Post Play and Lingering Effects of the Trapezoid Lane
Geometry changing skill development and offensive systems
People wrote articles and social medias posts for years saying, “LeBron James was a great passer for a tall player.” Now, similar articles and posts are written about Nikola Jokić, Domantas Sabonis, and others.
No qualification is necessary. James, Jokić, and Sabonis are great passers. Period. End of statement.
I never understood the qualifying statement. Why should a taller player be a lesser passer? Is height not an advantage?
The NFL has over-valued height in quarterbacks for years. Teams wanted a franchise quarterback with a big arm and height (6’5+) to see over the line of scrimmage. Many experts believed taller players made better quarterbacks and often questioned prospects who were an inch too short, as though one can tell the 6’2 quarterback from the 6’3 quarterback. Why does the NBA not value height in passers like the NFL?
Height does not impede basketball passing skills. Watch Jokić stand with the ball extended above his head like a water polo player, surveying the court by looking over his defender and everyone else: Why should this make him a lesser passer? There is no logical explanation, only tradition, positional expectations, and time with the ball. None has anything to do with height specifically, only the way in which we perceive height and limit players.
Jokić is not the first exceptional tall passer; there have always been exceptional tall passers, such as Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Alvin Adams, Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, and the Gasol brothers.
When I was a child, people did not see the advanced passing skills of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as evidence tall players can pass, but as outliers or anomalies. Rather than encourage other players to be more like them, many coaches insisted they were different, special, and not everyone can play like them. We created these artificial positional designations and developed players in line with the expectations, which limited players.
The NFL has evolved, valuing adaptability, movement, and decision-making over pure height. There is likely a minimum for height and arm strength, but once this minimum is achieved, the best quarterbacks are not the tallest or those with the strongest arms; they are the best and quickest decision makers.
Basketball now has embraced taller players as passers, especially in the United States. Positionless basketball, while hardly achieved, has allowed for taller players to demonstrate their passing skills, as more and more teams move to five-out offenses and rely on post players to handle the ball on the perimeter. This change is less noticeable internationally, as passing skills have been valued regardless of height, as evidenced by the propensity of acvanced passing skills in taller players such as Jokić, Sabonis, Alperen Şengün, Luka Dončić, and others.
One possible reason, beyond the sociocultural aspects I referenced previously, for more advanced passing skills in taller players internationally is the trapezoid lane. Today’s players likely never played on a court with the old FIBA trapezoid lane, but their coaches played and likely started their coaching careers with the trapezoid lane, which FIBA used until 2010. The trapezoid lane widened from the elbows (12 feet across) to the baseline (20 feet across) and moved post players further from the basket when posting on the low block, opening the lane for cutting and driving.
Last week, I overheard two coaches complain that their post player had no post moves. One responded that the post caught the ball with two feet in the key; he did not need any moves. Just power up. They were frustrated by the lack of physicality.
This short conversation distills much of our prevalent thinking about post play. Despite many coaches practicing post moves repeatedly in one-vs-zero drills (Fake Fundamentals, Vol. 4), few players have great footwork once the game starts. Instead, coaches aim to get the ball to post players with two feet in the paint where players catch and finish, catch, pivot and finish, or catch in the air and dunk. The pass into the post tends to end teams’ plays: Players stand and watch post players attempt to score.
The trapezoid lane moved posts away from the basket and prevented this simplified approach. European offenses often used these taller players as an offensive hub, relying on post players as passers and playmakers, not just finishers. Even as the lane has narrowed in FIBA competition, these skills and systems persist. Coaches ask post players to do more than set on-ball screens, dunk alley-oops, and offensive rebound. The FIBA emphasis on ball movement as opposed to isolations guarantees more meaningful touches for post players. Nobody develops Jokić-like skills by standing on the block and waiting to catch and finish.
Traditional position designations made smaller players the point guards, and these players handled the ball the most. Taller players were positioned next to the basket and often touched the ball only when they were open to turn and finish. Therefore guards (smaller players) developed more ball skills and decision-making skills as they had more opportunities. The wider lane pushed the posts further from the basket, requiring posts to develop these same skills. Rather than catch and finish, posts use multiple dribbles to score or create a pass, similar to perimeter-based players.
Smaller players have an advantage in quickness with the ball, as they, on average, change direction more quickly and dribble the ball lower to the ground. This does not necessarily translate to better passing, and the need to play faster to create and maintain advantages may make passing more difficult for smaller players. Post players use their size to protect the basketball, and often play at a slower, more deliberate pace, which can enhance a player’s ability to see the floor and find an open teammate. These skills, however, only develop when players get these touches, which likely occurred more often with the trapezoid lane, but continues to occur more in international play than the typical American game (Women’s basketball emphasized post play more than men’s basketball in the United States, as evidenced by the top women’s players: Aja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, and others).
What is the defensive strategy on late-game out-of-bounds plays? Often, the defense sends its tallest or longest player to disrupt the passer’s vision and decrease the passing angles. We acknowledge passing against taller and longer players disrupts passing skills, yet we remain convinced smaller players should be the dominant passers.
This bias is not necessarily wrong, but it has nothing to do with height. It is opportunity. In my study on three-vs-three versus five-vs-five basketball, one ancillary finding was guards handle the ball significantly more than post players (McCormick et al., 2012). Guards have more opportunities to pass, shoot, and make decisions. Of course they improve more quickly.
Post players or taller players more generally need more opportunities in order to develop better and more skilled post players. They need to be challenged to make plays, whether from a five-out system, from the elbow, or from the low post. Passing into the post should be part of a play or initiate an action, rather than ending the play, especially when players catch outside the lane-line.
Diversifying offenses and expecting post and taller players to make plays is not the quickest approach to success. Coaches and players need patience to continue providing the opportunities and repetitions regardless of the outcome or success.