The Problem With Fronting The Post | NBA Playbook

The Problem With Fronting The Post

Against the Warriors the Suns had an advantage in an area they don’t usually have one.  They had a size advantage on their opponent.  The Suns wanted to try and take advantage of guys like Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis in the post.  The Warriors countered by trying to front the post.  This is a strategy that smaller defenders try to use when bigger guys try to post them up.  The problem with fronting the post is that it only works when the pass comes from the corner.  If an offense quickly moves the ball from the corner to the top of the key/wing the defense gets exposed.  The Suns’ were able to expose the Warriors fronting defense last night:

1

The ball goes to Jared Dudley in the corner and he looks to get the ball to Josh Childress as he tries to post up Monta Ellis.  Ellis counters this by working around him on the top side and fronting him.

2

The purpose of the front is to try and force a lob pass over the defender’s head.  The reason why the Warriors are giving this up is because the pass is lobbed over, it allows the man on the weakside to come over and either get the steal or effectively double Childress when he makes the catch.

3

Dudley can’t get the ball to Childress, so he kicks it back out to Steve Nash.  The moment that the ball goes to Nash, Childress quickly spins and heads towards the rim.  The reason why the rim is open is because Ellis was playing Childress over the top.

4

Because the pass is coming from up top rather than the corner, the help man on the weakside man is now unable to get any sort of help there.  This is because of the angle of the pass from up top takes Childress directly to the rim (instead of a pass from the corner that would lead Childress into the lane – and right into the help man).  Here is the play in real time:

When deciding to front the post, there is a risk/reward effect that the defense needs to take into consideration. The reward is that you don’t let the post-up man catch the ball on the block with his back to the basket. The risk is what we saw in the play above. A quick swing results in an open cut to the rim. You have to decide if the possibility of giving up this lob is worth not letting Childress make the catch in the post.

03
Dec 2010
POSTED BY Sebastian Pruiti
POSTED IN Defense Golden State Warriors Phoenix Suns Post Offense
DISCUSSION 8 Comments
TAGS

  • JR

    I think fronting the post could work when the ball is on the wing/top of the key instead of the corner. What made this play work was the ball movement from the corner back to the wing, allowing Childress to spin and seal the defender.

    If Nash starts with the ball and holds it, Ellis might be able to front it because there would be a tight space to fit the pass in over the top.

    It's the ball movement that makes this play work, not the fact that you can't front the post when it is on the top of the key. Not the best defensive strategy in that position for sure, but its not impossible to execute.

  • JR

    I think fronting the post could work when the ball is on the wing/top of the key instead of the corner. What made this play work was the ball movement from the corner back to the wing, allowing Childress to spin and seal the defender.

    If Nash starts with the ball and holds it, Ellis might be able to front it because there would be a tight space to fit the pass in over the top.

    It’s the ball movement that makes this play work, not the fact that you can’t front the post when it is on the top of the key. Not the best defensive strategy in that position for sure, but its not impossible to execute.

  • JL

    To add to JR's comment, you have to mention the floor spacing of the Suns, with every player above the foul line. This clears up the lane by putting the weak side help defenders in a tougher position to help from.

  • JL

    To add to JR’s comment, you have to mention the floor spacing of the Suns, with every player above the foul line. This clears up the lane by putting the weak side help defenders in a tougher position to help from.

  • JW

    the good floor spacing of the Suns prevents Golden State from good help defense. In addition, there is no resistance from Curry at the top of the key against Nash. Curry plays with his hands down and doesn't jam the passer and pressure the basketball. Childress does a nice job of walking his defender up the lane and sealing, but YOU NEED to make that pass as difficult as possible.

    The full front or hard 3/4 look is interesting to view with the Cavs over the last few years. Varejo always tried to give KG a hard 3/4 look when Rondo had the ball at the top of the key. Garnett would simply walk up the lane as if he was going to follow into a high p&r and then simply spin for the lob from Rondo.

    It's amazing how much proper spacing, continuous ball movement from one side of the floor to the other, and continuous pick & roll does for an offense.

  • JW

    the good floor spacing of the Suns prevents Golden State from good help defense. In addition, there is no resistance from Curry at the top of the key against Nash. Curry plays with his hands down and doesn’t jam the passer and pressure the basketball. Childress does a nice job of walking his defender up the lane and sealing, but YOU NEED to make that pass as difficult as possible.

    The full front or hard 3/4 look is interesting to view with the Cavs over the last few years. Varejo always tried to give KG a hard 3/4 look when Rondo had the ball at the top of the key. Garnett would simply walk up the lane as if he was going to follow into a high p&r and then simply spin for the lob from Rondo.

    It’s amazing how much proper spacing, continuous ball movement from one side of the floor to the other, and continuous pick & roll does for an offense.

  • JW

    the good floor spacing of the Suns prevents Golden State from good help defense. In addition, there is no resistance from Curry at the top of the key against Nash. Curry plays with his hands down and doesn't jam the passer and pressure the basketball. Childress does a nice job of walking his defender up the lane and sealing, but YOU NEED to make that pass as difficult as possible.

    The full front or hard 3/4 look is interesting to view with the Cavs over the last few years. Varejo always tried to give KG a hard 3/4 look when Rondo had the ball at the top of the key. Garnett would simply walk up the lane as if he was going to follow into a high p&r and then simply spin for the lob from Rondo.

    It's amazing how much proper spacing, continuous ball movement from one side of the floor to the other, and continuous pick & roll does for an offense.

  • http://valleyofthesuns.com/2010/12/05/preview-washington-wizards-6-12-at-phoenix-suns-10-9/ Preview: Washington Wizards (6-12) at Phoenix Suns (10-9)

    [...] down how the Suns used a double screen to get Steve Nash mismatched on a big guy and how the Suns took advantage of Golden State fronting the post. Join the forum discussion on this [...]