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Ex-Lakers coach says current players not smart enough to run this legendary offense

Former Lakers guard and head coach Byron Scott believes the triangle offense won't work in today's NBA because players aren't smart enough.

The legendary triangle offense was one of the reasons the Chicago Bulls built their dynasty in the 90s.

But nowadays, it's nowhere to be seen in the NBA, with more five-out, pick-and-roll-heavy offenses taking over the league.

Former Lakers legendary player and coach Byron Scott believes the reason for this is the basketball IQ of the current players, saying the players are simply not smart enough to run this offense.

"When you're running the triangle or you're running what we call the Princeton offense back in the day, if you got players who have a high basketball IQ, like you said, you ain't got to call s***," Scott said on his Fast Break podcast. "Cause the defense dictates what you going to run."

"And so if you got players who are smart, they figure that s*** out in a heartbeat," Scott said.

"And again, like you said, if you're going to pressure us, we would just go farther back out. Now we going to open up the court that much more. So now you got set up to back door cuts and everything else."

Credit AP – Scanpix

"So it made it so much more difficult for teams to guard you because, like you said, you can call one action," Scott continued.

"We would, like you said, we would say same side. Okay. So you take away that pass to the corner. We just swing it back up top. We got a two-man game over here with a double pin down on the weak side."

"And it's reads is all it is it's reads," Scott added. "And I think one of the reasons they say it won't work today, players aren't smart enough."

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