The low man is the defender standing lowest on the help side, away from the ball. His job is the rim. When a drive gets to the baseline or a screener rolls into the lane, he is the one who steps up and takes the layup away, and he does it before the ball gets there rather than after.
Some staffs use “low man” and “help side low” for the same defender. Others define low man strictly as whoever is lowest on the weak side at that moment, whatever his assignment was ten seconds earlier. Both are in common use, so agree on it in preseason.
Why coaches use it
Somebody has to own the rim, and it cannot be the man guarding the ball. Naming the job means there is never a moment where two defenders both think they are helping, or neither does. Drive and Kick is drawn around that one beat: the low man steps up, and the same second he does it he is no longer guarding the corner.
How to attack it
The low man is the most overworked defender on the floor, and every good weak-side action is aimed at him.
- Space the corner. If his man is in the corner, the pass out of the drive is the longest closeout in basketball.
- Hammer him. Drive the baseline at him and flare a shooter to the opposite corner behind his back. He can stop the layup or close out, not both.
- Make him choose between the roll and the corner. In a pick and roll, tag the roller and the corner opens. Cover the corner and the roll is a layup.
- Put a shooter in the dunker spot. Now the low man is not on the weak side at all, and the rim belongs to nobody.