NBA

The Game’s Newest Assist

In today’s game, shooting is continuing to become an essential skill. This proves to be especially true as you study the highest levels of basketball. As the game has evolved, there are opportunities to find new ways to measure a player’s impact on the game. The traditional statistics tend to leave a gap in today’s game. How can we measure the impact of an elite shooter cutting off of a screen, drawing two defenders, and getting the screener an open layup? This type of impact can now being measured in the form of a CUT ASSIST. 

The video below shows examples of CUT ASSISTS by Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. 

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Using CUT ASSISTS in your team statistics will encourage players to cut hard, find value in creating scoring opportunities for teammates, and it measures the advantage that is created by the gravity of a great shooter. If you run a system that is predicated on cutting, you can take this one step further by giving a CUT ASSIST for any cut that creates an open shot. As you watch basketball, keep an eye out for the game’s newest assist, and watch how frequently a CUT ASSIST is the driving force behind great shots. 

Ball Screen Reads: Derrick White

Who is the most efficient ball screen player in the NBA (minimum 100 possessions)?

Most people would guess Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic, or Chris Paul? While all three of those players are really good, the correct answer is Derrick White of the San Antonio Spurs. Including his passing, the Spurs have a PPP (Points Per Possession) of 1.13 when he is the ball handler in pick and rolls. That is the best in the NBA.

Below is a video that shows three basic reads from Derrick White.

  1. Defender goes OVER the screen
  2. Defender goes UNDER the screen
  3. Derrick White REJECTS the screen

Spurs | Advantage Based Basketball

The San Antonio Spurs were referred to as playing “the beautiful game.” This style of play was an elite level of “advantage based basketball.” The Spurs created “the beautiful game” with skilled players, quick decision making, and a collective buy-in to find the best shot possible on each possession.
The Spurs often times used a simple ball screen as an “initiating action.” We call it an initiating action, because it initiates an offensive advantage. Once that happens, the Spurs force the defense to scramble and chase, until a great shot presents itself. Here is a video of the Spurs playing “advantage based basketball.”

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ARTICLE: Basketball coaches are a society of borrowers

The article by Dan Shaughnessy, “Basketball coaches are a society of borrowers,” talks about how coaches are constantly sharing and borrowing to make each other better. Here are my two favorite quotes from Brad Stevens:

“And I’ve always thought — and I got this from my boss at Butler — there’s not a monopoly of great coaches at any one level. It’s all over the map. I think that’s one of our responsibilities in coaching is to open our doors if people are interested in watching and talking about any of that stuff.’’

“I spend my whole offseason going to clinics,’’ the Celtics coach added. “Even when we plan something as a family on vacation, I try to figure out where coaches are in that area and go and stop by and pick their brains on what they are doing.”

The last sentence of the article sums it up:

The good coaches are the ones who never think they have the whole thing figured out.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

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