Posting up had fallen out of favor in the analytics-driven NBA. Seen as too inefficient and too willing to bring the ball close to a defender, post-ups were shunned in favor of spreading players around the perimeter to space the floor.
Defenses countered by switching more than ever, which has led to mismatches all over the floor throughout games. Now post-ups are making a comeback, and they're starting to be used more effectively to generate good scoring opportunities for the guy with the ball and the teammates he finds when he draws attention.
Kristaps Porzingis was brought to Boston partly because his post-up ability gives Boston a different offensive dimension late in games. His 1.18 points per possession was second only to Nikola Jokic among guys who posted at least 15% of the time.
But what’s lost in all of this talk of posting up is that Jayson Tatum was actually tied for seventh in the NBA in points per possession out of the post, putting up 1.22 ppp. The issue is that he only posted up 5.1% of the time.
That has certainly increased in the preseason, though NBA tracking data isn’t capturing the exact number. The eye test alone shows Tatum has been attacking in the post more often than he did last year.
Tatum and Sam Cassell have been working on posting up every day in practice, and it’s already showing dividends.
Here are three post ups from Tuesday’s game against New York to show three different elements it can create for Boston.
This one is simple. Identify the smaller defender who is running back on his heels, get into his body, and bully your way to the hoop.
Tatum works in an attempt to draw a foul by swinging his arms but the defender pulled his hands back in time. And while we might say “just go up for the shot,” the way Tatum swings his arms forces the defender to pull his arms away, which takes away any challenge. All Tatum has to do is make sure he gets the ball up off the glass.
It looks a little awkward here, but Tatum did the same thing later in the game on the other side of the lane, so if he can perfect that motion and still get the bucket, then it’s a wrap for defenders in that spot.
Also, kudos to Tatum for finally understanding he’s a tank that can bully people. He’s been too much of a finesse player for too long. This is the kind of stuff that can make him an MVP. The bully element to his game has been lacking his whole career, so if this is now something the Celtics can count on all season, then watch out.
Now we get to the awareness part of being in the post. We just saw step one … and so did the defense. Tatum has been recognized as a problem in the post, which means someone is going to come help.
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Tatum easily recognized what was happening and spun away from the double team for an easy look at a fadeaway. That's not only an incredibly makeable shot for him, It created a four-on-three situation for the offensive rebound. If the foul wasn’t called, Derrick White had the easy putback.
Post-ups have gravity. They're just like paint touches in that they bring the ball closer to the rim and draw the attention of the defense. Everyone has a tendency to watch the ball to come over and help, especially in a situation like this where there's no big in the middle. Tatum’s soft touch not only gives himself a chance to make these shots, it allows for these soft bounces and easy offensive rebounding opportunities because they can often just be tip-ins.
Now we continue to build off the last two elements.
Recognize and bully the mismatch? Check.
Draw the help? Check.
Now we see a little something extra in the upfake and attempted dump off to Jrue Holiday. The gravity is there and the same lanes that guys can find to get to the rim for a potential offensive rebound also serve as passing lanes for Tatum when all eyes are on him.
The good part is that he also recognized his mistake (which is why I let it run so you could see him let Jaylen Brown know the pass should have gone to him for a wide open 3), which means he’s going to correct that in the future.
I cannot stress enough how Tatum finding these post opportunities is going to change the Boston offense. He and Cassell have been working on this a lot, so it’s a good bet that he’ll get better at it as the season goes along. He needs to go to that more than 5% of the time, because he’s damn good at it and it can be an easy way to create scoring opportunities all over the floor.
