Big Men in Early Offense: The Rim Runner
Adam Spinella
Scoring more points and playing an exciting style of basketball is all the rage these days. Teams are abandoning the grind-it-out, pass the ball for 30 seconds of the shot clock style. Instead, many more college programs are embracing this fad for early offense, designing a quick and easy set each time down the floor. Because guards bring the ball up, it tends to be guard-oriented. Trailing big men have a role as a screener or someone to swing the ball through, but aren’t relied upon as a heavy scoring option.
Then there’s the first man down the floor, the rim runner. Usually a big man on the team, the advantage to having the big man be the first down the floor is that he can establish early post position. Watch how Kenneth Faried of the Nuggets races down the floor, engages his defender and establishes an entry window into the post within the first seven or eight seconds of the shot clock:
Most coaches know and teach the phrase “reward your big man for running the floor”. If the big man gets down the floor quickly, give him the ball and let him go to work! But as a post player, you need to establish position for yourself. Faried, as shown in the video above, can be a great teaching tool. If Faried’s defender is already in guarding position at the blocks or in the lane, Faried simply turns and buries him as low as he can, creating a thick and wide frame for an entry pass. Often times, young post players run down the floor in an early offense situation, but don’t engage for a post-up.
The other thing Faried does really well is use his body when he beats his man down the floor. Instead of running directly to the block, he stops at the first hash and waits for his defender to arrive. He gets the defender on his hip and uses his baseline-side hand to show he’s ready for a pass. This gives him room to catch the ball where it’s thrown and not be cut off by the backboard. It also creates room for a lob since the weak-side defense may not already be in position.
When teaching your post players to post-up in early offense, teach them specifically where to post up and how to engage the defender. This video is a short, basic teaching tool for providing them spacing and how to feel out their man.
Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Academies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.
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