Winter Behind Bulls’ Success Chicago Assistant Architect Of Triangle Offense

Michael Jordan dribbled to the right baseline, ignored both Luc Longley in the post and Scottie Pippen at the top of the key, and took a fade-away jumper with a defender in his face.

The ball swished through the net, 24,000 fans cheered, teammates traded high-fives. Jordan had done it again for the Chicago Bulls, and everybody was happy.

Everybody, that is, except the gray-haired guy sitting next to head coach Phil Jackson.

Tex Winter frowned.

The principles of his famed “triangle” offense had been violated. No player, not even the best, is supposed to do that.

“He wants the game played right,” Jordan said of Winter, the Bulls’ longtime assistant coach. “His insistence about that is a big reason why we’ve won all these years.”

When the NBA playoffs start next week, the Bulls will be heavily favored to win their fifth title under the Jackson-Winter regime. And Tex’s triangle offense has become almost as big a part of Chicago sports lore as Jordan’s jumpers and dunks.

Now in his 50th season of coaching at the professional or major-college level, Winter is regarded as one of basketball’s top innovators.

“An incredible man,” said Bulls assistant Frank Hamblen, who coached under Winter with the Houston Rockets 25 years ago. “At 75 years old, he still gets fired up for each game, each practice. He’s still such a ball of fire - especially when his precious offense isn’t run properly.”

It’s hard to believe that before Jackson replaced Doug Collins in 1989, Winter had been relegated to taking notes on practices in the corner of the gym.

“I felt pretty useless,” Winter said. “I was ready to retire.”

Jackson, who often discussed basketball philosophy with Winter into the wee hours, wasn’t about to let that happen.

“I saw a man who could coach offense, plain and simple,” Jackson said. “Tex sees everything with a purist’s eye. He doesn’t care if it’s Michael Jordan or the 12th man. Nobody’s bigger than the system.”

How it works

The triangle, also known as the triple-post, has exploded the myth that NBA teams need dominant centers and outstanding point guards to win titles. The Bulls have had neither, yet they have won four championships in six years and have had the two best regular seasons in league history. No other champion had been built around an off-guard.

And even though no other franchise had an off-guard like Michael Jordan, the fact is that Jordan didn’t win a title under Kevin Loughery, Stan Albeck or Collins, his first three head coaches with the Bulls. It wasn’t until Jordan’s seventh season, the second in the offense espoused by Winter and Jackson, that Chicago prevailed.

“Basically, we form a triangle on the sideline,” Winter said. “One player has the ball up high, another is near the baseline and a third is in the post. The other two players balance out the court on the other side.

“The first option is to feed the post, and the post player’s role is as a passer first. Other players make specific cuts, sometimes receiving screens from their teammates. Someone will be open if everybody reads the defense and goes to the right place. If the post feels he has the best shot, then he should take it.”

In the Bulls’ offense, the post is not synonymous with the center. The 6-foot-6 Jordan posts up as often as the 7-foot-2 Longley.

Jordan is taller and stronger than most opposing guards, and he possesses the most feared fade-away in basketball. And though he loves to shoot, he is an excellent passer.

Winter’s only NBA head coaching job was with the Houston Rockets from 1971-73. He tried to run his offense there, but it didn’t work because the star wasn’t like Jordan.

“We had trouble because Elvin Hayes was so selfish. The ball would go into him in the post and it never came back out,” Hamblen said. “The biggest thing here is that the best player has bought into the system.”

Jackson said Jordan, the NBA’s career scoring-average leader, “was willing to sacrifice a few points for the good of the team.”

Jordan has learned to like the offense and was disappointed that Winter wasn’t chosen for the Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this year.

“I was leery at first, but you can’t argue with results,” Jordan said.

Sometimes, however, he feels he must take control.

“If nobody else is making shots or if everybody stands around waiting for me to do something,” Jordan said, “I have to take charge.”

Even Winter accepts that.

“He’s the best bailout player I’ve ever seen,” Winter said. “If the 24-second clock is winding down, or if the quarter is about to end, there’s nobody you’d rather have with the ball to bail you out.”

Pippen actually has the ball most of the time for Chicago. A 6-foot-7 forward, he is the closest the Bulls have to a point guard and has led the team in assists for seven straight seasons.

Still, it’s not unusual to see all five players on the court touch the ball on a single possession.

“The triangle is predicated on ball and people movement. And it relies on everyone knowing how to read defenses. We don’t call plays,” Winter said. “There are so many options that it’s difficult to scout, and it’s very different from the isolation game most NBA teams play.”