TRIPLE POST OFFENSE

Back in the 2009-2010 season at William Jewell College, we had the conundrum of how we were going to run an offense with three post players on the floor at the same time.  Thanks to retired high school coach Bud Lathrop, we were able to install an offense to take advantage of our situation and to allow our best big man Nick Larson excel.  This was thanks to our triple-post offense.  Thanks to the contributions of Coach Lathrop, we won our conference tournament and Nick Larson was named a second-team NAIA Division I all-American.

Advantages of the Triple Post Offense

Before installing any offense, the coach should consider the different advantages and disadvantages.  The triple post offense offers some unique advantages for any team looking to take advantage of particular lineups and to find more and better ways of getting the ball into the post.

The first advantage that the offense can be used against man or zone defenses.  Because the high and low post areas are occupied on offense when the ball is passed into the corner, this allows the offense to attack the dead areas of the zone defense.  The triple post offense is most effective against a zone when run against a 1-3-1, 1-2-2, or 3-2 zone defense.

Another advantage of the offense is that the line-ups that can be various to take advantage of how the offense is run effectively.  If you do not have a true point guard or if you have either one post player you want to isolate in the low post or three post players of equal ability, this offense can be used to your advantage.  Since the offense is primarily run from an even-guard front, having two guards on top allows the offense to be run without a true point guard unlike the 1-4 high or the secondary break offenses.  The triple-post and single-post continuities allow for the offense to keep the defense off balance and to keep the game simple for the big people.

The final advantage is that it forces the post players on defense to make difficult decisions as to how they are going to defend the low post.  Because of the problems faced from the offense, a marginal post player can take advantage by getting good seals against the defense and by knowing how to take advantage of the defense's mistakes in defending the post.

Disadvantages of the Triple Post Offense

Despite how seemingly smooth the triple post offense is, there are some disadvantages that should be weighed before putting hte offense into use.

The first problem with the triple post offense is with weak-side rebounding.  Because the offense usually ends up with four or more players on one side of the floor, there are not enough players to rebound shots on the opposite side of the floor.

Second, because the offense does not have many cutters, the players who are on the perimeter must be threats to score when they touch the basketball.  In particular, the players on the perimeter must be capable of shooting from behind the three-point line.  The post players who will play on the perimeter must be just as capable of posting up as they are shooting from the outside.

Finally, the triple post offense does not lend itself to being an offense that can be run out of secondary break.  The offense is designed as a half-court offense so it is not something that can be run when the break fails.  If this becomes your basic offense, you will need to consider pulling the ball out when the break fails and calling this offense.

Triple Post Continuity

When we set up the offense, we want to start in a 2-1-2 look with the center at the nail of the free throw line and the two forwards on the low blocks.  When the offense is called out, #3 will cut to the ball-side corner and #5 will roll to the ball-side low post (Diagram 1).  On the pass to the corner, #4 will flash to the ball-side high post.


Diagram 1

When the ball is thrown out of the corner to the ball-side guard, the high post will move to the ball-side low post and the low post will move to the help-side low post (Diagram 2).  From there, we will look to reverse the basketball as shown in Diagram 3.  Whenever we reverse the basketball, the players will move to their new spots in the direction of the pass.


Diagram 2


Diagram 3

Once again, we see the ball entered into the corner in Diagram 4.  Whenever the ball is entered into the corner, we will fill the ball-side high post with a flash cut from help-side low post.  When we pass the ball back out of the corner, the ball-side high post will move to the ball-side low post and the ball-side low post will move to the help-side low post (Diagram 5).

Diagram 4


Diagram 5

On the second ball reversal in Diagram 6, we see #4 going to the corner, #3 taking the ball-side low post and #5 occupying the help-side low post.  As always, #5 will not move to the ball-side high post until the ball is passed to the corner (Diagram 7).

Diagram 6


Diagram 7

To simplify the continuity for the three-man continuity, here is how it looks in a more easy-to-understand concept:

Starting Point Continuity from Starting Point
Corner Corner → High Post → Low Post
High Post High Post → Low Post → Corner
Low Post Low Post → Corner → High Post

Playing with a Permanent Low Post

When we run the triple post offense with a permanent post player, we are doing so because we either have a post player we want isolated in the low post because of deficiency or because they can dominate in that spot.  As always, we start in the same formation with the triple-post continuity offense as shown in Diagram 8.  From here, we look to enter the ball to #3 in the corner and flash #4 to the high post once #3 catches (Diagram 9).


Diagram 8


Diagram 9

When the ball is passed back to the guards, the continuity begins.  Instead of having the ball-side low post go to the help side, we will send the high post back to his original spot (Diagram 10).  From there, we will reverse the ball and continue to run the offense (Diagram 11).

Diagram 10


Diagram 11

When the ball is passed into the corner to #4 as illustrated in Diagram 12, we will flash #3 from the help-side low post to the ball-side high post.  When #4 passes the ball back to the guard on top, #3 will return to his spot before the flash cut (Diagram 13).

Diagram 12


Diagram 13

On the second reversal, we still have our three post players slide along the baseline as the ball is being reversed (Diagram 14).  Once again, Diagram 15 shows the flash to the ball-side high post from the help-side low post when the ball is passed into the corner.

Diagram 14


Diagram 15

Post Entry

When we enter the ball to the low posts as shown in Diagram 16, we want the high post to roll to the front of the rim.  This is in case the low post gets double-teamed or does not have a great scoring angle.  The other options for him to pass the basketball out of the low post are to either guard on top.

In Diagram 17, we show the ball being entered to the high post from the corner.  The first pass look is on the high low to the low post as he rolls to the basket from his post-up in the low post area.  The other two pass options out are to the guards on top.


Diagram 16


Diagram 17

Counters

One of the aspects of the offense that cannot be understated is the importance of reversing the basketball.  If we cannot reverse the basketball with the pass, we will reverse the basketball with the dribble.  What we do off of the dribble will be dictated by what the defense does in reaction to the dribble.

If we are being severely overplayed, we will dive the opposite guard and look for the backdoor (Diagram 18).  If we cannot get the backdoor, we will have reversed the basketball and can then pass the ball to the corner.

However, if we cannot get a backdoor because of good overplay, we will run the shallow cut (Diagram 19).  This can be done either to reverse the ball back after we have reversed the basketball with the dribble or we can pass the ball to the corner.

Against a sagging defense, we should be able to reverse the basketball with no trouble whatsoever.  If we have a problem with ball reversal against a sagging man-to-man defense, we can use the shallow cut.


Diagram 18


Diagram 19

Teaching the Triple Post Offense

The first way that we teach this offense is with all five players and running offensive script.  This allows our players to work 5-on-0 and to get used to the responsibilities and continuity of the offense.  We have found that this is the easiest way for us to teach an offense like this.

Breakdown drills are also helpful for our post players as we help them become accustomed to playing in the offense.  Working initially with 3-on-0 then moving to 3-on-3 allows us the opportunity to make our big players better and to help them understand the continuity of the offense.

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