However, despite already having two MVP trophies to his name, Lebron is far from being a truly complete basketball player. During his 8 years in the league Lebron has worked hard to develop various aspects of his game. Since entering his rookie season without a reliable jump shot Lebron has grown to be one of the best mid-range and long distance shooters in the game. Having initially received little mention for his defense, he has now become a perennial NBA All-Defensive 1st Team member.
But even though he has made significant improvements, there is one question that NBA coaches, scouts, analysts, and fans alike are still left asking: When will Lebron develop a dominant post game? The combination of strength, size, and speed that Lebron possesses should make him a nightmare to guard in a post-up situation, yet last year he posted up on just 8.1% of his used possessions. Surprisingly this was a significant increase from the prior year in which he posted up just 6.3% of the time. To address this concern, Lebron dedicated his extended off-season to improving this aspect of his game, enlisting some Hall-of-Fame help along the way.
So just how far has this post evolution come? To recognize the strides that have been made we must first understand where he began. Let's start by taking a look at opening night of the 2010-2011 NBA season:
In a word: Trainwreck.
Lebron makes several critical errors during this possession, errors which he repeated often during the 2010-2011 season. However, from the small sample size we have seen this year, Lebron has worked hard to correct these mistakes and increase the efficiency of his post game. His progress has not been a development of new moves, but instead it has been in a dedication to attention to detail of the fundamentals of his post game. We will breakdown the improvements into three categories for a deeper look: positioning, the ability to read the defense, and footwork.
Positioning
In the play shown above, Lebron's first mistake comes before he even catches the ball. In this play, Lebron comes hard off a baseline screen set by Ilgauskas that allows him inside position on Pierce. Instead of fighting for this position, Lebron quickly abandons this effort and instead catches the ball in the mid-post, about 15-18 feet from the basket. At this point Pierce has already successfully completed his job. Lebron is now stuck in no man's land. He is too far from the hoop to make a back-to-the-basket post move and instead has to use his dribble to get the initial position he wanted. This may seem trivial, but by doing so Lebron has lost the ability to use a jab step or pump fake before going into his move. He has also guaranteed that any back-to-the-basket move will require more than one dribble to get to the rim, therefore giving the defense more time to reaction.
In contrast, let's look at a similar set run by Miami in this season's opener:
Here Lebron receives the same baseline screen as he comes to the left block. Instead of getting pushed out to the mid-post, Lebron uses his size and strength to fight for low position. By the time he makes the catch he has already done the hardest part. Still having his dribble, he is able to quickly jab step to the middle before spinning back to his left hand for an easy and-1 bucket.
Not only has Lebron been fighting for (and getting) better initial post position this year, he has also started re-posting more often when he doesn't receive the ball where he desires. Take a look at this clip from New Year's Day against the Bobcats:
Lebron's initial catch on this possession leaves in the mid-post area he's been forced into so many in times in the past. Instead of settling for this, Lebron quickly kicks the ball out to Chalmers while he re-posts in a lower position which then allows him to set up a quick 6-foot turnaround.
Reading the Defense
Lebron's second mistake in his move against Pierce comes in his assessment of Boston's defense. After catching the entry pass Lebron should make a quick evaluation and then attack the defensive weakness he sees. Instead, he sizes up Pierce, but seems predetermined in making his move to the middle of the paint despite seeing both Rondo and Garnett sagging into the lane. As he makes his move, Ilgauskas tries to create space by moving along the baseline, but Lebron doesn't recognize this and instead turns back into both Ilgauskas and his defender. In general, Lebron has made this move far too complex.
Let's look at another post-up situation from this year's Christmas Day game:
Here Lebron keeps things simple. He catches the ball in a similar position to his play against Pierce. He sizes up his man and gets a quick read on the defense. Lebron keeps the ball above his head at all times and when he sees that his defender's hands are down he takes a quick flat-footed jumper for an easy bucket. This play looks incredibly simple, but until this year Lebron used this move.
Footwork
Ultimately the success of any post game relies on effective, deliberate footwork. For Lebron, his positioning and ability to read the defense are actually far above average in the league. Footwork, however, is his single biggest weakness in the post. As a spectator of the game it is easy to watch a player of his physical stature and assume he should be able to beat any defender in the post with relative ease, but it is not that simple at all. Even with such strength and quickness, Lebron needs to be able to use it under control and in balance in order to be effective, which all starts with his footwork.
In looking at the 2010 Open Night play against Paul Pierce, Lebron's footwork is an absolute mess. He travels two or three times during the play and never fully gains his balance. The result is a terrible double-clutch fadeaway shot.
Here's a second possession from that same opening night game:
The move Lebron makes here is as close to a go-to post move as he had last year. In some respects he does a lot of things right: he establishes good low post position, he takes time to make a read on the defense, and he makes a strong move to the middle. The fatal flaw with this move last year is the balance during the shot. Lebron is so intent on pushing his way to the middle that he never fully gathers himself before exploding to the rim, thus leaving him with an off-balance shot attempt.
Let's take a look at the improvement Lebron has made to this move this season:
In this clip we see Lebron make the exact same move to the middle of the floor against a similarly sized defender (Danny Granger), but this time he uses a quick jump stop to gather himself before the jump hook. Doing so allows him to gain his balance and use his jumping ability to elevate over his defender. It also keeps him from being called for offensive fouls like he was at times last year when making this move.
At this point in time Lebron's post game is still a work in progress, but it's already showing considering progress from last year. He is currently posting up nearly twice as much as last year (15.4% of his possessions vs. 8.1% last year) and is shooting 65% from the post, good for tops in the league. If he continues to fight for position, takes his time in reading the defense, and focuses on his footwork, Lebron has the potential to be absolutely dominant on the block.
Then again, some moves you just can't teach...
Lebron makes several critical errors during this possession, errors which he repeated often during the 2010-2011 season. However, from the small sample size we have seen this year, Lebron has worked hard to correct these mistakes and increase the efficiency of his post game. His progress has not been a development of new moves, but instead it has been in a dedication to attention to detail of the fundamentals of his post game. We will breakdown the improvements into three categories for a deeper look: positioning, the ability to read the defense, and footwork.
Positioning
In the play shown above, Lebron's first mistake comes before he even catches the ball. In this play, Lebron comes hard off a baseline screen set by Ilgauskas that allows him inside position on Pierce. Instead of fighting for this position, Lebron quickly abandons this effort and instead catches the ball in the mid-post, about 15-18 feet from the basket. At this point Pierce has already successfully completed his job. Lebron is now stuck in no man's land. He is too far from the hoop to make a back-to-the-basket post move and instead has to use his dribble to get the initial position he wanted. This may seem trivial, but by doing so Lebron has lost the ability to use a jab step or pump fake before going into his move. He has also guaranteed that any back-to-the-basket move will require more than one dribble to get to the rim, therefore giving the defense more time to reaction.
In contrast, let's look at a similar set run by Miami in this season's opener:
Here Lebron receives the same baseline screen as he comes to the left block. Instead of getting pushed out to the mid-post, Lebron uses his size and strength to fight for low position. By the time he makes the catch he has already done the hardest part. Still having his dribble, he is able to quickly jab step to the middle before spinning back to his left hand for an easy and-1 bucket.
Not only has Lebron been fighting for (and getting) better initial post position this year, he has also started re-posting more often when he doesn't receive the ball where he desires. Take a look at this clip from New Year's Day against the Bobcats:
Lebron's initial catch on this possession leaves in the mid-post area he's been forced into so many in times in the past. Instead of settling for this, Lebron quickly kicks the ball out to Chalmers while he re-posts in a lower position which then allows him to set up a quick 6-foot turnaround.
Reading the Defense
Lebron's second mistake in his move against Pierce comes in his assessment of Boston's defense. After catching the entry pass Lebron should make a quick evaluation and then attack the defensive weakness he sees. Instead, he sizes up Pierce, but seems predetermined in making his move to the middle of the paint despite seeing both Rondo and Garnett sagging into the lane. As he makes his move, Ilgauskas tries to create space by moving along the baseline, but Lebron doesn't recognize this and instead turns back into both Ilgauskas and his defender. In general, Lebron has made this move far too complex.
Let's look at another post-up situation from this year's Christmas Day game:
Here Lebron keeps things simple. He catches the ball in a similar position to his play against Pierce. He sizes up his man and gets a quick read on the defense. Lebron keeps the ball above his head at all times and when he sees that his defender's hands are down he takes a quick flat-footed jumper for an easy bucket. This play looks incredibly simple, but until this year Lebron used this move.
Footwork
Ultimately the success of any post game relies on effective, deliberate footwork. For Lebron, his positioning and ability to read the defense are actually far above average in the league. Footwork, however, is his single biggest weakness in the post. As a spectator of the game it is easy to watch a player of his physical stature and assume he should be able to beat any defender in the post with relative ease, but it is not that simple at all. Even with such strength and quickness, Lebron needs to be able to use it under control and in balance in order to be effective, which all starts with his footwork.
In looking at the 2010 Open Night play against Paul Pierce, Lebron's footwork is an absolute mess. He travels two or three times during the play and never fully gains his balance. The result is a terrible double-clutch fadeaway shot.
Here's a second possession from that same opening night game:
The move Lebron makes here is as close to a go-to post move as he had last year. In some respects he does a lot of things right: he establishes good low post position, he takes time to make a read on the defense, and he makes a strong move to the middle. The fatal flaw with this move last year is the balance during the shot. Lebron is so intent on pushing his way to the middle that he never fully gathers himself before exploding to the rim, thus leaving him with an off-balance shot attempt.
Let's take a look at the improvement Lebron has made to this move this season:
In this clip we see Lebron make the exact same move to the middle of the floor against a similarly sized defender (Danny Granger), but this time he uses a quick jump stop to gather himself before the jump hook. Doing so allows him to gain his balance and use his jumping ability to elevate over his defender. It also keeps him from being called for offensive fouls like he was at times last year when making this move.
At this point in time Lebron's post game is still a work in progress, but it's already showing considering progress from last year. He is currently posting up nearly twice as much as last year (15.4% of his possessions vs. 8.1% last year) and is shooting 65% from the post, good for tops in the league. If he continues to fight for position, takes his time in reading the defense, and focuses on his footwork, Lebron has the potential to be absolutely dominant on the block.
Then again, some moves you just can't teach...
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