Another tough action to defend is what we call the “pinch post.”  It’s a situation that arises on the weakside of the floor when your team is in an overload situation on the strong side of the floor.  Many people refer to this action as “the triangle” made famous by Tex Winter.  For the most part, the spots on the floor are interchangeable.  To make things easier I’ll number the players so it’s easier to follow without a diagram.  The 5 occupies the ballside post, 3 is in the ballside corner, 1 has the ball on the wing above the free throw line extended.  This sets the strongside of the floor.  2 gets to the top of the three point line in the center of the floor.  4 is one step outside and one step below the pro elbow.  When 1 swings the ball to 2 at the top of the floor, 4 steps into his defender and up to the elbow to receive the catch.  He wants to catch the ball as tight to the elbow as possible with his back to the basket.  His feet basically straddle the pro elbow.  The resulting two-man game with the 2 and the 4 is what we refer to as “the pinch post.”

There are two reads that the shooting guard (2) must make now.  Is my defender up into me or is he sagging off me?  If X2 is up into the 2 man there is no setup.  It’s a straight speed cut off of the 4 man looking for a handback.  There should be no way that X2 can be facing his man and on the pass, turn and sprint full speed to stay in front of 2.  Even if he can somehow run with him he can not keep him from getting that handoff.  Running with someone does not mean that you can stay in front of him and have him under control.

The second read is if the defender is sagging off 2 slightly.  In this situation 2 would walk his man in and then come off hard looking for a handoff.  By walking his man in 2 takes away X2’s options.  With no setup and X2 sagging, it would be easy to be physical with 2, get into him, and “war” him over the pinch.  But if 2 gets a good setup he forces X2 to make a difficult decision.  If X2 goes over top of the screen by 4, 2 gets a handoff and can turn the corner for a layup.  If X2 goes under the pinch, he gives up a wide open jumpshot.

The following are our reads off the pinch post with diagrams.

1.SPEED CUT - vs pressure, speed cut (no setup) off outside shoulder, get handoff, 1 dribble, layup


2.HANDOFF – walk defender in, come hard off big, get handoff, 1 dribble for layup


3.LATEPASS – walk defender in, come hard off big, can’t get handoff, continue cut all the way to the rim, get latepass as you enter the paint


4.PASS & FOLLOW GET – cant get handoff, cant get latepass, pop out off the logo area, big passes to guard and follows with a Pick and Roll.  Come off for Pull Up Jumper


5.DRIBBLE HAND OFF – cant get handoff, cant get latepass, pop out off the logo area, big dribbles at guard, DHO.  (can add fake DHO, go Back Door. 1 pulls out, takes one step to sell DHO, goes Back Door)


6.STOP BEHIND – if the defender goes under screen, stop behind screen, get the handoff for Jumper


7.HANDOFF TO A REPICK – if defender goes under screen, get handoff, take 1 dribble, and reverse dribble using repack from big to turn the corner


8.BACKDOOR – if defender is trying to WAR over the screen too early, fake hard like you are coming off for a handoff, and snapback to middle for backdoor bounce pass layup


9.SPIN OUT LOB – if big is denied and cannot receive the pass, he spins out for lob to rim


10.ELBOW PICK – if big is denied and cannot receive the pass he sets elbow Pick and Roll (his defender in bad position to help on the pick)


11.FAKE HANDOFF, BIG SHOOTS JUMPER – big fakes handoff to the guard which forces his defender (X4) to back up and give help, which gives 4 room to turn and shoot


The pinch post is a very difficult action to defend.  I would try to incorporate the pinch post at any level I coached, but especially if I had good shooters.  The better you shoot the ball the tougher the pinch post is to defend.  But once again, don’t get me started on shooting. It only changes how teams defend you, puts points on the board, and helps you win games!