NBA 2K17 Post Up Tutorial Part 1

Today we’re looking at the different moves you can do in the post in NBA 2K17 and how to pull them off the most effectively.

Enter and Leave Post

The first move I’m going to go over is entering the post and leaving the post to faceup the defender. Without moving the player, you hold LT or L2 to get into the post up stance and let go of the button to leave it.

Now, depending on whether you’ve put the ball on the floor beforehand determines the effectiveness of the faceup. If you’ve already dribbled the ball, when you faceup you’ve increased the likelihood of the defender stealing it from you.

Big men sadly aren’t blessed with the ability to avoid losing the ball as soon as our opponent hits steal, so avoid that situation if you can. But if you faceup before the player has put the ball on the floor, you’re now in the triple threat stance.

A triple threat is where you can pass, dribble or shoot. Anybody who’s faced a guy who’s done this to them knows the feeling of suddenly feeling vulnerable, more specifically down low because it opens up the threat of a regular shot or drive and because your so close to the basket they’re both very real threats.

Change Post Stance

Next move I’m going to go over is changing the direction your player is facing in the post, and you do that by after you hit LT or L2 to post up and point the right stick directly away from the hoop.

Basically, aim the stick behind your player. It works whether you’ve dribbled the ball already or not. It can help you navigate away from extra defenders coming over to steal the ball to put you in position to drive the other way or give you an extra half second to pass to the open guy.

Drive to Key/Baseline

To spin to the baseline or key you hold LT or L2 to post up, then hold RT or R2 and move the left stick toward the key or baseline and then let go of LT or L2 to start it. If you don’t get the animation that catches the defender leaning, your success with it depends on how high your player’s speed rating with the ball is, as well as the defender’s lateral quickness.

At this point you’re simplifying it down to a footrace to the hoop so for the faster big men with limited post moves this is how they can get buckets down low. Marc Gasol may be one of the best defensive big men in the league but in a footrace with Thon Maker he’s going to lose that majority of the time.

Dropstep

Next is the Dropstep. Its purpose is to box out the defender as you spin around, using your back and shoulders as a shield to get a shot off. To do that, hit LT or L2 and move the left stick towards the hoop and then tap X or Square. It’s most effective the closer you are to the hoop.

Aggressive Backdown

Lastly is the aggressive backdown. To do it you hold LT or L2 to post up, then hit RT or R2 and move the left stick into the defender. This is purely a strength based move, so even Andre Drummond can get busy down low if the defender is weak enough.

Hopefully that helped you out enough to work your magic down low with confidence. Stay tuned for part 2 where I go over how and when to do the different post move shots in NBA 2K17.