Shut Down The Post www.basketballcoachweekly.com Issue 17 BASKETBALL COACH WEEKLY 6 Depending on who is posting up, your players must know their responsibilities when guarding straight up, in a partial deny, a full deny or when double teaming I f the offense is able to get the ball into the post, then good things usually happen, especially if there is a dominant post player on the block. It is good offense to go inside-out before shooting the ball. It makes sense the defense wants keep the basketball out of the post or to know how to guard the ball once it gets there. Here are four ways to defend the post. The one you decide to use depends on what type of post player you are guarding, and what type of post defender you have. The best defensive teams master these four methods to handle any type of post player they are facing. STRAIGHT UP Some post defenders are strong and talented enough to guard the block with no help. In this case, have the defender sit behind the offensive post player and guard him or her 1-on-1 on the catch of the ball. It is important, however, that the post defender still works to ride the offense player off the block. Positioning in the post is key, so the farther out the offensive player catches the ball, then the better for the defense. From the straight-up defensive position, have the guard on the wing dig down when the big man goes to dribble. Make sure the wing guard does not turn his head all the way to lose track of his first responsibility, because this opens up a cut or a kick-out pass for an open shot. DEFENDING THE POST Words by: Kyle Ohman, co-owner and founder, BasketballHQ.com, former 1,000-point scorer for Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va. Master several methods of defending the post to keep the offense from gaining an advantage
Depending on who is posting up, your players must know their responsibilities when guarding straight up, in a partial deny, a full deny or when double teaming
If the offense is able to get the ball into the post, then good things usually happen, especially if there is a dominant
post player on the block. It is good offense to go inside-out before shooting the ball. It makes sense the defense wants keep the basketball out of the post or to know how to guard the ball once it gets there.
Here are four ways to defend the post. The one you decide to use depends on what type of post player you are guarding, and what type of post defender you have. The best defensive teams master these four methods to handle any type of post player they are facing.
STRAIGHT UPSome post defenders are strong and talented enough to guard the block with no help. In this case, have the defender sit behind the offensive post player and guard him or her 1-on-1 on the catch of the ball. It is important, however, that the post defender still works to ride the offense player off the block. Positioning in the post is key, so the farther out the offensive player catches the ball, then the better for the defense.
From the straight-up defensive position, have the guard on the wing dig down when the big man goes to dribble. Make sure the wing guard does not turn his head all the way to lose track of his first responsibility, because this opens up a cut or a kick-out pass for an open shot.
DEFENDING THE POST
Words by: Kyle Ohman, co-owner and founder, BasketballHQ.com, former 1,000-point scorer for Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.
Master several methods of defending the post to keep the offense from gaining an advantage
PARTIAL DENYPartial deny is probably the most common form of post defense, and it is how most teams guard the post. For this type of defense, the post defender stays on the top side of the offensive post player so the top leg splits the defender. As the ball drops to the corner, the defender rotates to be on the low side in the same partial-deny position. If the post player relocates to the short corner or high post to catch the ball, the defender settles between the offensive player and the basket, and readies to play 1-on-1 defense.
This defense usually discourages the offense from trying to feed the post, unless the post player is talented or the offensive strategy is to pound the basketball close to the basket. The wing defender places pressure on the pass to make it a more difficult one to execute.
Player movement Ball movement Dribble Shot
BASKETBALL GAME
Player movement Ball movement Dribble Shot
BASKETBALL GAME
Player movement Ball movement Dribble Shot
BASKETBALL GAME
FULL DENYIf you are guarding a big-time post player who dominates the block on every touch, then consider using a full-deny defense for the post. Have the post defender sit on top of the offensive post player, almost as if the defender is boxing out the offensive player but from the opposite direction. The weak-side defender is on the helpline ready to jump and steal any lob pass over the top. It is the weak-side defender’s responsibility to steal that pass or hit it away – this is nonnegotiable.
The full-deny post defense is the entire team’s responsibility and only should be used if you are playing against a dominant post player. If the offensive post player rides the denying player out to the mid-range, then the defensive player needs to rotate back behind the offensive post player.
While this places the offensive player in a position to catch the ball easily, this doesn’t hurt your team as much because the ball now is located 12 to 15 feet away from the block. Also
it is too hard to full deny that high up as there is too much space for the weak-
side guard to cover. A big part of this defense is the wing defender
placing pressure on the player trying to make the entry pass to the post.
Great ball pressure helps discourage the pass.
DOUBLE TEAMAnother way to handle a talented post player is to double team that person on the block. If executed the correct way, it forces the post player to kick the ball out, and then it’s up to your defense to rotate out of it. Here are a few of the different post double team options.
The double team could either come from the same-side wing down on top of the post, or it could come from the other big man across the lane. These are the most common ones, but whatever double team you decide to use, make sure your team knows the proper rotations out of it. The whole defense needs to shift and help cover the player who just went to double team, and then if the ball is passed out of the double team, the defense needs to rotate again.
Also work on the timing of the double team. Try a double team as soon as the post player catches the basketball, as soon as the post dribbles the ball or even as soon as the post player turns his back. As the coach, it’s your job to determine the best time to double team, and, more importantly, ensuring everyone is on the same page so rotations and responsibilities are met.
