POST PLAY

On offense, there is no more important aspect to playing basketball than playing in the post.  Getting the basketball into the post is the most essential part of any offense in that the offense can score more points per possession and have a lower turnover percentage.  However, many coaches still do not realize the importance of great post play.

Post play involves several fundamental aspects that can be taught and incorporated into any offense.  This article will present moves for your big men as to how they can get open and moves they can use to score the basketball or get other teammates involved.  The article will also present different ways bigs need to play in offenses that involve dribble penetration by perimeter players and how post play works in four around one and three around two offenses.

Moves for Getting Open

There are six basic moves that can be used to get open in the low post.  Namely, these moves will work when the post is isolated inside by himself.  Three of the moves will help him get the ball when he is a help-side post and three others when he starts out as a ball-side post.

The first of these moves is to call for the lob pass from help side (Diagram 1).  This happens when the defensive man guarding the post has overcompensated on help defense and is on the ball-side side of the basket.  When this happens, the big man, who is help side puts up his outside hand and calls for the lob pass.

Diagram 1

The next two moves deal with a help-side defender who requires contact to get open.  When playing help-side defense, the help defender will either play the man below the passing lane or will be above or at the passing lane.  When either of these happens, we will be prepared to get our big man open so that he can catch the basketball.  These moves are only be used when the ball-side post is vacated and we need to get a player to the ball-side post.

Diagram 2 shows what happens when the help-side defender is playing below the passing lane.  Here, we want the big man to make contact with the defender using his chest and spinning over the top to post.  The reason is twofold: we do not want to use our hands because that will attract the attention of officials who are looking to call fouls and we want to seal defenders whenever possible.

Meanwhile, Diagram 3 shows what happens when the defender plays on or above the passing lane from the ball to the help-side post player.  This time, the same maneuver is used as in Diagram 2 except that we are going to spin low and post.

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Next, this article explains the three ball-side moves that must be made by the low post if he is going to get open to receive the basketball.  The post player will have to work even harder to get the ball on the ball side than on the help side.  The resistance will be greater because of the post player being on the same side as the ball.

The first maneuver to get open is called "working the 'C'".  This is a move that I got from Danny Manning and it is designed to help the big man set up his man for either a post entry pass from another perimeter player or for a post entry.  The big man works up the floor in a semi-circular motion as shown in Diagram 4.  If the defender is not careful, we can get the entry pass.  If not, we can pass the basketball to another perimeter player and use a different move to get open in the post.

Diagram 4

In Diagram 5, the move shown is the step-over move.  When the ball is reversed from one side to the other, the big man will step across defender and change sides of the floor.  If the defender is not hugging the big man tight and is up the line, we will use the same move as was shown in Diagram 3 and go underneath.

The last move shown in Diagram 6 is the seal move.  The ball is swung from above the free throw line-extended to below the free throw line-extended.  The post man seals off his defender and works to get the basketball.  In many cases, we can get a bounce pass to the baseline side of the post player for an easy lay-up.

Diagram 5

Diagram 6

On all post catches, we want our big men to catch the basketball with two hands and to have their arms extended as long as possible.  The reason we want this is because we want to prevent the defensive man from having a chance to poke the ball out from behind.  We teach the post players that it is better to catch and bring the ball into your body before making a post move than it is to catch with short arms then realize you have to have your arms extended to prevent the ball from being knocked out of your hands.

Post Moves

Once the big men get the ball in the post, the big man needs to make a move to the basket based on what the defense give them.  There are two things that every post player should keep in mind when making a post move: simplicity and having the ability to finish with both hands.

When using a post move going in either direction, we want the big man to have one move in a given situation and one counter off of that move.  We also want our post players to finish with both his left and right hands so that the defensive players cannot take away either hand due to the scouting report.

If the defender is playing top-side on defense, we want the offensive player to turn baseline (Diagram 7).  We want the foot nearest the baseline to be the foot used to make the step if we turn baseline.  The offensive player can use it to seal the defender from the baseline so that the big man can power to the basket on a drop step or to create separation for a hook shot.  If the big man goes to the baseline, we want him to score only.

If the defender is playing low-side on defense, we want the offensive player to turn middle (Diagram 8). Here, we want the foot furthest from the baseline to be used to make the step to the middle of the floor.  Similar to turning baseline, the offensive player can seal the defender from the middle using the middle step or can use the foot to create separation and shoot the hook shot.

It is also important that you teach the moves to be made with feet only.  If your post players use their hands to make a post move, they will get called for fouls.  Also, when making a post move, we want two hands on the basketball so that it does not get knocked out by a defender.

When it comes to counter moves, there are two types of moves that can be used.  The first of these is the shot fake and rip through.  Here, the big man will attempt a shot on the drop step or the middle step before ripping the ball through and attacking the basket.

The other is the up-and-under move.  Here, the big man will use a shot fake to get his man in the air.  Once his man is in the air, he will attempt to duck under the defender for the basket.  The post player, if necessary, can use the dribble to get past his man and get a better shot.

Diagram 7

Diagram 8

If the catch is made off the block, we want a spin-out move made by the big man.  The move is always made with the foot nearest the baseline as shown in Diagram 9.  From here, the post player faces the basket and assumes a triple-threat position with the intent to shoot, attack the basket, or pass the basketball.

Diagram 9

We also have to teach moves in the high post area.  All of the illustrations that are shown for high post moves will show a flash to the ball-side high post from the help-side low post.

Diagram 10 shows the first move which is a drop step drive.  The post player flashes to the high post and uses the outside leg to seal the defender and drive down the lane line before turning to the basket.

Diagram 10

If we do not have a drive for the big man, we can use separation with footwork to create space for shots, high/low feeds, or a ball reversal.  The first of these is to use the spin out as shown in Diagram 11.  The other is that we can use the jab step to create space between the offensive player and the defensive player that is shown in Diagram 12.  We will always use the outside foot (foot nearest the sideline) to create space.

Diagram 11

Diagram 12

Playing with Dribble Penetration

Within the framework of any offense, the perimeter players must have the ability to attack using the dribble.  When this happens, our post players have to know how to play.  When a perimeter player drives, we want to the big man to drift opposite the penetration.

There are two types of drives: baseline and middle.  As a result, there are two types of drifts by the big men: baseline and middle.  When a perimeter player drives baseline, we want a middle drift (Diagram 13).  The big man will take two steps up the lane line and turn and face the ball on a baseline drive.

Meanwhile, we want a baseline drift on a middle drive (Diagram 14).  Here, the big man will take two steps away from the basket along the baseline and turn to the ball.

Diagram 13

Diagram 14

Whenever we have dribble penetration from a three around two alignment from the top, we want both of our big men to drift along the baseline on their sides (Diagram 15).  This way, when we attack the rim off of the dribble, we provide more space along the baseline and we also force the players defending the big men the choice to stop the drive or deny the pass to the big men.

Diagram 15

When we go to a four around one alignment, things do not change.  We still drift along the baseline on the middle drive from the baseline (Diagram 16), drift to the elbow on a baseline drive from the baseline (Diagram 17), and drift baseline on a middle drive from the top (Diagram 18).

Diagram 16

Diagram 17

Diagram 18

Post Relocation

Another aspect of post play that has to be taught effectively is post relocation.  Depending on the offense, there are different ways to make post relocation happen.  The first section will deal with the post relocation as it relates to four around one offense while the second will deal with post relocation from three around two offense.

In four around one offense, there is a primary rule for #'s 4 and 5.  The post player who is not posted, is the one who will dive to the post.  The dive man is the first pass option for any post player who receives a pass in the post.  If the dive man is not open, we will look to pass the ball back to the perimeter.

We will look to fill three perimeter spots: the ball-side wing, the point, and the help-side wing.  The passer in a four around one offense will always look to cut through the elbows to the help-side wing.  The perimeter player nearest the passer will move to fill the ball-side wing while the remaining perimeter player will fill the

Diagrams 19 and 20 illustrate the post dive from the top with the perimeter movements on a post entry.  Diagram 19 shows a pass to the low block while Diagram 20 shows a pass to the short corner.

Diagram 19

Diagram 20

In Diagrams 21 and 22, the dive from the help side below the free throw line extended is illustrated with Diagram 21 being an entry to the low block while Diagram 22 shows a short corner entry.  The dive is never  a straight shot.  The movement to the basket will not occur until #4 gets to the lane line.  At this point, he will go to the front of the rim.

Diagram 21

Diagram 22

There are times when either #4 or #5 will enter the ball into the low post.  When this happens, we will modify things.  The passer will become the dive man and come over the top with an inside cut.  Meanwhile, the remaining three perimeter players will fill the wings and the point as in the other scenarios presented.

Diagram 23

Diagram 24

The other situation is when we are running a three around two offense.  When the ball is entered into the low post, the passer will make the cut and the other post player will clear to the elbow on his side before cutting to the basket.  If the pass is made to the low post, we want the passer to make a solo cut between the big man and the backboard (Diagram 25).  Should the pass be made to the short corner, we want the passer to make an inside cut instead (Diagram 26). 

When we are running a three around two offense, we want to fill by rotating to the origin of the passer to fill the ball-side wing and the point.  The passer-turned-cutter will fill the help-side wing. 

Diagram 25

Diagram 26

Tandem Post Play

While it seems simple to get the ball into the low post in a three-around-two offense, it requires work from both post players.  There are a number of ways to get the ball inside using the help-side post depending on how the defense plays the ball-side low post.

The first situation has the ball-side post being fronted by the defender.  Here, we want a flash cut to be made by the help-side post (Diagram 27).  The help-side post will set up his man by starting low to make the defender drop to the baseline.  Once this movement has been set in motion, the help-side post will flash to the ball-side high post to catch the ball.  From here, we want the high post player to either score, make a high/low pass, or pass the basketball to the perimeter players other than the one who passed him the basketball.

Diagram 27

If we are not able to get the ball into the low post because of a frontal on defense or we are unable to enter the ball within a two-count, we will look to set a cross screen and bring the help-side post to the ball.  When setting the cross screen, we want the ball-side post to turn and look for the defender he is supposed to screen before setting the screen.

In Diagram 28, the defender of the help-side post player is sagging low.  Here, the screen is set from the top side by the ball-side low post.  Meanwhile, the help-side low post sets his man up by starting low then going over the top of the screen to catch the basketball on the post feed.

In Diagram 29, the defender is guarding the passing lane between the player with the ball and the help-side post.  In this situation, we want the screen to come low from the ball-side low post.  The cutter will set his man up by starting high then going under the screen to receive the basketball.

Diagram 28

Diagram 29

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