Post Moves: Drop Steps from the Low Block

Good post play is becoming a lost art.  In today's game even big men prefer to shoot from the outside as opposed to taking advantage of their size in the paint.  In my eyes, as a coach, there is always room for post play in an offense regardless of how good an outside shooting team you may have.  As a player, it never hurts to add new dimensions to your game and learning how to play with your back to the basket can always come in handy.

In essence, a drop step is the simplest and one of the most effective post moves a player could use. To properly play with your back to the basket a player needs to be able to feel what the defender is doing behind him.  Is he fronting him top side or from the baseline?  Is he playing off of him or fronting him completely.  What the defender does will determine what type of move you will make when you receive the ball with your back to the basket.


In terms of the drop step it is a great move when the defender is fronting either top side or baseline.  How the move works is that the offensive player looks at how the defender is guarding him and makes a target away from the defender.  If the defender is fronting top side the target is towards the baseline and if he is fronting baseline the target is made to the top side.  Now when you make a target in the post it is also important that you get as big as possible.  You will do this by holding your ground (don't let the defender move you away from your spot) and then by keeping the arm nearest the defender up  to about chest height.

Posting up a defender who is covering you top side.

Once you have established this position it is import that you make a nice target for the passer to aim for (seen above).  Once this happens, if the pass is good, the post player can then proceed to pivot opposite the location of the defender, seal him off, and finish the shot with a good drop step.

A good description of how to do the drop step is in the video linked below.