LOS ANGELES – Some name it a floater. Others have dubbed it a teardrop. The rest might consider it a runner.
Second-year center Quinten Post, 25, calls it an effective addition to his bucket-getting repertoire.
Three times in just two preseason games, the 7-foot Dutchman has shown off a new type of weapon, one that sees him softly loft the ball at the rim with a high-arcing push shot from 12-to-8 feet away.
It’s hard to block, especially when taken by someone as tall as Post, but also difficult to master.
“If you’re seven feet, you’re already kind of close to the basket,” Post told the Bay Area News Group after Friday’s practice at Chase Center. “But it’s definitely a lot different shot from a regular jump shot. People that have a good jump shot don’t automatically have a good floater.”
Post is not the only Warrior to like that shot. He said that Steph Curry “obviously” has the best teardrop shot on the team and added that forward Gui Santos has an underhand variant that is also effective in practice.
Though known as a shot used mostly by nimble perimeter players, Post is hardly the first big man to use the floater.
Stars such as Nikola Jokic and Jaren Jackson Jr. have mastered it, and solid role players Brandon Clarke and Isaiah Hartenstein have thrived in that mid-range area for years.
The signs of that short push shot being an effective weapon were there last season. Post was 8 of 12 on shots considered floaters, according to tracking data available on NBA.com’s database.
Though the sample size is small, he has already shown versatility when it comes to how he manufactures that type of shot during the preseason.
Quinten Post used his floater during Wednesday’s matchup with Hansen Yang (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
One came while attacking Chinese phenom Hansen Yang on a closeout Wednesday, the other materialized by entering a pocket of space and dropping in a feathery shot in front of the basket.
His only miss of the three was an attempted bank shot.
“If you are at that 45-degree angle, then shooting of the glass, for me, feels comfortable,” Post said, before adding, “But the worst thing that can happen with that shot is where you’re in mid-air, and you’re trying to decide if you’re going to use the glass or not. Those are the worst.”
As an unheralded rookie, Post’s offensive skillset lived on the end of two extremes.
Of his 274 shots taken as a rookie, a whopping 260 of them were either within eight feet of the rim, or from behind the arc.
Those long-range flings, made at a 40.8% clip, brought acclaim and steady minutes in the second half of a season that saw him become a key contributor by the end of the schedule.
So after such a successful first season, why did Post decide to add the floater to his game when he already had a successful offensive formula?
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With the addition of veteran center Al Horford now stretching the floor, Post suddenly has more space when used as a roller in the screen game next to the wily 39-year-old.
“In modern spacing, a lot of basketball is played in the short roll,” Post noted. “Having a threat of the floater makes the defense step up, which opens up passing lanes to either cutters or the corner.”
However, his calling card is still his long jumper. Post made 4 of 9 3-pointers and scored 15 of his 20 points Wednesday against the Blazers in the fourth quarter to help spark a crazy comeback.
“When he gets in there, he knows he’s got the green light to let it go, and it’s very easy to play with a guy who has a great feel for the game,” guard Pat Spencer said.
Quinten Post on the floater: “it’s definitely a lot different shot from a regular jump shot” (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Stars sit vs. Lakers
The Warriors and Lakers will be sitting the majority of their starters when the teams face each other in a preseason game in Los Angeles on Sunday.
After Saturday’s practice at USC, coach Steve Kerr told media that Steph Curry, Horford and Moses Moody will be inactive. Kerr said Moody is dealing with a calf injury and will undergo an MRI. Jimmy Butler had already been ruled out on Friday because of an undisclosed personal reason.
The Warriors plan to start Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Jonathan Kuminga and Post, with Draymond Green the one longtime Warriors veteran in the lineup.
The Lakers will be without LeBron James, who is dealing with nerve pain, and Luka Doncic’s status is still unknown.