Here’s Part III in our “Charlie Coles” series on the evolution of offensive theory and best practice. 

If you’ve been following along, you’ve met Charlie, the colorful and highly successful coach of Miami of Ohio back in 1999, the last time the school played in the NCAA tourney prior to this past season’s appearance, and learned of his fascination with all things offense – its enduring principles and axioms, its elements and underlying structure. 

In his honor, Part II took us on a pseudo archaeological dig in which we explored “artifacts” of three different offenses we called Doc, Mac, and Noah.

Recall that these offenses were developed and played in eras spanning roughly 100 years, yet were remarkably similar to one another, even as they responded to vastly different circumstances, rules, and “customs” particular to their own spot on basketball’s historic timeline.