The Spurs have been all-in on LaMarcus Aldridge’s post-ups

When The Jump’s Rachel Nichols asked Gregg Popovich for the secret behind LaMarcus Aldridge’s success this season, his response was simple: “Because I stopped overcoaching him,” he said.

Popovich admitted he spent the last two seasons trying to change Aldridge’s game by making him more of a face-up player. Aldridge was good for 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game on 49.5 percent shooting from the field during that transition — numbers close to his career averages — but he had quietly grown frustrated with his role on the team, so much so that he asked to be traded prior to his third season with the Spurs. Caught off-guard by the request, Popovich had a heart to heart with Aldridge before the season began and vowed to “figure this thing out” by building a system better playing to his strengths.

That meant running more of their offense through Aldridge in the post, a decision made easier by Kawhi Leonard — who led the Spurs in usage rating last season — missing all but nine games to this point of the regular season. After averaging 12.5 post-ups per game in his final season with the Trail Blazers, Aldridge averaged 8.0 post-ups per game in his first season with the Spurs and 10.1 post-ups per game in his second season under Popovich. He has blown all of those numbers out of the water this season with a league-leading 14.1 post-ups per game, which, coincidentally, has moved the Spurs to the top of the leaderboard in post-up frequency as a team.

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The Spurs were thrown deeper into turmoil when Aldridge left Tuesday night’s game against the Wizards with a left knee contusion. If could be a discouraging end to what has been an immensely positive season for Aldridge. If he misses significant time the Spurs could be in danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether, their offense relies on him that much this season.

Nobody in the league passes out of the post as much as Aldridge does, but those post-up touches have been a huge source of his own offense as well. Aldridge generates 43.5 percent of his offense with his back to the basket and he ranks in the 75.0 percentile with 0.98 point per post-up possession. Those numbers are almost identical to Joel Embiid’s, the biggest difference being Aldridge rarely turns the ball over when he’s on the block.

The Spurs don’t have to do anything particularly fancy to give Aldridge the room he needs to attack his defender in the post. To maximize spacing, the player who enters the ball into the post usually takes their defender away from Aldridge by clearing out to the corner on the weakside. The two other perimeter players then rotate to fill in the gaps along the 3-point line, leaving the final player on the floor to position themselves in the dunker spot outside of the paint.

With Aldridge preferring to operate from the left block, it often looks like this:

From there, Aldridge can take whatever the defense gives him. His go-to move is a fadeaway over his right shoulder…

…but he can face-up to the basket if his defender gives him space…

…finish with his right hand if they try to take away his fadeaway…

…finish with his left hand if they try to take away the middle of the court…

…and get them off balance with a variety of fakes:

Being comfortable in those areas gives Aldridge the tools to score against almost any defender in the league, because he can play bully ball when smaller defenders switch onto him and he can draw like-sized defenders away from the basket with his jump shot. He can also shoot over just about any defender in the league. According to NBA.com, half of Aldridge’s shot attempts this season have been tightly contested 2-pointers and he has made 56.6 percent of those opportunities. At 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, there aren’t many players who have the length to disrupt his shot when he goes to his patented fadeaway.

Where the spacing comes into play is when teams start to double Aldridge in the post. Those rotations — the guard clearing out, the shooters sliding over, the non-shooter filling the dunker spot — are designed to punish teams for sending two defenders at him by opening passing lanes to shooters on the perimeter and cutters in the paint. If the defense chooses to have someone from the perimeter drop down to double Aldridge, for example, one of the three 3-point shooters  will be open for a catch-and-shoot jumper. If they choose to have the defender on the opposite baseline rotate over, it’ll pave the way for whomever is in the dunker spot to cut to the hoop for a layup or dunk.

Aldridge doesn’t even have to make a pass to stabilize the defense. Sometimes the threat alone of someone getting a higher percentage look is enough to keep them honest. Notice how Dejounte Murray’s baseline cut prevents Ricky Rubio from doubling Aldridge on the block in the following possession. Knowing how often the Spurs use hammer screens to get shooters open on the perimeter, Joe Ingles has to keep a close eye on his assignment in the corner as well.

Based on those options, it should come as no surprise the Spurs have struggled to generate consistent offense without Aldridge on the floor this season. According to NBA.com, they go from averaging 107.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the court to 101.6 points per 100 possession with him on the bench. (For context, that’s basically difference between the Spurs ranking No. 9 and No. 28 in offensive efficiency on the season). It’s quite the change from last season, too, when the Spurs averaged only 99.7 points per 100 possessions with Aldridge on the court and Leonard on the bench.

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Whether or not the Spurs continue to give Aldridge post touches in this volume when Leonard returns remains to be seen. Still, leaning on the six-time All-Star and his versatility on the low block has helped the Spurs survive Leonard’s absence all year and their postseason aspirations will be pinned to his ability to return quickly, not just Leonard’s.