Post Scoring Is Still Alive... Off The Bench?

[bdreason]

Although not many teams consistently play through the post these days, I have noticed that a few teams are successfully playing through the post with their 2nd unit. From a strategic perspective it makes sense. Playing through the post can help control tempo, limit turnovers, limit long rebounds (transition), and can be effective at creating shots for bench players who may not be as effective at getting their own shots.

Charlotte has been killing teams with this strategy. The Thunder are another team who pound the post occasionally with their 2nd unit. Even the Warriors play through the post a lot more with the 2nd unit.

[bdreason]

oh and the player who brought this to my attention was Vucevic. He's been coming off the bench for the Magic the past few weeks and it seems to be working nicely.

[plowking]

Amare still destroys guys 1 on 1 in the post.

[3ball]

As 3-point shooting became more popular and a bigger/primary component of offenses, post-play diminished.

Ultimately, it was a question of simple math - now that teams have sufficient 3-point shooting personnel to drive-and-kick for 3-pointers (as opposed to 2-pointers), the drive-and-kick format has become more efficient than the post-up format and effectively eliminated post-ups as a primary option..

This proves that the decline in post-ups is due to higher efficiency drive-and-kick made possible by 3-pointers, not defensive tactics.. In the absence of 3-pointers, no amount of defensive strategy could prevent post-ups from supplanting drive-and-kick..

Since post-ups, mid-range, off-ball and isolations were the only things left in the 80's without the 3-pointers needed to make drive-and-kick worthwhile, we can say with certainty that many of today's elite players would be lesser players back then - their 3-and-D skill sets exclude elite ability in any of the aforementioned areas.

[Prime_Shaq]

Livingston as well.