How to Post Up a Defender ft. Michael Kennedy

Post-up moves in basketball are a thing of fading art. How good were the Dream Shake, Sky Hooks that were used by Kareem and Wilt, or Divac`s up and under, Shaquiell`s Black Tornado, and McHale`s footwork? Instead of evolving from the legacy that those players have left us, the game went away from the paint towards the three-point line. There is a period of 10 years, from the times when Duncan and Shaq stopped playing, that we really had none good post players. We were left with Dwight and Blake, who relied more on strength than anything else, and even they have changed their skill set to be able to adapt on to today's game.

We asked Dorian Lee to show us some good low post moves so we can teach our big men what to do when they find themselves close to the basket.  

This move is pretty easy. People are curious beings and they are deceived easily when they are on edge. If you tend to pivot inside the paint, next time try to take a look with your head over your other shoulder. Let it be a convincing, energetic look. 50% of the defenders will move a bit, and others will take a firm stand awaiting a baseline pivot.

After a "Look" move, you need to decide if is it going to be a drop step with your right leg or is it going to be a pivot with your left. If you go with the drop step then know that the left jump hook is the most probable move to finish. If you pivot with your left leg you will give yourself more possibilities to fake, to do a role, to fade away... The main reason the full pivot is better is the fact that you are covering more ground with it and you have a better momentum to do some other stuff.

When doing those pivot moves, you need to know that the first thing you need to do is to put a ball on the floor before you can lift the pivoting leg. Everything else is traveling.

These were some of the fundamentals. From here, you can build up some advanced low post moves.

This is just one of the combinations that you can use. Low-post moves are based on good footwork and the incredible feel for the position of the defender. The art of the low post basketball is considered as one of the hardest skills to master because you do not have a vision of the defender most of the time.  

This is the combination that can be used when you receive the ball a bit higher than the usual. The first thing that you need to do is to turn and face the rim just to see where your defender is and if you can that a jumper. Be aware that ball movement is from one hip to another without some wide mashing with the ball.

Next, if you can't shoot, take a cross step towards the paint with your left leg and try to cover the most ground that you can. Again, the ball movement is from hip to hip.

This can be considered as a preparation move for the final pivot towards the basket. As it is shown in the picture when the big man is taking that dribble that is supposed to move the defender towards the paint, the ball is covering far more distance to bump off of the floor, so there is much more time for the defender to react and to try to steal it. Protection needs to come with both legs and off hands.

Lets take a look at the video:

If you want to learn more of the Low Post moves, go rent a DVD by clicking on the link below: