UCLA 1-4 High Post Offense | Learn from John Wooden’s UCLA High Post Offense

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Offenses

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May 2, 2012

Although 37 years have passed since John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins have won a national championship, it is very clear that his high post offense is still effective in the modern game. His offense was always anchored around strong post play with the surrounding guards being fundamentally sound and efficient. As I looked through some of John Wooden’s half court sets I began to see that many of his offensive ideas could provide an excellent canvas for multiple looks including: ball screens, hand offs, guard post ups, staggered screens for shooters, Princeton style backdoor cuts and floppy looks.

This does not mean that you need to have great post play to make this offense work. I would actually see this offense helping those that may not have a strong back to the basket post player by taking the post defender out of their defensive comfort zone, both by position and situation. When I look at an offense my first thought generally, ‘Is how this play or offense makes the post defenders work?’ Making post defenders have to face up and guard 15 feet away from the basket or react to ball screen situations creates opportunities for the offense to take advantage. Even with the benefit of pulling the post defender out of their comfort zone, this offense does not need to be post dominated. Pulling the post from the block to the high post creates more room for guard to operate and take advantage of the space from the 3^rd lane line to the baseline that is left unguarded. I truly believe having some high post looks can really be a benefit to any offensive system and give your opponent something else to have to prepare for.

There are 4 sets I have picked to show the high post offense with different scoring opportunities. I hope that these sets can help show the benefits of using the high post offense.

We have new basketball contributor in Matt Duble. I think that you will enjoy his basketball coaching material. He is the Women’s Assistant Basketball Coach at Covenant College a NCAA Division III member located on Lookout Mountain, GA