Kevin Eastman's 6 Post Moves to Master

1. Midline jump hook - Own the midline. The closer to the catch/post is to the midline, the less skill is needed to score.

2. Dribble drop step - Feet give the advantage; the ball gives separation. Step = to the basket, dribble = toward front foot, hop = two foot jump stop to a finish.

3. Up and under - Have a counter. Create advantage and potential freethrow situation. Go through the defender's chest and chin.

4. Quick spin baseline - Any time the defender's forearm is on the offensive player's back.

5. Catch/jump hook from block - Highly skilled move. Need to get reps!

6. Free throw - A critical shot for post players to master!

Posting Up Against Fronting Defense

I'm sure we've all experienced playing against man-to-man defenses that front the post. Many of my post players over the years have expressed their frustration with fronting defenses. Some of those frustrations have to do with limited touches, but the one I hear the most has to do with getting called for pushing off on a lob pass.

The best advice I have gained for post offense against a fronting man-to-man came from former Whitworth head coach, Warren Fredrichs. I have used this technique since 2002 and have found great success with it.

- Chest to the baseline side - A lot of post players want to face halfcourt when fronted. This actually creates a more difficult passing angle from the wing. It is also more likely that the pass will be easier to play for the helpside defenders. By facing the baseline, the only option on a lob is to pass it toward the basket allowing for an easier finish.

- Elbow in the defenders back - This is one of my favorite teaching points ever (Many thanks to Coach Fredrichs)! The offensive post players non-target-hand elbow should be right in the middle of the defenders shoulder blades. The forearm should be perpendicular to the floor making a vertical "L" shape. This is contrary to what most post players are taught and/or naturally have the habit of doing. This does three things: 1) It is far less comfortable for the defender, 3) It creates less contact surface area for the defender [more contact favors the defense, less contact favors the offense], and 3) It eliminates the offensive push-off foul.

- Big target hand - The hand closest to the basket should extend almost straight up. This provides the passer on the wing clear vision of the target. Many times, post players will extend a target hand parallel to the floor (as seen in the picture above with the defense playing behind) and the passer simply cannot see it.

- Release and retrieve at forehead - Hold the seal until the ball is directly above the offensive player's head. Releasing too early allows the defender an opportunity for a deflection or steal. By holding the seal until the ball is directly overhead, the offense gains an advantage. As my Twitter compadre, Ray Lokar, recently told me, stopping the defense negates any speed advantage because both players are at the same speed. Once the ball is directly above the offensive player, it is now his responsibility to aggressively retrieve the ball with both hands.

It is also important to teach perimeter players to make lob passes properly. By teaching them to aim for the corner of the backboard, it will keep the pass from going into heavy helpside traffic.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Another JA Adande gem on ESPN about Kareem and the hook shot. Being that I love the art of post play and coach the post players here at Concordia, I was very interested in this read. I, too, remember watching Kareem as a kid. The "sky hook" (or maybe horizon line hook in my case) was my bread and butter so to speak. I wasn't physically gifted. I wasn't quick. I wasn't very strong. But that hook shot could not be blocked.

"We can thank George Mikan and Cliff Hagan for the origins of Abdul-Jabbar's hook shot. Abdul-Jabbar doesn't have memories of watching Mikan, the Minneapolis Laker who was the NBA's first dominant big man. But he did use the drill that was named for him and consisted of shooting a hook shot from the right side with the right hand, then a hook from the left side with the left hand and repeating while slowly moving further away from the basket. Abdul-Jabbar did see Hagan use the hook shot as a player for the St. Louis Hawks, a reminder that the hook could be used effectively at all levels of the game."

"When you shoot it, you force people to wait for you to go up," he said, " And if they wait until I started to shoot it then they'd have to judge the distance and time it, and it's gone before they can catch up to it. That's, for me, the beauty of it. You're in control because of when you're gonna release it and where. The defense has to see that and calculate everything before they get an opportunity to block it."

"If a defender overplayed him to the right to take away the hook, he would just spin back around to his left to shoot a jump shot or, in later years, a lefty version of the skyhook."

"(Shaquille) O'Neal calls the skyhook "one of the most effective shots" in the history of the game, which makes you wonder why he never adopted it himself. 'My father made me shoot it all the time,' O'Neal said. 'Being a hip-hop kid, I didn't want to do it. We're different. We like to be a lot cooler.'

Abdul-Jabbar concedes "it's not a macho shot,"

"I used it to become the leading scorer in the history of the NBA," Abdul-Jabbar said. "There has to be something about it that works."