Post Smarter Not Harder

I think playing smarter as opposed to playing harder is underrated in basketball.

For example, watch almost any high school or college post player try to gain position in the post.

Watch how much energy he expends.

Watch him inevitably labor back on defense exhausted, once again disappointed after a guard couldn't get the ball to him and instead decided to do his best Allen Iverson impression with predictably mixed results.

Now watch how many times he does this.

Does he continue to expend incredible amounts of energy trying to get position or does he eventually tire out and just stand there (or get taken out cause he's tired)?

It doesn't have to be this way.

There is a better way to get position in the post. It's called timing and footwork. In other words, posting smarter.



The first step to posting smarter is to just stand there.
That's right, don't move. Just stand still.
Most coaches will probably have a seizure if they see a player just standing there on offense, but then again most coaches tell you to just "work harder!" too. Well, I'm not most coaches (mainly because I'm not a coach at all, but you get the point).

Why stand still? Because you have to be ready. You can't be getting distracted and tired out by pushing around some big ugly. You have to be prepared to make your move.

The second step to posting smarter is to know the play.
You have to know when your window of opportunity for receiving the ball in the post is coming. Sometimes there will be a play called specifically to get you the ball. In this case it should be pretty easy to know what's coming and when you need to be in a position to receive the ball in the post.
When it gets tricky is when you're just playing. Maybe the play broke down, or it's transition, or you're just in some generic motion offense. Regardless of the situation, you have to know what's coming. You have to be able to anticipate the exact moment that your guards will be looking to get you the ball (whether it's because they're in trouble or they actually want to get you the ball).
This ability to anticipate takes practice. Like most any skill, it must be developed over time. 

The third step to posting smarter is to set up your defender.
In order to get good post position you're going to have to move your defender to a position where you can then seal him. No matter how good your timing or footwork is, if your defender never has to move even a little bit then it will be very difficult to get position on him (unless of course you're Shaq). Sometimes it's enough to just get him off balance. Just making him shift his weight from one foot to the other can give you the advantage you need to get the well-timed, deep post position that you want.
So how do you get your defender to move or shift his weight?
Pretty much the same way you would get a perimeter defender to move: by changing speeds and changing directions. This could mean jabbing right so that you can seal left. Or it could mean using a spin move or half spin move to use the defender's force against him. Or it could even mean doing the lazy walk; just lazily walk in one direction before snapping into action and using a spin or step over to seal your defender at the position you lazily walked him to.

The fourth step to posting smarter is to finally make your move.
After having moved your defender to the place you want him to be you have to finally make your move to seal him there. This can be done in many different ways, but they all boil down to basically two different methods.
The first method is to face your defender and use a quick and low spin move to all of a sudden turn the tables on him. Step across his body with one foot and then drop the other foot to get him on your back. The keys to doing this are to do it sharply and to use your butt. If you aren't low and don't use your butt, you might as well be a ballerina doing some kind of ugly twirl. You've got to make contact with the defender in order to keep him where you want him.
The other way to seal your defender is to start with your back to him and to just use a strong step over move. Again the key to this is to be low and to use your butt to make contact with him.

Sebastian Pruiti from Grantland.com provided this great example of getting post position by Thomas Robinson of Kansas. It happens to be exactly what I'm talking about:



Admittedly, the defender isn't exactly putting up much of a fight, but regardless, Thomas Robinson does a great job of posting smarter.
The first thing he does is just stand there. Then at about the 8 second mark he half-heartedly tries to post up, but knows his teammate with the ball is too far out to pass to him and isn't really even looking for him either. When the ball gets passed up top he begins to set his man up. All he does is a really lazy spin before taking one step towards the other side of the lane, but this simple move gets his defender completely turned around. Robinson knows that his teammate #24 will be coming off the ball screen at the top of the key towards his side and he wants to set himself up to receive the ball on the left block. When this happens at about the 13 second mark, he snaps into action using a step over move to seal his defender. As you can see he's using his hips and butt to keep the defender right where he wants him. By the time he receives the ball there's nothing the defender can do but watch the ball go through the net.

So that's all great and wonderful, but it doesn't always work out that nicely. What if you fail to get position, or your guards fail to get you the ball? Then what? This brings us to the fifth and final step of posting smarter.

You've got to know when to quit.
If you haven't received the ball within a few seconds for whatever reason, it's time to quit. Well, at least quit trying to hold your position. If the man guarding you is as big as or bigger than you, then by this time you are likely having trouble holding your position. Assuming you timed it well, it's also likely that the play has moved on. At this point it's time to start over. You know what that means. Stand still. Relax, retreat and begin the process of setting it all up again.