NBA Player Skill Rankings – Post Play
We are in the dog days of summer here and with the lockout looking like it is far from being resolved, we are starting to see more and more player rankings pop up at various web sites. I thought I would try my hand at these rankings, but instead of ranking by position or anything like that, I thought it would be interesting to look at a specific skill and rank players that way using a combination of numbers, game tape, and my own opinion.
Being able to go to the block, turn your back to your defender, and being able to have success in the post is a vital skill to have in the NBA. Being able to score on the block creates more opportunities to score, and if you are good enough, it makes it easier to create (you don’t have to create out of isolation sets up top, for instance). In addition, being able to score in the post makes you a threat and forces defenses to react accordingly, and allows you to create opportunities for your teammates.
NOTE: This skill ranking encompasses post play in it’s entirety, from moves, to ability to handle double teams, and everything else involved.
1. Dirk Nowitzki
When you look at the top players posting up in terms of points per possessions (with at least 50 post up possessions), Dirk Nowitzki is the player who shows up at the top of the list. On the block, Nowitzki scores on over half of his post possessions (58.1% to be exact), getting to the free throw line 16.3% of the time, while only turning it over 6.7% of the time.
What’s interesting about Nowitzki and his post game is that he isn’t a guy who faces up a ton (which is something you would expect from a shooter with his size). Nowitzki’s go to move is turning over his right shoulder while making a move off of the dribble on both sides of the court, though it is more prevalent on the left block (63.5% on the left block/48.1% on the right block). Despite that, when Nowitzki does face up (17.6% on the left/31.9% on the right), he is extremely dangerous because his height allows him to simply shoot it over the defense. Going back to his go to move, what makes Nowitzki so dangerous is that he has that quick spinning unorthodox shot that he can knock down from distance. This means that Nowitzki doesn’t need fantastic positioning. He just needs to get to a spot he is comfortable at (15 feet or so), and he is strong enough to back a defender to that spot.
That ability to back down his man is something that he has developed since that loss to the Warriors in the playoffs. Another skill that was developed is his ability to pass out of double teams. This past season, Nowitzki turned it over just 4.4% of the time when passing out of double teams, allowing his teammates to post a eFG% of 59.1%.
The reason why I have Nowitzki at the top of this list is because he is highly skilled at a lot of aspects you need to be a good post player (that turnaround jumper is otherworldly – he does a fantastic job of using his left foot to create then quickly rocking back, to create even more distance), while being good enough/better than average at the other ones (getting teammates involved/handling double teams).
