The four corners "offense" was invented by Dean Smith, and I think that he coined the term. It was used as a stall tactic at a time when college basketball didn't have a shot clock. It required four players to stand in four corners of a square, while a point guard dribbled in the center of this square created by the other players. It was used with Phil Ford in the late '70s, but may go back to Charlie Scott in the '60s.
It was usually used late in a game to protect a lead, but I remember Smith using it for the entire game against Duke (with Gene Banks, Jim Spanarkle and Mike Giminsky) in 1978.
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