With a dominating performance yesterday, the Miami Heat put the NBA on notice that yet again they are a force to be reckoned with and are the likely favorites to win the NBA title. It was a nice way to bounce back from a sorely disappointing end to the first year of the Heat’s Big Three Era, which ended with them falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. With their suffocating defense and newly found dedication to getting out in transition, the Heat smothered the Mavs en route to a 105-94 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score. There were plenty of things to be pleased about in relation to the Heat’s performance, but I want to concentrate on one in particular: LeBron James’ post-up game.
It’s become a common refrain over the course of LeBron’s career that he lacks a post game and that he’ll never take the next step in his development as a player until he gets one. Unsurprisingly, people often cite Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s prowess in the post as evidence that LeBron needs to work on that part of his game too.
Contrary to what has seemingly been the popular belief, LeBron has been an excellent player in post-up situations for at least few years now, he just didn’t operate out of the post very often. In the 2009-10 season, his last in Cleveland, LeBron ranked 14th in the NBA with 1.08 PPP on post-ups, according to Synergy. However, in 87 games played (regular and post-season) he only registered 152 post-up opportunities (defined by Synergy as a possession that ends with a field goal attempt, turnover or foul) for an average of 1.74 per game. Last year, in his first season with the Heat, LeBron ranked 12th in the NBA with 1.04 PPP on post-ups. In 79 regular season games played, he registered 160 post-up opportunities for an average of 2.02 per game.
On Christmas day against the Mavs, LeBron had six possessions end on a post-up opportunity, well more than his per-game average in each of the previous two seasons. In those opportunities, he went 4-5 from the field, including three and-ones, and registered a ridiculous 1.67 points PPP which would lead the league by a wide margin in nearly every season. The difference between what I saw from LeBron on Christmas as opposed to the past couple of years is that he a.) got better positioning for his post-up opportunities and b.) decided what he was going to do with the ball much more quickly.
Erik Spoelstra did a nice job of designing plays to allow LeBron to catch the ball deep in the post in the first half.
Programming Note: I had entirely too much difficulty uploading these videos to YouTube because I’m currently in Mexico, so for now this post will run without them. When I get back to America on December 30, I’ll upload the videos and re-link this post. Thanks for understanding.
In the first quarter, LeBron got a cross-screen from Norris Cole on the weak side and flashed across the lane. Because Cole set a good screen on Vince Carter, LeBron was able to catch the ball just inside the lane, where he gave a head-fake to the middle before spinning back towards the baseline and dropping a fade-away banker for an and-one. As soon as he caught the ball, he knew he would be able to get a bucket or a foul because he was so close to the basket. His size and physicality allow him to get pretty much any shot he wants when he has that kind of position.
In the second quarter the Heat ran what was essentially the same play, only this time Joel Anthony was the screener. LeBron got a back screen on the weak side and came across the baseline to the strong side block. He caught the ball, and this time immediately faced up on Shawn Marion to attack him off the dribble. Marion, conscious of LeBron’s quickness advantage, backed off, and LeBron quick-trigger swished a jumper in his face.
In the second half LeBron’s post-ups were of a different variety. Instead of getting the ball to the post off designed plays, twice LeBron caught the ball in transition and decided on his own volition to back his defender down, a rarity in recent seasons.
In the third quarter, the Heat pushed the ball up the floor and got it to LeBron on the wing, where he is typically one of the most dangerous finishers in the league. The Mavericks got back in transition defense to cut off his driving lane, so he started backing down Shawn Marion. Marion gave him just a little bit of room, and LeBron unleashed a Kobe-esque step-back fade-away jumper for another and-one. He was able to recognize that he wouldn’t be able to get to the basket in transition, and because he has new found confidence in his post game, went to that right away. His quick decision to go into the post forced Marion to decide whether to crowd him and take a chance that LeBron could spin right past him to the hoop or give him a little room and make him take a jumper. LeBron, instead of forcing the issue, took what was given and connected on his second and-one of the day.
LeBron’s other successful post-up opportunity in the second half also came out of a transition opportunity, this time in the fourth quarter. LeBron again caught the ball on the right wing and Dallas’ defense again recovered in time to cut off an immediate driving lane to the basket. However, the transition opportunity created a mismatch for LeBron; he was being guarded by the much smaller Delonte West. LeBron recognized this and immediately backed him down once the Mavs’ big men got back on defense. LeBron used his size and strength to basically go both through and around West and got straight to the rack for another and-one, his third of the day.
To my eye, the only two unsuccessful opportunities LeBron had in the post yesterday were due to him not getting good position and taking too long to make a decision about what he was going to do with the ball.
In the third quarter, the Heat looked like they were running the same play for LeBron that they had run twice successfully in the first half, only this time LeBron’s screen came on the strong side. He flashed wide open back-door, but Udonis Haslem either didn’t see him or had already decided to pass the ball back to the wing. After that missed opportunity, LeBron posted his man, Shawn Marion, but this time caught the ball about two steps away from the three point line. Because he wasn’t close enough to the basket to get an quick-trigger scoring opportunity, LeBron hesitated before he decided how he was going to attack Marion. However, in the time he took to decide, the Mavs sent a double team his way. By the time LeBron knew what he was going to do with the ball, both Marion and Lamar Odom were in his face, and LeBron tried to force a pass to the middle of the lane, which ended up being a turnover.
LeBron’s second unsuccessful post-up opportunity yesterday came because he was basically too lazy to get good position and didn’t attack the basket. LeBron, being guarded by Delonte West, for some reason decided to post up all the way out at the three point line. He caught the ball, hesitated, backed Delonte down for two dribbles, and fired an ugly-looking turnaround fade-away for an airball. This happened with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, so it’s not like he needed to be taking that kind of ridiculous shot.
This opportunity actually came earlier in the game than the one where he successfully bullyed his way to the hoop against Delonte, so it appears that he learned his lesson in-game.
LeBron has one of the most versatile offensive attacks in the league, and early on this year it appears that his least-used and potentially most dangerous weapon, the post-up game, will be a big and extremely valuable part of his offense. The rest of the league should be very, very afraid.
[...] is the first edition of a series I started on my own site (samples here and here) and I will now be continuing here at Hardwood Paroxysm, You Better Recognize. Each week, [...]