winning and losing but instead was on getting more
shots up than an opponent. The theory was, and still is, that if Grinnell can get
twice as many shots as an opponent then they don't need to shoot as well to win,
especially if the majority of their shots were three point attempts.
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Overview of the Grinell Offense and Jack Taylor Scoring 138 Points in a Single Game-HoopSkills.com
Of course, the system has been tweaked and adjusted over the years to fit
particular personnel, (Jack Taylor, the player who scored 138 points, played 36
minutes, which is impossible using Arsenault's original substation pattern of
constantly rotating five in and five out approximately every minute.) and the
results in terms of wins and losses have been good but not great. But Grinnell is
winning more than they are losing; they are nationally recognized and Coach
Arsenault doesn't have any trouble filling out his roster any more. In fact he is
currently the only coach in the country who can honestly tell a potential recruit,
"Hey kid, come to Grinnell and you just might become the next Jack Taylor!"