Dude. The post up oriented style has not worked for us........ We've won how many games the last 5 years? Either everyone on our roster sucks, or maybe going to the post like 90% of our possessions doesn't work.
It does matter what the trend is.. You have to keep up with what's current.
That's not due to posts up not working though, that's due to a lack of balance and shooting threats year after year on our roster.
As this article pointed out and as a few here have repeatedly pointed out, one of the most crucial elements of success in this league is the ability for one player to attract two or more defenders, essentially making it 4v3 elsewhere. There's your advantage. That's where quickly passing to the open shooter kills defenses. Karl is right, without that a guy like Korver doesn't get open in the playoffs.
But to do that you need a couple things. First and foremost, a guy who forces defenses to bend towards him. In the modern NBA where there's few post threats, it's come more through ball dominant and attacking guards. Modern perimeter rules also necessitate that. That's why a guy like Reke was and is valuable, he can penetrate and draw defenders. But the other way to do that is by posting up with a dominant big. That there's so few of them doesn't mean it won't or can't work, it just means it's rare. But Cuz on the block draw multiple defenders has the same effect as an attacking guard penetrating and draw defenders. It forces the defense to help and your passing in a 4v3 situation has to beat their rotations. If the idea is Cuz, or previous guys like Shaq or Hakeem or Ewing or Moses couldn't succeed in the modern NBA, I'd say that's a patently false premise. We just don't have guys like that in the modern NBA.
The other thing you need is shooters to both create spacing and to prevent defenders from sagging off/doubling in the first place. When that happens, its far easier for a dominant post threat to attack 1v1. If and when they do double, it's much easier to get open 3's. Whether it was Vlade/Webb here, KG in Boston, Duncan over the years in SA, Shaq in Orl/LA, there's a reason their FO's put shooters around them. Not having shooters and therefor a lack of spacing doesn't mean posting won't work, it's means you've done a terrible job of trying to make it work.
And this is one reason I continue saying the way in which to reach the highest ceiling with Cuz is to have a PG who can penetrate at will and collapse defenses. It's two threats who can do that, one inside, one outside. Surround them with shooters/defenders. Doesn't mean we ultimately couldn't be very good without that and instead surround Cuz with 3&D players, just that the ceiling would be that much higher. Hence my high intrigue in Mudiay. It's pretty hard to acquire a guard who can penetrate and get into the teeth of the defense. We blew it with Reke. We see what Reke penetrating does for Davis. It opens up numerous open shots, for Davis, for their shooters. If we have a chance to get another guard who can do similar, you have to seriously consider it.
Edit: And I see this is what I get for replying to you without reading everyone's responses first. Brick touched on much of the same. It's about collapsing defenses, point blank and there's two ways to do it, from the post, from a penetrating guard.
I'll add, most here want ball movement. Well good ball movement is a helluva lot easier when you first have a guy bending defenses. You've got to create a defensive inbalance and get them chasing. And as we all know, the ball moves faster than defenders. What Cuz does is what the most elite attacking PG's and SG's have done, just from a different area, he draws multiple defenders and can pass out.
Extremely valuable.
