The over-arching theme of a Mike Young offense is that everyone needs to be able to pass, dribble and shoot, as well as set and read a proper screen. That seems like a pretty elementary view of basketball, but Young doesn’t hide players on the floor who can’t perform those duties. He will recruit players who have a high basketball IQ over freak athletes, as he values his system more than an individual player.

The hallmark of a good offense is one that moves the ball quickly and involves action on both sides of the floor to stretch and stress a defense to the max. Mike Young’s offenses do both of these things at a high level. While a pass is being made on one side of the floor, a screen, a read and a cut are happening concurrently on the other side of the floor. This keeps a defense from providing help with off-ball defenders, as they are more concerned with keeping track of their moving matchup than the side of the floor with the ball on it. That open space created is where Mike Young’s playmakers go to work. If you can shoot, but cannot dribble or pass, it becomes harder to attack gaps with the ball in your hands. Five players need to stress the defense, in different ways, at the same time.

Another hallmark of a good offense is one that has principles as opposed to plays. Buzz Williams had a ton of plays. It takes the guess work out of his players’ hands and puts it into the hands of the coaches to come up with counters when a defense changes how they defend certain actions. Mike Young’s offense is predicated on principles. He teaches his players how to play within the principles of his offense, showing them the different options they have to counter a defensive change made or a cheating defender. This makes the offense evolve and change much quicker on the fly, and much harder to defend.

The downside is that you need to have the right players in place to understand the system. It takes a long time to teach that type of system to players who have a high basketball IQ; it will take even longer to teach to players who aren’t as adept at making the proper reads. When an entire roster is brand new, it is a blessing and a curse. It is a curse in that it will make for some very frustrating times for both the players and coaches as they learn the proper reads. It is a blessing, though, as the majority of the roster will play their whole careers in the system, and have a much higher ceiling than those who have limited time left in their eligibility.

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