Post Defense: Play it to Your Team’s Strength
I was watching some wonderful college basketball the other night and witnessed some different variations of post defense that I thought was worth pointing out. When watching Illinois vs Tulsa I was able to see a potential first round big man for Tulsa go against several different variations of post defense and some that frankly I hadn’t seen much before.
Illinois features a 7′1 big man named Mike Tisdale who is wire thin but a good athlete. Tulsa features a more polished post man around the same size who was bound to give Illinois trouble. I fully expected the ILLINI to front Jordan and try to keep him from getting the ball. After all, the team would have to throw it over the taller Tisdale to get it to him and Illinois did this a little throughout the game. As it turned out though Illinois played behind several times but did two things perfectly:
1. They pushed Jordan away from the block and into an uncomfortable position. He would catch the ball and try to repost lower to get better position and was successful on some occasions but when that happened precious time went off the shot clock.
2. Illinois was always ready to help in the middle. They would not allow a baseline post pass to Jordan where help would be tough to give so they allowed him to catch the ball always with the middle open where Illinois could quickly double team and force a trap.
I was very impressed with the scheme that Bruce Weber and the Illini put on and was happy they came out of there with a win. What I’m saying is that the key is to really play to your teams strength and know who you are up against. If you have a taller player on the inside then it isn’t a bad idea to try to keep him in front of the offense. If you have a stronger player it isn’t a bad idea to try fronting also or try to push the offense a bit away from the basket. The key to remember is to see what works best for your players and what they are comfortable doing and know the strengths of the team you are playing.
