The Daley Offense

A new SAIT install. Inspired by Bo Ryan's swing offense (Wisconsin, UW-Green Bay) but rebuilt for our two-big identity. Designed by Kurtis McGeachy + Trojan, June 2026. This is a half-court, patient, ball-reversal motion that pairs with our Purdue zoom base. Where zoom is our first action answer, the Daley is our possession-long answer when we need to slow the game, hunt the second-side, and exhaust pack-line defenses.

Diagram legend: White solid = off-ball cut. Blue dashed = dribble. Yellow dashed = pass / DHO. Red bar = screen. Animations loop every 9 seconds.

Lineage and what's new

The Daley honors three Bo Ryan principles:

1. Reverse the ball before you dribble. No bounce until the ball has crossed the lane.
2. Screen the screener. Every perimeter pass is followed by a screen for a teammate, not a basket cut.
3. Patient, patterned, read-based. A skeleton the defense has to defend for 18+ seconds, with reads that punish whichever shortcut they take.

What's new (and why this isn't just swing):

• Two bigs always. Swing is 4-out 1-in. The Daley is 3-out 2-in. Both bigs at the elbows on the alignment, both involved in every reversal.
• The Daley Pivot. Our signature action. On every ball reversal, the strong-side big back-screens the weak-side big, who flashes hard to the new ball-side elbow. That forces a hi-lo read every time the ball changes sides — a feature swing does not have.
• The Echo. When the elbow flash is denied, the flashing big steps out and DHO's with the receiving wing, echoing the reversal into a side PnR. Spain-style, but rhythmically built into the motion.
• No "5 spot" rule. Swing keeps the same 5 in the post. The Daley deliberately swaps which big is "the post" every reversal. Cross-matches the defense, eats their post-defender preference.

The result: a continuous offense where every ball reversal threatens a back-screen, a hi-lo, and an echo PnR. The defense never resets.

Core principles

1. 3-out 2-in alignment. PG up top, two perimeter players in the corners, B4 and B5 at the elbows. Two bigs always on the floor.
2. No dribble until reversal. First two passes must be aerial. Dribble only opens after the ball has crossed the lane at least once.
3. Daley Pivot on every reversal. Strong-side big back-screens, weak-side big flashes to the new ball-side elbow.
4. Pass and screen away. Every perimeter pass is followed by a screen for a teammate. No basket cuts on the perimeter.
5. Echo when denied. When the elbow catch is taken away, the flashing big DHOs with the receiving wing, flowing into a Spain action.
6. 18-22 seconds of clock. Same patience as our zoom base. Push only off live-ball turnovers.

Alignment (base set)

              PG
        B4         B5     (both elbows)
   C                   C  (corners)

PG initiates from the top. B4 (Denault Gabriel) ball-side elbow on entry. B5 (Yopa) opposite elbow. Two perimeter shooters fill the corners. The big at the entry-side elbow becomes the "anchor" for the first reversal.

Signature actions

1. Daley Base — entry and first reversal

The simplest sequence: PG enters the wing, screens away for the opposite corner, the receiving wing reverses to that filling shooter. On the reversal, the Daley Pivot fires.

Reads.

• Wing entry catch + drive (defense over-reacts to the screen-away): attack.
• Wing entry catch + reversal: pass back through PG to the new ball-side wing. The ball has now crossed the lane — dribble unlocks.
• The reversed wing gets the ball with the back-screen and flash already happening — see Daley Pivot below.

No. No basket cuts on the entry. We screen. Wisconsin discipline.

2. The Daley Pivot — the signature

What it is. Every time the ball reverses, the strong-side big sets a back-screen on the weak-side big's defender. The weak-side big flashes hard to the new ball-side elbow. The receiving wing has two simultaneous reads: (a) hit the flashing big at the elbow for a hi-lo to the back-screener sealing on the block, (b) drive past the screen if the back-screener's defender stays attached to the screen action.

Reads (in order).

1. Flashing big at the elbow — clean catch. Throw it. Big looks hi-lo first.
2. Back-screener sealing on the block (his defender helped on the flash). Hi-lo from the elbow.
3. Wing skip to the weak-side corner if both helps come.
4. Wing drive into a 4-on-3 if both bigs are tagged.

Why this is unfair. Defenses scout zoom by chasing the shooter. They scout swing by helping on cuts. The Daley Pivot triggers on the reversal itself, not on a cut or a screen for a shooter, so the off-ball defenders are reading the ball when the back-screen hits. They lose either the flash, the seal, or the corner. There is no defensive answer that protects all three.

3. Echo — when the elbow catch is denied

What it is. The flashing big's defender top-locks the elbow flash. The big reads it, slips the flash, and instead steps out toward the wing for a hand-off. The wing comes off the DHO into a side PnR. The original back-screener now becomes the back-screener on the dropping defender — pure Spain action, but it grew organically out of the Daley Pivot.

Reads.

• vs Drop on the echo PnR: pull-up J at the elbow.
• vs Switch: the now-popping back-screener has a small on him at the top.
• vs Hedge: the screener short-rolls into 4-on-3.

Why we love it. It punishes the most common scout against the Daley Pivot. If the defense top-locks the elbow flash, we get Spain. If they don't, we get hi-lo. They cannot have both.

4. Twins — counter on a skip pass

What it is. When the defense over-helps to the strong side and the corner shooter is wide open, the wing skips it. As soon as the skip leaves the passer's hand, both bigs sprint to set a stagger on the new ball-side. The corner catches and runs up the stagger for a catch-and-shoot or a curl rim attack.

When to call it. Whenever the corner has been ignored for a possession and we want to weaponize the skip. Twins is also our automatic answer to any defense that switches the Daley Pivot — switching means a guard ends up on the popping screener at the top, which leaves a soft seam for the skip to the corner.

5. Hammer Flip — counter when defense scouts the back-screen

What it is. Once the defense has seen the Daley Pivot a few times, the back-screener's defender will start to cheat under the screen. Hammer Flip reads that cheat: the back-screener fakes the back-screen and instead flips to set a hammer screen on the weak-side corner shooter, who lifts to the wing for a wide-open three off a baseline drive. The flashing big becomes the driver, attacking the recovering elbow defender.

Reads.

• Hammer screen lands clean: kick to the lifted corner-to-wing shooter for three.
• Defense top-locks the hammer: corner back-cuts to the rim for the dump-off.
• Defense switches the hammer: the small now on the screener seals in the post.

Coaching point. Hammer Flip is called by the back-screener, not from the bench. The big calls "flip" when he reads his man cheating. Empower the bigs to make the call.

The "no dribble" rule (and how to teach it)

The first two passes must be aerial. The PG cannot dribble out of pressure on the entry. The wing cannot dribble after catching the entry. Dribble is unlocked only after the ball reverses through the lane.

Why. It forces the defense to defend pass-screen-pass-screen, which is the most exhausting sequence in basketball. Every dribble is a rest for the defense. Wisconsin won 50-possession games because they never gave the defense a rest.

How to teach it. First two weeks of install, every practice rep is whistled dead the moment a player dribbles before the reversal. Punish with a sprint or a possession turnover. The rule is rigid for two weeks, then becomes a "default" — players can break it for a clear rim attack on a closeout, but the default is no dribble.

Counters cheat sheet

Drilling (install order)

Week 1: Alignment + reversal + the no-dribble rule.

• 5-on-0: alignment, two-pass aerial reversal, freeze. 20 reps.
• 5-on-2 advantage: scrum drill where the offense must reverse before any dribble. Stop on dribble.
• Outcome: by end of week, the team can run two reversals with no dribble naturally.

Week 2: The Daley Pivot.

• 4-on-0 reps: focus on the back-screen timing and the flash angle.
• 4-on-4 with scout team told to stay base-defensive (no help). Reps both sides of the floor.
• Live 5-on-5 walkthrough. Slow the play down with horns and tags.

Week 3: Echo.

• 3-on-3 reps with scout team instructed to top-lock the elbow flash. Big slips into echo DHO every time.
• Add the back-screener as the Spain back-screener once the slip pattern is clean.

Week 4: Twins and Hammer Flip.

• Live 5-on-5 with scout team running specific scouts:
• Day 1: switching defense (counter with Twins on the skip).
• Day 2: cheaters under the back-screen (counter with Hammer Flip).
• The bigs must make the calls themselves. Coaches grade the calls, not just the makes.

Week 5: Live, full-system.

• 5-on-5 live segments. Score-and-stop format.
• Track: passes per possession (target 5+), dribbles before reversal (target 0), Daley Pivots run per game (target 6+).

Personnel fit at SAIT

• PG (Carter). Initiator, ball-reverser, the screener on entry. The Daley wants a PG who can pass first, second, and third before he dribbles. Carter is built for it.
• B4 (Denault Gabriel). The popping big, the elbow flasher. He needs to catch and read. He is the high-post passer on every Daley Pivot — every action runs through his hands.
• B5 (Yopa). The back-screener, the seal-on-the-block big. His defender is the one being back-screened on the pivot. He must seal hard and finish.
• Wings (Bennett + SG slot). Catch-and-shoot off the screen-aways, drive on closeouts, catch on the skip. They are the beneficiaries of the bigs' work.
• Why this fits us. We are a patient, two-big team. The Daley is a patient, two-big offense. It is the most natural complement to our Purdue zoom base. Where zoom is the first action, the Daley is the possession-long answer.

Pairing with our zoom base

• Default in fast or even-paced games: zoom. First-action scoring, fast install, fast read.
• Default in slow / scout-heavy games: Daley. Patience, ball reversal, exhaust the defense.
• Late shot clock ball-reversal call: Daley Pivot only. Don't run the full motion, just call "Daley" and the bigs go straight into the pivot off any ball reversal.
• vs Pack-line / drop teams (Briercrest, NAIT, MHC): Open the game in Daley, force them to defend 5 passes. After 6-8 minutes of Daley, switch to zoom and they will be tired.

Why the name

Named the Daley by Kurtis McGeachy. It has no Wisconsin etymology — it's a SAIT name for a SAIT install.

Sources and lineage notes

The Daley is a derivative work, not a copy. Three sources informed the design:

• Bo Ryan's swing offense. The "no dribble until reversal" rule, the pass-and-screen-away rhythm, the patterned-but-read-based skeleton. Search "Bo Ryan swing offense Wisconsin" for clinic talks; Coach Tony Bergeron and FastModel Sports both have walk-throughs.
• Matt Painter's two-big motion. The decision to keep both bigs at the elbows on alignment, the high-low connector philosophy. See systems/offense/purdue-two-big-zoom.md.
• Spain pick-and-roll family. The Echo action is a Spain PnR that grows organically from the Daley Pivot when the elbow catch is denied. See systems/actions/spain-pnr.md.

If a published coach or staff is running a system identical to this under a different name, that's fine. We named ours the Daley and we'll teach it our way.

See also

• my-team/identity.md
• my-team/sets.md
• systems/offense/purdue-two-big-zoom.md
• systems/actions/spain-pnr.md
• systems/actions/hammer.md
• systems/concepts/off-ball-screens.md