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Head coach Phil Jackson, with help from assistant coach Tex Winter, won 11 NBA Finals with the triangle offense. Jackson coached the Bulls from 1989–1998. He next served as the head coach of the Lakers twice, first from 1999–2004, and then from 2005–2011. The Chicago Bulls under Jackson won six championships in the 1990s playing in the triangle. His first three title-winning teams in Chicago featured superstars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Jackson's later three titles with the Bulls came with Jordan, Pippen, and fellow superstar Dennis Rodman. Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers won five championships employing the triangle. His first three Lakers championship squads fielded superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, while his last two title teams saw him pair Bryant with fellow All-Star Pau Gasol.
The triangle offense was used very effectively by the Bulls during the 1995–96 season. Jordan, back at the helm for the team in his first full season since coming out of retirement, won his fourth NBA MVP award. He also finished the season as the league's leading scorer for the 8th time. The Bulls recorded a then NBA-record 72–10 season en route to what was then their fourth NBA championship. Jackson won his first (and only) NBA Coach of the Year Award for his efforts during his team's record-breaking season. Overall, the Bulls won six NBA titles during the 1990s, and the team is considered to be one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.
When Phil Jackson retired as a head coach at the end of the 2010–2011 season, he finished his career with over 1000 victories over the course of his coaching career, regular season and playoff games combined. Jackson, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and O'Neal are all Hall of Famers. Kobe Bryant will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in the 2020 class. Tex Winter earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions to basketball involving the triangle offense. He was an assistant for both the Bulls and Lakers on the first nine of Jackson's 11 championship teams, and served as a consultant to the Lakers on the final two.
Tim Cone, the current head coach of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, continued the movement in triangle offense and brought it in the PBA in 1989, thus aiding him to win a league-record 23 championships with three different franchises.
The Blocker-Mover or Wheel offense is an offensive scheme used in basketball, primarily, college basketball. The offense was popularized by Dick Bennett when he was the coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Washington State.
Now used by teams like Virginia and San Diego State, the Blocker-Mover offense consists of two "blockers" and three "movers." The offensive scheme usually works in pairs. A blocker is paired with a mover, but the blockers must stay on their sides of the floor. One blocker stays on the strong side of the floor in between the key and the three-point line where the other blocker remains on their side of the floor between the key and the three-point line. The movers use the screens to create separation and find open shots, or drive to the hoop.
The blockers are usually forwards and centers. Blockers usually are under the three-point line (on the wings) and are always looking to set screens for movers. By setting a screen for a mover, the blocker seeks to free their teammate for a shot. However, the screener usually gets open themselves when their defender is forced to help on the screen. Because of the over help by the opposing defenders, blockers often get easy points near the basket off of post-ups or slips.
The movers are usually guards because they have to be well-conditioned because they are in constant motion, moving all over the court seeking scoring opportunities to score. The movers are usually the team’s best scorers. Also, they utilize screens in hopes of breaking free from defenders for open shots. Movers must be agile and intelligent cutters who can read opposing defense properly. Rarely, movers may also screen for other movers.
The pindown screen usually creates a lot of space and open shots for the movers on the wings. If the blocker can shoot three-pointers, they can pop out after they set a pindown screen to have a wide-open attempt if the defense over-commits to the pass. The flare screen doesn't create as much separation as the pindown screen, but can still be effective off the boomerang pass concept.
The scheme doesn't work well when the players don't know who they're paired up with. It also doesn't work well when the movers get bad angles off of the screens, forcing in confusion and turnovers. A well-coached team can counter the Blocker-Mover by switching everything, but it only works if the players are around the same size, creating no mismatches.
Box-and-one defense is a type of defense used in basketball. The box-and-one defense is a hybrid between a man-to-man defense (in which each defensive player is responsible for marking a player on the other team) and a zone defense (in which each defensive player is responsible for guarding an area of the court).
In a box-and-one defense, four players play zone defense, and align themselves in a box protecting the basket, with typically the two larger (or frontcourt) players playing directly under the basket, and the two smaller (or backcourt) players playing towards the foul line. The fifth defensive player in a box-and-one defense plays man-to-man defense, typically marking the best offensive player on the other team.
A box-and-one defense is usually used against teams with one dominant scoring threat. The idea is to try to shut that player down by forcing them to score against a dedicated man-to-man player, and a supporting zone. Players such as Allen Iverson and Ray Allen often faced box-and-one defensive schemes while competing for Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut, respectively.
One variation is the "diamond-and-one defense", where the four players in the box are arranged in a diamond pattern (one under the basket, two between the basket and foul line, and the fourth at the foul line). Another variation is the triangle-and-two defense, in which three defenders play zone defense while the remaining two play man-to-man defense.
The biggest weakness of a box-and-one defense is its vulnerability to a pass to the middle of the "box". As there is no defensive player responsible for this area of the court, offensive teams are able to exploit the gap. A pass to the middle of the box or to the top of the box will generally yield a short-range shot from inside the key. Or, it will “collapse” the box, causing the four zone defenders to fall inside the key and, upon a second pass, yielding a wide open and uncontested look from the perimeter. It is for this reason that the box-and-one defense is not often seen in professional leagues.
The Raptors once again used this defense in the 2020 NBA Playoffs during the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics. Throughout the series, the Raptors employed the defense again against Jayson Tatum in Game 4 and Kemba Walker in Game 6, winning both games. The box-and-one was used again in Game 7, but the Raptors ultimately lost the deciding game.
This strategy is also used in a man down situation in lacrosse. When a team has a penalty and is down a man, the team will send out a Long Stick Midfielder to add to the three Long Stick defensemen. As well there is one short stick midfielder. The Long Sticks make a tight box in front of the goal with the short stick on the crease. The four long sticks will play zone defense, with the closest man to the ball playing man to man, and the farthest splitting two offensemen. Every time the ball is passed the formation rotates to the next man. The short stick will play man to man if there is an attackman on the crease, otherwise he will join the rotation.
This strategy is also used in the sport of ultimate frisbee, which relies on defenses sometimes similar to basketball in its mixture of man and zone formats. In ultimate, the box-and-one defense is usually incorporated into a defensive strategy called the "cup", where 3 other players play a zone around the player in possession of the disc. If the boxed player is a handler (similar to a point guard in basketball) in possession of the disc, the cup will include the boxed player temporarily in their zone.
A motion offense is a category of offensive scheme used in basketball. Motion offenses use player movement, often as a strategy to exploit the quickness of the offensive team or to neutralize a size advantage of the defense.
Motion offenses are different from continuity offenses in that they follow no fixed repeating pattern. Instead, a motion offense is free-flowing and relatively unrestricted, though following a set of rules. Some examples of basic rules that are commonly used are:
Instead of relying on set plays, Knight's offense is designed to react to the defense. His motion emphasized post players setting screens and perimeter players passing the ball until a teammate becomes open for an uncontested lay-up or jump shot. Players are required to be unselfish and disciplined and must be effective in setting and using screens to get open.
Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The various styles of the fast break–derivative of the original created by Frank Keaney–are seen as the best method of providing action and quick scores. A fast break may result from cherry picking.
In a typical fast-break situation, the defending team obtains the ball and passes it to the fastest player, who sets up the fast break. That player (usually the smaller point guard, in the case of basketball) then speed-dribbles the ball up the court with several players trailing on the wings. He then either passes it to another player for quick scoring or takes the shot himself. If contact is made between him and a defender from behind while on a fast break, an unsportsmanlike foul is called. Recognition, speed, ball-handling skills, and decision making are critical to the success of a fast break.
In basketball, fast breaks are often the result of good defensive play such as a steal, obtaining the ball off a block, or a missed shot by the opposing team and a rebound, where the defending team takes possession of the ball and the other team has not adjusted.
A fast break can sometimes lead to an alley-oop if there are more offensive players than defenders.
In basketball, if the fast break did not lead to a basket and an offensive rebound is obtained and put back quickly, this is called a secondary break.
A fly fast break (also known as a one out fast break, the technical term for the play) is a basketball move in which after a shot is attempted, the player who is guarding the shooter does not box out or rebound but instead runs down the court looking for a pass from a rebounding teammate for a quick score.
How to play the Fly fast break.
The coach designates a certain guard or guards to carry out the Fly fast break. This is often the guard that defends the opponents' shooting guard. When the designated opposing guard makes an attempted shot. The defending guard (referred to as 'Fly') will contest the shot but then sprints down the court to the other team's key. When the defending team obtains the rebound or has to inbound the ball (after a made basket), they throw the ball into the other team's key, knowing that there is a 'Fly' waiting to catch the ball and score.
Breaking down the Fly fast break can be done in two ways:
The 'Fly' is a term in fly fishing where the actions of this type of fishing are similar to the actions of the basketball player in Fly fast break.
Wheel offense is an offensive strategy in basketball, developed in the late 1950s by Garland F. Pinholster at the Oglethorpe University. It is a kind of continuity offense in which players move around in a circular pattern to create good scoring opportunities. The wheel offense is a popular offensive play, frequently used by teams from middle school to college levels because it can effectively work against any defense, including zone defense and man-to-man defense.
There are various ways to run the wheel offense. The original form of the wheel offense developed by Garland Pinholster starts with a 2-1-2 formation, where two players stand edge by edge at the free throw lane.
The wheel offense is very advantageous to use. First it is very flexible and easy to set up. All the positions in the wheel offense are interchangeable (i.e. the point guard doesn’t have to be the first cutter).This enables the ball-handler to start the wheel offense from either wing without the other players changing their positions. With its flexibility, the wheel offense blends well with both half-court attack and fast break.
Once the play is set up, the wheel offense can work effectively against both man-to-man defense and zone defense. The various cuts and double screens will create open shot opportunities if the defense fails to react quickly. Even if the defensive players manage to cover all the cutting offensive players, they are forced to switch match-ups. Switching match-ups often causes mismatches between offensive players and defensive players, and when mismatch happens, the offensive team often take advantage of it to score. Also, when a team runs the wheel offense, their game tempo will be very hard to disrupt.
The wheel offense can also integrate other offensive plays. Pinholster's Oglethorpe team would often run some concealment plays before they start the wheel offense. This made the wheel offense very hard to detect, and they could catch the defense off guard. During the play, when the wheel offense is in the 1-3-1 formation, it can also switch to other plays based on the same formation. This greatly increases the variation of the wheel offense, making it very hard to defend.
Moreover, the wheel offense is very helpful for team-building. Because the wheel offense demands every player to have good ball-handling and shooting skills, each player is forced to develop more fully. In the wheel offensive play, five players play as a team rather than individuals. Thus practicing and running the wheel offense is very helpful for developing a team spirit among the players.
There are a few conditions need to be satisfied before using the wheel offense. Some are listed below.
Player tracking refers to technologies used to track players and the ball (if applicable) in various sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) first tracked all games at the start of the 2013-14 NBA season. Second Spectrum is the current Official Optical Tracking Provider of the NBA and began league-wide tracking in the 2017-18 NBA season, replacing STATS SportVU which previously held the league-wide contract.
The NBA (via Second Spectrum) uses an optical tracking system that leverages multiple cameras placed in the catwalks in all 29 NBA arenas. The cameras receive and update data at a rate of 25 frames per second. The cameras feed the data into proprietary software, where computer vision algorithms extract positional data for all players on the court and the ball.
The NBA provides a variety of statistics to the public based on the data produced by player tracking to the public on its website. This includes information for players covering categories such as drives, defensive impact, catch and shoot, passing, touches, pull up shooting, rebounding, shooting efficiency, speed, and post ups among others. Similar information is available for teams.
In addition, more sophisticated and detailed tools are available to teams and broadcasters that are not currently available to the public.
Player tracking systems introduce many new statistics, automate the collection of data and provide precision which would be impossible without the use of camera technology and tracking software.
Statistics collected, and available to view during the game and throughout the season include (all statistics are per player):
Match-up zone defense is a type of defense used in the game of basketball. It is commonly referred to as a "combination" defense, as it combines certain aspects of man-to-man defense and zone defense.
College head coaches Jim Boeheim and John Chaney were advocates of the match-up zone defense.
With the match-up zone defense, the on-ball defender will play tight as if he was playing man-to-man. At the same time, the zone away from the ball will resemble "help-side" man-to-man defense. This creates one of the advantages for the match-up zone, as it may confuse the opponent as to what defense you are actually playing. The match-up zone also resembles a "switching man-to-man" defense, where the big men stay down low in the post and the guards stay around the perimeter. When asked to describe Chaney's match-up zone, Saint Joseph's Hawks coach Phil Martelli replied: "In college basketball, there's the Pete Carril Princeton offense, the John Chaney Match up Zone defense, then everything else. Those are the only two truly unique syles designed and being used today."
The triangle-and-two defense is a particular type of defense used in basketball.
The triangle-and-two defense is a hybrid between a man-to-man defense in which each defensive player is responsible for marking a player on the other team, and a zone defense in which each defensive player is responsible for guarding an area of the court.
In a triangle-and-two defense, three players play zone defense, and align themselves in a triangle protecting the basket, with typically the power forward and center playing directly under the basket, and the small forward playing towards the foul line.
The shooting guard and point guard in a triangle-and-two defense play man-to-man defense, typically marking the opposing team's best offensive players on the perimeter.
The biggest weakness of a triangle-and-two defense is its vulnerability to cutters through the lane, and also against good passing from the forward spots. Teams with good passers on the floor are often able to easily find flaws in this defense.
One variation of the triangle-and-two defense is the diamond-and-one defense, where the four players in the box are arranged in a diamond pattern (one under the basket, two between the basket and foul line, and the fourth at the foul line). Another variation is the box-and-one defense, in which four defenders play zone defense in a box shape around the key, while the remaining defender plays man-to-man defense.
Main reasons a team would want to play man-to-man are:
Some risks and downsides of playing it:
Man-to-man defense is still the primary defensive scheme in the NBA, and some coaches use it exclusively.
The shuffle offense is an offensive strategy in basketball, developed in the early 1950s by Bruce Drake at the University of Oklahoma. It was later used by Bob Spear, who was the first head basketball coach of the United States Air Force Academy in 1957–71. The shuffle offense has all five players rotate in each of the five shuffle positions. This offense would be an option for a team that has good ball-handlers but is not blessed with height or a strong dominant post player (which may be why Spear used it at Air Force, which has a height restriction).
Coach Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also taught the shuffle offense.
The pick and roll (also called a ball screen or screen and roll) in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then moves toward the basket (rolls) to receive a pass. In the NBA, the play came into vogue in the 1990s and has developed into the league's most common offensive action. There are however many ways in which the defense can also counter the offensive screen.
The pick and roll is often employed by a shorter guard handling the ball and a taller forward or center setting the screen; if the taller defender switches to guard the ballhandler, then the offensive team can have favorable mismatches. The shorter guard has a speed advantage over the taller defender, while the taller forward/center has a size advantage over the shorter defender.
A successful pick and roll play may result in the screener being in position to receive a pass with a clear path for an easy shot, with the chance of drawing a foul as other defenders move toward the play to try to prevent penetration. It may alternately lead to the ballhandler being momentarily without a defender, and thus free to pass to any open teammate, or take an uncontested shot, which greatly improves the chance of scoring, again with the chance of drawing a foul as the screened defender hurries to get back into the play.
The success of the strategy depends largely on the ballhandler, who must recognize the situation quickly and make a decision whether to take the shot, pass to the screener who is rolling (if the defender switches) or pass to another open teammate (if other defenders come to help). The screener also must recognize the open spaces of the court to roll to and be alert to receive the pass and finish the play.
Variations of the pick and roll are the "pick and pop" (or "pick and fade"), where the screener moves for an open jump shot instead of rolling to the basket, or the "pick and slip", where the screener fakes setting a screen before slipping behind the defender to accept the pass.
The pick and pop is an offensive play that is a derivative of the classic pick and roll. Instead of rolling toward the basket, however, the player setting the pick moves ("pops") to an open area of the court to receive a pass from the ballhandler for a jump shot.
The premise of the two plays is the same: a ballhandler uses a teammate's pick to attract the attention of two defensive players to free his teammate for a scoring opportunity. A successful pick and pop relies on a ballhandler who demands constant defensive attention and a teammate with an accurate jumpshot or a layup if by the rim.
According to Synergy Sports Technology, use of the pick and roll in the NBA rose from 15.6% of total plays in the 2004–05 NBA season to 18.6% in the 2008–09 NBA season.
The pick and roll is also used extensively in box lacrosse, the sport played in the National Lacrosse League.
Nellie Ball is an offensive strategy in basketball developed by NBA head coach Don "Nellie" Nelson. It is a fast-paced run-and-gun offense relying on smaller, more athletic players who can create mismatches by outrunning their opponents. A true center is usually not needed to run this type of offense. A large volume of three-point attempts is also a feature of Nellie Ball. This offense is most effective against teams that do not have the athleticism or shooting ability to keep up with the fast pace.
While coaching the Dallas Mavericks, Nelson employed Nellie Ball once again, utilizing the All-Star trio of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki. Nelson often played Nowitzki, a natural power forward, at the center position, placing him at the three-point line in order to stretch out the defense. Nelson's trio of star players spearheaded the Mavericks' transformation into a promising young franchise capable of reaching the NBA Playoffs.
Avery Johnson, Nelson's protégé and successor in Dallas, had abandoned Nellie Ball in favor of a more traditional offensive lineup, which reached the 2006 NBA Finals. En route to reaching the finals, Johnson's Mavericks defeated Mike D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns, the latter using an up-tempo style centered on former Mavs superstar and 2-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Although the Mavericks lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals that year, Johnson won the 2006 NBA Coach of the Year Award for making Dallas a better defensive team while still keeping their up-tempo style of offense.
Further validation of the Nellie Ball formula was served when the Golden State Warriors, a team Nelson had coached twice, won the 2015 NBA Championship. The Warriors, who were now led by head coach Steve Kerr, successfully closed out the 2015 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers using a Nellie Ball-style "Death Lineup" of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. In 2017 & 2018, Golden State won back-to-back NBA titles. This time, the high-scoring Warriors were powered by Curry, Thompson, Green, and fellow superstar Kevin Durant. Additionally, multiple teams have adopted different variations of Nellie Ball, with point forwards orchestrating some of the most prolific offenses in the current NBA.
The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy which emphasizes constant motion, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril, though its roots may be traced back to Franklin “Cappy” Cappon, who coached Princeton in the late 1930s, and Bernard "Red" Sarachek, who coached at Yeshiva University from 1938 to 1977.
The offense is designed for a unit of five players who can each pass, shoot, and dribble at an above-average level. These players hope to isolate and exploit a mismatch using these skills. Positions become less important and on offense there is no point guard, shooting guard, small forward or power forward. However, there are certain rules that players running this offense are expected to follow.
The offense usually starts out with four players outside the three-point arc with one player at the top of the key. The ball is kept in constant motion through passing until either a mismatch allows a player to cut to the basket or a player without the ball cuts toward the unoccupied area under and around the basket, and is passed the ball for a layup. The post player is a very important player in the offense. He sets up in the high post and draws attention to his positioning. When the ball is received in to the post the players main objective is to find back door cutters or defenders who have fallen asleep on the weak side.
The hallmark of the offense is the backdoor pass, where a player on the wing suddenly moves in towards the basket, receives a bounce pass from a guard on the perimeter, and (if done correctly) finds himself with no defenders between him and a layup. Alternatively, when the defensive team attempts to pack the paint to prevent backdoor cuts, the offense utilizes three point shots from the perimeter. All five players in the offense—including the center—should be competent at making a three-point attempt, further spreading the floor, and not allowing the defense to leave any player unattended.
The offense is often a very slowly developing one, relying on a high number of passes, and is often used in college basketball by teams facing opponents with superior athletic talent in order to maintain a low-scoring game (believing that a high-scoring game would favor the athletically superior opponent). As a result, Princeton has led the nation in scoring defense 19 times including in every year from 1989 to 2000.
During his tenure as head coach of Princeton (1967–1996), Pete Carril compiled a 514–261 record, a .658 winning percentage. His teams won 13 Ivy League championships during his 29-year tenure with the Tigers, and received 11 NCAA Tournament bids and two National Invitation Tournament berths. Princeton captured the NIT title in 1975. Perhaps Carril's greatest win was his final upset victory on a backdoor cut to give Princeton the win 43 - 41 over the 1995 defending NCAA champion UCLA. The win extended Coach Carril's retirement by one game and is ranked as one of the best NCAA upsets of all time. Former Princeton coach Sydney Johnson and his predecessors Bill Carmody, John Thompson III, and Joe Scott have all employed the Princeton offense.
After his retirement from Princeton in 1996, Pete Carril served as an assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Sacramento Kings until 2006. During his time with Sacramento, Carril helped Rick Adelman, who became the Kings' head coach in 1998, implement the Princeton offense. Carril returned to the Kings during the 2008–2009 season as a consultant.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, New Jersey Nets, and Washington Wizards also have run versions of the Princeton offense. in the National Basketball Association. Rick Adelman introduced a modified version of Pete Carril's system to the Houston Rockets during the 2007–2008 season. Coach Alvin Gentry also implemented an altered version of it that shows similarities to the triangle offense during the Phoenix Suns′s 2012–13 season. Eddie Jordan implemented the Princeton offense as coach of the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2008) and of the Philadelphia 76ers from 2009 to 2010.
Besides Princeton, some of the NCAA Division I college basketball teams best known for using the offense are:
NCAA Division II colleges that have used the Princeton offense include:
NCAA Division III colleges that have used the Princeton offense include:
NAIA colleges that have used the Princeton offense include:
High school basketball teams that have used the Princeton offense include:
Amateur Athletic Union, Youth Basketball of America, and United States Basketball Association teams that have used the Princeton offense include:
Hack-a-Shaq is a basketball defensive strategy used in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson adapted the strategy of committing intentional fouls (originally a clock management strategy) to the purpose of lowering opponents' scoring. He directed players to commit personal fouls throughout the game against selected opponents who shot free throws poorly.
Nelson initially used the strategy against Dennis Rodman, a star power forward for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. However, the strategy acquired its name for Nelson's subsequent use of it against Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal.
The term was coined when O'Neal played at LSU and during his NBA tenure with the Orlando Magic. At that time, the term referred simply to especially physical defense against O'Neal. Teams sometimes defended him by bumping, striking or pushing him "after" he received the ball to deny him an easy layup or slam dunk. Because of O'Neal's poor free throw shooting, teams did not fear the consequences of committing personal fouls. However, once Nelson's off-the-ball fouling strategy became prevalent, the term "Hack-a-Shaq" was applied to this new tactic, and the original usage was largely forgotten.
The name is sometimes altered to reflect the player being fouled, for example "Hack-a-Howard" when used against Dwight Howard, or "Hack-a-DJ" for DeAndre Jordan.
Committing repeated intentional personal fouls is a longstanding defensive strategy used by teams that are trailing near the end of the game. Basketball, unique among major world sports, permits intentional fouling to gain a strategic advantage; in other sports, it is considered an unfair act or professional foul.
Once the fouling team enters the penalty situation, the fouled team is awarded free throws. The typical NBA player makes a high enough percentage of his free throws that, over time, opponents' possessions that end with free throws will yield more points than possessions in which the opponents try to score a field goal. Even the highest-scoring NBA teams average only about 1.1 points per possession. Giving such a team two free throws on each possession, the poorest free throw shooting teams make around 70% of their free throws and would score 1.4 points per possession. So intentionally fouling tends not to reduce the opponent's score.
However, fouls stop the game clock. If a team is trailing with time running out, intentional fouling may be the only hope. In normal game play, the opponents will stall and run out the clock, even at the expense of failing to score, to the extent that the shot clock allows. The trailing team fouls intentionally to end the opponents' possession as soon as possible, leaving more time on the clock for the opposing team to respond to any score. It may also hope that fatigue and pressure affect the ability of the free-throw shooter.
When this strategy was originally employed in the NBA, the trailing team often made a point of fouling the opposition player who was the poorest free throw shooter in the game at that time, even if that player did not possess the ball. However, fouling "off the ball" became a problem for the league when Wilt Chamberlain—a player of superstar caliber but an atrocious free throw shooter—entered the NBA.
Wilt Chamberlain and the off-the-ball foul rule.
Wilt Chamberlain was such a dominant player that he was sure to be on the floor near the end of any close game. However, he was such a poor free throw shooter (51%) as to be the natural target of a strategy of intentional fouling. The opposition was eager to send Chamberlain to the free throw line, and Chamberlain wished to avoid doing so. This led to a game of tag developing away from the basketball, players chasing Chamberlain as he tried to avoid being fouled.
The NBA enacted a new rule on off-the-ball fouls—personal fouls against an offensive player who neither has the ball nor is trying to obtain it. On such fouls within the last two minutes of the game or in overtime, the offensive team is awarded the usual number of free throws and then possession of the ball. The new rule removed the benefit of fouling to gain possession of the ball and limited late-game intentional fouls to the ball handler.
The current version of the rule contains an additional disincentive to off-the-ball fouls: The free throws need not be attempted by the player who was fouled; the fouled team can choose as shooter any player on the court at the time.
The reason they have that rule is that fouling someone off-the-ball looks foolish . . . Some of the funniest things I ever saw were players that used to chase [Wilt Chamberlain] like it was hide-and-seek. Wilt would run away from people, and the league changed the rule based on how silly that looked.
There are several late-game situations where committing an isolated intentional foul makes sense. For a team trailing, late in the game, stopping the clock is a higher priority than keeping the opponents from scoring. In other situations, intentional fouling does not make sense because it typically lets the opponents score more points.
Intentional fouling every time the opponents get the ball was an innovation of Don Nelson in the late 1990s as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. He theorized that, if the opponents played an especially bad free throw shooter, intentionally fouling him might hold down his team's points per possession, compared to a conventional defense against them. Nelson used the strategy throughout the game, when the late-game penalties for off-the-ball fouls did not apply, such as the ball being given back to the fouled team.

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