How to coach and teach the Double-Post Motion basketball offense

Positioning Rules

The Post Men:

You have 2 post players in this offense. They may locate at/or near 7 different spots:

low post(s).
mid post(s).
elbow(s).
top-half of free throw circle.

When the offense begins both posts go down low and post up.

The Perimeter Players:

You have 3 perimeter players. The 5 spots they can locate at are:

the point.
the wing(s).
the corner(s).

When the offense begins the ball is in the point's hands and the other two players are usually in the wing areas. Perimeter players should try to stay about 12 feet apart. If you are more than 12 feet apart - the ball is in the air longer and the chance for a deflection increases.

If you are closer than 12 feet you allow a defender to defend the pass and still be in position to stop the drive. Keep proper spacing.

General Rules

When you make a pass you must move - it is easy to guard someone standing still.

Only dribble for the following reasons:

to make an immediate drive to the basket.
to improve your angle of pass to your teammate.
to get out of trouble.
to prevent a 5 second count violation. It is very important that your players understand what the 5 second count.

Post Rules

Both posts should immediately go to the low post area on each side of the lane and post up. You want the ball in the low post - thus it is very important you teach your players how to post up.

When the ball is passed from point to wing, this is when the posts begin to work together with rules. The weak side post will key on how his offensive post partner is defended.

If the post on ball side is fronted the weak side post will flash ball side elbow. If he receives a pass we look for the low post pin and a high low play. If no high low pass then high post slides down and players have just switched spots.

If the ball side post has the defense playing behind him - the weak side post breaks straight up the lane to the weak side elbow. We want the ball passed into the low post every time in this situation.

Note if the weak side post defender doubles down then the weak side post player needs to get a pass out from the low post for the elbow jumper.

If the defense plays the ball side low post with a 3/4 defense then the ball side post will come and screen for the weak side post. If the defense switches on this play - the screener always steps back to the ball.

A teaching point we always use to prevent turnovers - low post player has his hand up yelling for the ball. When player is going to vacate the post (screen away), we drop our hand a one second count before we turn and go. This prevents turnovers when you pass and the player has vacated the post and the ball hits him in the back of the head.

The post player always has the freedom to break up to the high post when he sees the point to wing pass having trouble being made. This movement opens up the backdoor cut for the wing player.

Perimeter Rules

The perimeter players have 5 spots to locate in. They can do the following:

pass and cut to the basket and relocate to an open perimeter spot.
pass and screen a partner perimeter player away from the ball.
pass and "v" cut and replace yourself.
relocate with a shallow or deep cuts.
pass and slide - this is cutting to an open spot away from the ball.
any time that a pass is made to a high post player, the perimeter player who made the pass sets a pick for the perimeter player closest to that post with the ball. Using this pick that player cuts off the post looking for a hand off and an open path to the basket. Otherwise, keep good spacing, using the 3-point arc to help.

Teaching Methods

Separate the post players and the perimeter players when introducing this offense. Post players learn to work together and read the defense.

The coach can create 2 on 2 situations while he holds the ball out on the wing. The perimeter players learn their rules by going 3 on 3 against each other. The key will be spacing and moving - players tend to want to stop and watch and not move.

When the basic rules are learned we create the following teaching progressions for this offense:

Five on two with defense only on the posts - posts can only score.
Five on three with defense only on the perimeter - perimeter can only score.
Five on Four with coach dictating what player has no defense on him - player with no defender is not allowed to score.
Finally we get to five on five. The coach can dictate different situations such as:
1. certain number of passes must be made.
2. specify which player can only score (only the offense knows who the player is).
3. no dribbles may be allowed.

In summary, this is a great offense. It allows you the freedom to keep your post players near the basket and gives your perimeter players the ball where they are most effective to operate.

I find that your defense improves because this offense makes your defense work so much harder. Try mixing in some set plays within this offense and your man to man offense will be set.