Boston Celtics Post Attack

One of the biggest things that has changed since I started coaching is post play. The original title of this blog was “Post Play…Not dead, Just different”. The 2 main things that post players do in modern offense is either spot up and provide spacing or be a roll guy on Ballscreens. The post up is usually not as efficient as other shots in terms of points per possession (PPP). However, all post ups are not created equally. Their are still ways to attack from the post that can be efficient. When talking post ups, their are 5 main questions that need to be answered.

Why? When? Who? Where? How?

I really enjoyed watching the Celtics and how they use the post up because I think that they find a good mix of different attacks. What is interesting when looking at their synergy numbers is that they are efficient at .98 PPP for the season but only use it for 4.3% of their offense (3rd in the NBA). Enes Kanter has the most possessions out of the post at 31%. Jayson Tatum has the second post possessions in the post at 26% of the total post ups. After those two, They use the mix of Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, and Gordon Hayward to account for 36% of total post ups.

The Celtics run a some really good concepts that are simple and effective. They are things that any team can run even without a dominant post up player.

Why

Why get the ball in the post? Getting the ball in the post can do a couple of things for the offense. It slows the game down, it can lead to fouls, it is a great way to beat a switch, it keeps the big engaged, and it can be a place to run offense from. When the ball goes into the post, things change for the defense. Just the act of the post touch puts the defense in a vulnerable spot. Brad Stevens is quoted as saying that a post up is a vehicle to play inside-out.

In an article on Celticsblog.com there is a quote from Stevens talking about using Marcus Smart & Evan Turner in the post.

Obviously, Marcus has made shots and Marcus and Evan can both also post so we try and post those guys.  It’s kind of an inverted lineup when you think about those guys posting with Jonas (Jerebko) and Kelly (Olynyk) and guys like that really spreading the court for us.  And it’s unique but I think it’s finally really starting to find its legs early last week and we’ll see if it continues.  I’m intrigued by it.

Brad Stevens

When

When do we want to post up? Early post ups in transition are a good place to start. On the shot, the transition defense is usually anchored by a guard protecting the rim. So it would make sense, that if we can get a post or a big wing down the floor early, he will have a size advantage against that smaller guard.

You will see in the clips how the Celtics hunt out these situations. Sometimes its a real transition situation by the big or a wing running hard to get to the block. Sometimes its just an early straight post up for a positive matchup. Break spacing is a huge part of modern offense, but this can be effective in the right situation.

This is a traditional rim run by Daniel Theis. He sprints hard and posts up the guard protecting the basket. Jaylen Brown sees the mismatch and throws a great pass for a dunk.
In this clip, you see Jayson Tatum sprint the wing hard and immediately go to the block to post up the smaller defender. Jaylen Brown doesn’t get him the ball right away, but still gets it to him with 17 on the shot clock. With no help, Tatum is able to back the defense down to get to his spot.
This is off a make and you can see that Theis is motioning for Marcus Smart to get the ball into Jaylen Brown. They get Brown a post touch in 6 seconds. The off ball movement allows him enough space to back Mccollum down for a little turnaround jumper.

Who

This is a two part question. Who can you post up and who can you target defensively in a post up. This could be a size mismatch, talent mismatch, or could be used when a defender has foul trouble. I think having guards and wings that can post up is something that is a staple of good offense When you figure that the Celtics guard & forwards account for over 65% of their post ups, you can see this is a big part of what they do. When you have that post advantage, it can be as simple as get the ball up the floor and throw it into the post.

Being able to get multiple guys into the post increases the chances that you will be able to find a poor defender to target in the post. The post up is also a great way to punish a switching defense. When the defense switches it lets the offense pick who they want to post up. This forces the defense to either stop switching or have to adjust how they guard in the post.

This is the standard ballscreen and roll the switch. You can see that once the defense switches, they get to their spots offensively and gives Theis room to post up the smaller defender.

I think one of the most impressive parts of the Celtics Post ups is how they attack the switch. They have multiple ways they can attack the switch. However, it seems more conceptual that once they get switch, they work to attack the switch. The 2 main ways they attack the switch are through an early pistol ballscreen, this is usually guard to guard. They will also run split action off an elbow hit (horns or break alignment).

Here are some of the early ballscreen switches where they get punish the switch on a post up.

Gordon Hayward sets a really hard ballscreen to make sure he gets the switch. Once he gets the switch, he rolls hard into the post and gets the Hi/Lo pass from Theis. Again, the Celtics have great spacing that allows Hayward to turn and shoot over the smaller defender
Same concept as above. This time Jaylen Brown forces the switch. You can tell that this is the look they are going for because they don’t event try to drive the switch. On the throw back they are able to throw the Hi/Lo pass for a foul. The Celtics space the floor really well causing the late help.

Here are some of their looks from a high split hitting the elbow.

This elbow split is a great example of punishing the switch. On the slip, Jaylen Brown dives hard to the rim for a mid paint post up against a smaller defender. With their spacing its almost unguardable.
The Celtics run a Horns Small alignment here and I like the use of the split here. On the curl, Jaylen Brown gets to the rim against the smaller defender and is able to catch & finish before the help can get in the play.

Where

Where do you want the post up to take place? The difference between catching with two feet in the paint and catching in the wide post is huge. Unless we have a huge strength advantage the wide post catch is not a great play by the numbers. However, a quick paint duck in or seal will give you an opportunity to score quickly against the defense. This is also a way to pick up fouls.

This traditional duck in happens because the Celtics sell a flex screen. Grant Williams steps across hard and gets position against the relaxing defender.
This is a Brad Stevens/Marcus Smart staple. They sell everything going to the left with a Get action. It looks like a traditional cross screen but on the keep, it takes advantage of the defense playing the cross screen.
This Wave look is a great way to take advantage of the defense resting at the end of the cut. With Grant Williams catching it on the opposite side of the floor (just off the nail), it opens up a passing lane for the duck in.

How

How can you get the ball in the post to give the post up a chance to score? This is more based on personnel. The number of things that you could do for this is almost unlimited. I am not going to put in the normal ways like a cross screen or flex screen. Those are great way as well, but I will include those down in the sets part of this blog.

For guards, they could get the ball in the post off a “Barkley”. A Barkley is turning your drive into a post up. It is very effective, because the ball handler gets control through a back down and can finish over a defender that does not want to guard down there.

Jaylen Brown brings the ball down the floor and when his drive is cut off he gets into his Barkley. He backs down just enough to clear space for his jump hook.
The Celtics get the switch which allows Gordon Hayward to go against Duncan Robinson and not Jimmy Butler. Hayward gets into the elbow area and spins into his post up.

Another way to get the ball into the post is by a hard cut. These cuts can be a call or just a read by the offense. The Celtics wings are great at finding the right moment to face cut their man and get position.

When the ball hits the elbow, Jaylen Brown cuts hard right over the top of the defender. The combination of timing, strength, and speed allows him to get a layup.
Similar to the above clip, Brown times his cut and cuts with urgency to the middle of the paint for an easy post up.

A great way to get a post into a good post up situation is to use a shake action. On the throwback, the big has a great opportunity to seal and establish deep position.

On the swing, Kanter goes into a mash action (handoff after a down screen). Ojeleye fills from the corner to catch the throwback and get it into Kanter on the block. The shake action gives that rolling big a chance to establish position early.
Similar to the shake giving the roll man a step advantage, the slip throw and post is a great way to get your big a post touch. On the slip, the ball handler throws the ball ahead of the big to the corner. The low entry helps the big to establish his position

Sets to get the ball in the post

Here are some of the other sets that they use to get the ball in the post. They didn’t fit in the above categories.

I think this is my favorite set they run (other than the Marcus Smart fake cross screen). The use of the ghost screen gets the defense tilting one way and then on the fill and quick post they get the ball to Kanter.
Nothing more to add its just a well designed play.
Here is a more traditional post up play using a cross screen. The thing I like about this play is that they sell the down screen on the weak side. Even if Kanter’s defender doesn’t have a lot of help responsibilities on that, it takes his focus off the cross screen that is coming for him.
A great way to post a wing off the Iverson cut. Tatum’s defender is running away and Tatum can come back to get a clean catch. They also do a great job of perimeter movement to occupy the help.

Here is the full edit I did of all the ways the Celtics attack the post.