What do you recommend for teaching a player who is our best athlete to move in the high post? We want to put a slasher and finisher at our high post to deal with the 2-3 zone teams have played against us. The player is our best wing and finisher and is not accustomed to this new position. He tends to stand and wait for the ball and not move with the ball. Our big kids are not good finishers and shooters so that has been a problem.

The only question I would ask is.... IS this the best place to play him? I don't know your team personnel so its hard to say..... I would want him on the wing if he was playing for me so he could use his athleticism.

What offense are you running right now? If you give us some ideas as to how you are setting up we might be able to help you out more?
1-3-1? 4 out 1 in? What age group is this?

Coach K, I've seen that tactic used with great success. My old high school coach did that with his best ball handler who happened to be the best finisher as well. We mention that tactic in this article as well: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/3-zone-strategies.html

As for getting open, just getting him experience during practice and games will help. I think as an offensive player, you need to mix it up. After the pass, pause, then explode to the high post for the ball. Anticipate the pass and get there on the pass, so you beat the defense. As a player, you want to keep the defense guessing. He should also work to find the gaps in the zone.

You definitely don't want him standing still. If he doesn't understand that, you need to communicate to him to be active. Have you explained to him why you want him in the high post? He might be frustrated, because he might not know why you put him there.

If you're going to put your best ball handler in the high post, you need to have a couple of shooters that will stretch the defense. If you don't have any shooters, this could be a difficult tactic to employ because the defense will just collapse on the high post making him ineffective. If that's the case, you may want to move him to the wing so you can utilize his skills.

Thanks Joe. We started late this season using this strategy but hopefully by next season the kids should be comfortable playing the high post.