Post Seals at the Rim

My favorite thing about Basketball is that the game is always evolving and changing. Coaches are getting more creative. Players are getting more skilled. Nothing shows how the game has changed more than how bigs are used in modern basketball. Post play is changing. Offenses are going to a lot of “5 out” & “4 out” offense to space the floor. The straight post up is not as prevalent and we need to figure out ways to continue to find ways to use bigs in an efficient way.

So how can we use the post to score other than the straight post up?

  • A duck-in post up with 2 feet in the paint is a good play.
  • Ballscreens with the big as a roller/popper.
  • Offensive Rebounding
  • Mismatch post ups vs switches/cross matches
  • Using the post to run split cuts on the perimeter.

All of those are good options and can be parts of good offense. I think one option that hasn’t been talked about a lot is using the post to seal the low defender. This can be a great way to “hide” a low skilled player that won’t score much. It also creates shots at the rim, which is the most efficient shot in basketball. It is counterintuitive in a lot of ways because the big must be in front of the ball being driven at them. I will admit that I even thought it was crazy initially. However, seeing

Their are 2 teams that I have studied quite a bit that use this in their offensive attack. The first is Hapoel Jerusalem out of the Basketball Champions League and the other is Bethel University out of the MIAC. Lets look at some clips

First is transition seals. These are effective because if the big can get ahead of the defense he puts himself in a great position to step back up and seal the post. The rim running big puts a ton of pressure on the defense and must be accounted for.

This is the traditional rim run and use of the seal in transition. Once the offense gets the ball, the 5 man gets ahead of the defense. As the ball is pushed up, he gets under the defense and works to the right angle. Then he hits him with the hard seal as the guard is getting into the paint. This is great timing and a very good angle.
In this clip, the 5 man gets out although he never gets under the last guy, he works to get the defense on his back to create more space for the driving guard.
In this clip you can see the low post player use leverage and the suddenness of his seal to give his teammate a layup. The player under the rim is 4 inches shorter and probably 30 pounds lighter than the defender which shot the importance of playing low and using your backside to create the most space. Also, that player that is getting sealed is one of the best shot blockers in the country.
In this clip the guards run some action and the big starts on the side opposite of the drive. On the drive he gets underneath and seals off the low man. This gives the guard enough time and space to finish. The footwork here is perfect and the fact that he gets underneath him helps him to get the leverage he needs to move him a little.
This clip shows a great example of providing a driving lane for a guard. #17 sets the ram screen to send his teammate into a Ballscreen. Immediately he starts to work for post position and gets his defender on his back. Again he stays low and uses his whole backside to control his defender. His defender does get to a late contest but his ability to contest the shot was severely impacted by the seal.
This clip is a littler different than the others but serves a similar purpose. In the clip the 5 man rolls hard down to the basket. As the ball is swung to the corner and driven. The post player does a good job of occupying his defender by being physical at the end of the roll. Although he doesn’t seal him off like in previous clips, he makes his defender a step slow to help on the drive.
This clip shows the post player roll down off a pass and follow Ballscreen. He gets under his defender and as the ball is being driven does a good job of just sitting down and screening off his guy. The key here is that he got underneath and used an element of surprise to get his defender. He is low but does not get him with his back, more with his side. However, the timing and angle are perfect.

Here is why it works:

  • It occupies the low man defensively. Hard post up seals under the basket have to be guarded. You cannot just leave a player under the basket. Even putting a guy in the dunker spot, the big is able to impact the rim because he has the freedom to move. The hard seal takes him away from help responsibilities. Help could be on the dribble or on a hard roll from the ball screener.
  • It opens up a path for the ball handler. The low man is responsible for stopping the ball in most defenses. A well timed and physical seal on the drive eliminates the rim help and gives the guard an open lane to drive. If it doesn’t give him a clean layup, it at least buys him time to improve the quality of the shot.
  • It creates indecision. The big must constantly be on the lookout for the seal. This takes mental energy away from everything else he needs to do. The person guarding the ball doesn’t know if the big got sealed or if he is going to get picked off by the seal. On a hard roll it puts the bottom guy in a situation where he has to guard the roll and his guy.

Here are some teaching points and thoughts:

  • It is really effective in transition. If you can get your bigs to run out and get ahead they have the advantage from the start and leverage the position to seal off the rim defender.
  • Low to high. Start under the defense and time it on the drive.
  • Low man wins. As we saw in the clips, its all about leverage and being lower than the defense will help you push them out of position.
  • Use the widest part of your body. This would be your butt/backside because it create the most space. Plus this eliminates the need to use your hands to push which could be called for a foul.

I also feel like I should add this set of clips from Italian Coach Francesco Nanni. He has a great twitter account (@franz_nannibk) and a great blog. I Highly recommend both. I love the clips he put together about how the Celtics are screening the drop.

In these clips you can see how the Celtics will use their roll man to seal off the drop. The thing I love about this concept is that you can see how effective it is. It puts a ton of pressure on the defense to communicate and guard it on the fly. This is a great concept for those lower skilled bigs that struggle to score.

I think that the low post seal can be effective for a lot of teams. One of the areas a lot of teams struggle is creating scoring around the rim and this is a great way to do that. It also is an effective way to play a less skilled big that might be a good defender/rebounder but struggles offensively. Finally it also shows that post play is not dead, it is just changing. If you would like to see some more clips of post seals here is the full video I did.