The help defender's two legal weapons at the rim: verticality, where he gets to the spot first and goes straight up with both hands, giving up his space to nobody; and the charge, where he gets to the spot first with his feet set and his chest square and lets the dribbler run into him. This play runs a whole possession in which the post defender does both: a corner drive meets him walled up and vertical and ends in a kick-out, the ball swings across the floor, and a middle drive meets him set and square and ends in a charge. Why these two and not the block: a young defender who jumps at the ball fouls, and a defender who reaches fouls; the wall and the charge are the two ways to stop a drive at the rim without a whistle on the defense. What they concede: the kick-out pass, which goes back outside. Where the advantage lies: a drive that ends in a wall ends in a pick-up, and a drive that ends in a charge ends the possession and puts a foul on the other team's best driver. Common youth mistakes: jumping forward into the shooter, arms out instead of up, setting up late (which is a block), and reaching back to catch the fall with the hands. I borrowed the wall-up and charge teaching from Championship Productions' Big 3 drill and Coach's Clipboard's page on taking the charge, which also covers falling safely; give both a look.
