Player Development Player Expectations Practice Guidelines Conditioning Guidelines Improving Shooting Scoring vs Shooting Raising Level of Passing Successful Playmaking Developing an Inside Game Attacking On Ball Screens

Developing a Strong Inside Game

"All players, reguardless of size, should be proficient in posting up strong and executing basic post moves."

Posting up is a big part of the game of basketball. It is truly an advantage to have a dominant force inside. However, post ups are not limited to just big men, look for all teams to exploit size mismatches at any position. On mismatches is much better to take your defender inside than to go one on one outside.

How are your post moves? Do you have a strong power lay up? Can you shoot the baby hook from both sides? Do you know how to read and seal off the defense? Do you have a deadly "Turn-a-round Jumper"? Can you counter a post double team? You should work just as hard on mastering post moves as you do your outside moves.

Posting Up One on One

To post up effectively, physical size and strength is not enough, players posting up must be well schooled in the basic post moves. In addition, both the passer and post player must be cognizant of the location of defensive player. As a player you can possess all the post up moves in the world; however, if you do not know when and why to use them they are basically useless.

It is not the offensive player but the location of the defender that will dictate what post move to use. The "Line of Deployment" established by long time coach and present Laker assistant, Tex Winter is a key in attacking the post defender. By recognizing where the defender is playing in relation to the "Line of Deployment" it allows the passer to create open shots for the post.

Reading & Countering Defensive Post Deployment. What if the....

1. Defender plays on the HIGH SIDE: Power Lay Up
2. Defender plays on the BASELINE SIDE: Baby Hook
3. Defender FRONTS: Post Lob
4. Defender plays BEHIND: Turn & Face (Triple Threat)
5. Defender DOUBLE TEAMS: Pressure Releases
6. Advance moves: Jump Hook & Drop Step Moves