Film room: Kristaps Porzingis, the pick-your-poison unicorn Mavericks envisioned由Mavs.Ben 发表在Big D https://bbs.hupu.com/688
There’s an argument to be made that the COVID-19 hiatus was more ill-timed for Kristaps Porzingis than any other Maverick. The Latvian star churned through a number of phases in his first season playing in Dallas, which began with him struggling to find his place in a new system and evolved into him becoming a primary focal point to team success alongside Luka Doncic.
Last week, we broke down where Doncic’s game was when the NBA season abruptly hit pause on March 11th. As it currently stands, the season is still set to resume in Orlando on July 31st, with the Mavericks in prime position to play playoff basketball for the first time in four years. If Dallas is to shake up the standings in the remaining eight games of the regular season or make some noise in the playoffs, Porzingis is sure to be an essential part of the operation. In the second installment of this series, we’re going to examine how Porzingis looked at the time of the stoppage over three months ago.
Season stats: 51 games (per game): 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 1.7 assists, 42.0 FG percent, 34.9 3-point percent, 77.6 FT percent
Where he stopped: Porzingis actually didn’t play in the Mavericks’ final game against the Denver Nuggets on March 11th. With Dallas on the second night of a back-to-back after playing in San Antonio on March 10th, head coach Rick Carlisle opted to rest the big man to continue managing his knee. Missing 16 of the potential 67 games doesn’t exactly scream “durability,” but one thing that surprisingly stood out was that Porzingis only missed three more games than Doncic this season.
His last two games were duds, as he shot 3-for-17 and 4-for-15 respectively and scored nine points in each game. However, a larger sample size of his stretch run is more indicative of the personal groove he found. He scored at least 24 points in 11 of the 13 games prior, dropping a season-high 38 twice in that span. After spending much of 2019 trying to work his way back from a 20-month layoff due to the ACL injury and starting 2020 off with 20-day absence due to another knee issue, Porzingis began looking like the player who was an All-Star in 2018. He found his way in Carlisle’s system, particularly following his shift to playing more as a center after Dwight Powell’s devastating Achilles injury on Jan. 21. He also learned to play alongside an alpha superstar in Doncic and regained confidence in his own body.
Porzingis has shown to be a complete player this season, performing at a high level on both ends of the court. Porzingis’ rim protection, in particular, has been astounding. The blocks show up on the stat sheet but Porzingis does a good job of altering a lot of shots at the rim as well. He ranks fifth in the NBA in blocks and is one of two players to average at least 19 points and two blocks per game (the other is Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis). Additionally, he’s the 10th-ranked player across the entire league in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus. In this piece, we’re going to focus on his offense, but I’ve examined Porzingis’ defense and rebounding as recently as a week before the season was suspended.
Pick-and… roll/pop/stop
The pick-and-roll game is a significant part of what Carlisle likes to run in his offense; Powell has essentially built his career on becoming an elite roll man. What sets Porzingis apart is how his skill has allowed the pick-and-roll to evolve into a pick-your-poison situation for the defense. Every set starts out looking similar, but Porzingis is a good enough shooter, ball-handler and finisher to simply react off of the look that the defense presents him. It’s reminiscent of a shifty slot receiver in football running an option route against a slower, less athletic linebacker.
Here is a standard example of Porzingis setting the pick and rolling to the basket. With Porzingis’ man already switched on to Doncic, it’s an easy pass for Doncic that Porzingis slams home.
In the clip above, you’ll notice that after setting the pick, Porzingis has a clear path to the basket, which is why he decides to roll. In the highlight below, notice the pick being set from approximately the same distance as the first one. This time, not only is there a defender lurking in the lane in Porzingis’ path, but Tim Hardaway Jr. doesn’t have a path to the hoop either. Instead of attacking downhill, Hardaway drifts softly to the left. Instead of rolling hard, Porzingis pops back a step and is wide open.
So far, we’ve seen the examples of Porzingis reading the defense and either rolling hard or backing out, what you commonly know as pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop, respectively. The other part of Porzingis’ game in this area that has really started to see an uptick, especially since he returned from injury in late January, is the pick-and-stop; shuffling off inside off of a pick and simply stopping on a dime and shooting over the smaller player. (Porzingis is 7’3, so most players are smaller in comparison, but here I mean switching off from a center and on to a guard/forward.) It’s a way to free up Porzingis and get him on a mismatch while simultaneously moving him closer to the hoop for a higher percentage shot.
Porzingis has always been able to do this, but it started showing up more often in recent months because of who he’s on the floor with. Playing with Powell provides Porzingis a favorable defensive matchup, but offensively, Powell is fairly limited in his outside game. Maxi Kleber is much more efficient and provides a legitimate shooting threat whom defenders have to respect and play up on. As seen above, it pulls the big man completely out of the paint, and all Porzingis has to do is rise above and knock down the shot over the smaller defender.
This is why running a pick play with Porzingis can be virtually unstoppable. Each pick starts out looking the same, but whether Porzingis rolls hard, pops out or stops and rises is squarely dependent on the way the defense shakes out. Porzingis is able to take what’s given and make opponents pay.
Post-up
Ah, yes. The story of the Mavericks’ 2019-20 season can’t be written without Carlisle’s post-up rant in December.
“The post-up just isn’t a good play anymore,” Carlisle said. “It just isn’t a good play. It’s not a good play for a 7-3 guy. It’s a low-value situation. Our numbers are very substantial that when he spaces beyond the 3-point line, you know, we’re a historically good offensive team. And when any of our guys go in there, our effectiveness is diminished exponentially. It’s counterintuitive, I understand that, but it’s a fact. I think there’s certain situations where it makes sense. If we can get him on a roll in the paint towards the rim, that’s a good situation. And that’s what we’ll try to do with all our guys.”
I think it’s important to review that part of history before we move forward in order to give it proper context. Carlisle’s rant came at a time when Porzingis’ game was struggling overall as he worked his way back into NBA game shape after the 20-month layoff, and the head coach was getting peppered with a lot of pointed concern. He was defending Porzingis here, and there was some truth to his larger point, especially considering the center/power forward position through a traditional lense. If we break up distances into eight-foot increments, Porzingis’ highest shot volume comes from 24+ feet (359), and it’s not particularly close (second is 213 shots from within eight feet). However, that’s not to say Porzingis is not capable of posting up. As Carlisle said, there are certain situations where it makes sense, and when it does, Porzingis can execute.
This play is a standard from a very throwback brand of basketball. The ball gets dumped in to Porzingis, who has his back to the basket. It’s sticky defense, and Porzingis backs down the defender and makes the shot, with a foul.
When the defender is smaller, posting up can be like taking candy from a baby. It’s just a matter of if Porzingis’ shot is falling that night because the look will almost always favor the 7’3 guy.
Creating shots
Porzingis has the height of a center but also possesses the basketball skills of a guard. Most scoring opportunities for players in the Mavericks offense come through the system. The offense is produced through ball movement, some set plays and a lot of reacting off of the defense. What isolation basketball is usually expected to come from the playmaking guards, such as Doncic and Hardaway on this team. However, Porzingis is also capable of putting the ball on the deck and creating his own shots.
A prime example comes here, when he’s matched up against a guard in Lonzo Ball. Porzingis easily squares him up and takes him off the dribble. Since Ball is a guard, he’s able to keep up but has a significant size disadvantage and can’t contest the shot.
On the flip side, Porzingis is matched up against a big man in Naz Reid here. Porzingis takes him off the dribble, and Reid is unable to keep up.
Maybe the most remarkable example of all is this next one. Every few years, the NBA introduces a new flavor of play. Recently, the step-back 3-pointer has become a dazzling new toy, led in large part by James Harden and Doncic. For a couple of shifty guards to use that shot is impressive but plausible. A seven-footer going off the dribble and hitting a step-back is just unfair.
3-pointers
I could certainly throw some clips in here of Porzingis knocking down 3-pointers, but at this point, you’re well aware that it’s a big part of his game. Instead, I’m going to show one example of what those shots create for Porzingis.
Obviously, the ability to connect from deep creates a lot of spacing on the floor for everybody else on the team, but it also opens things up for Porzingis. This season, he is shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc. The conversion is the easy thing to look at but also quite important is the fact that Porzingis is averaging 7.1 attempts from deep per game, tied for second on the team behind Doncic’s 9.1. Not only do teams know Porzingis can hit the shot; they also know he has a quick trigger and can pull up from deep at any time.
This final offensive play is not just an illustration of what that does for defenses, it’s a culmination of a lot of the things we’ve discussed above in a single clip.
First of all, you see Porzingis set a pick and pop out. Doncic hits him with an on-target pass, and if Porzingis had wanted to, he could have launched a shot as soon as he received the pass. There are a plethora of examples of him doing just that. However, the defense also knows this and closes out on him aggressively. Porzingis then puts the ball on the ground and finishes with a monster slam.
The 3-point threat, guard-like ball-handling and a big finish at the rim – that play is a representation of the full Kristaps Porzingis experience.
https://theathletic.com/1885327/2020/06/22/film-room-kristaps-porzingis-the-pick-your-poison-unicorn-mavericks-envisioned/
There’s an argument to be made that the COVID-19 hiatus was more ill-timed for Kristaps Porzingis than any other Maverick. The Latvian star churned through a number of phases in his first season playing in Dallas, which began with him struggling to find his place in a new system and evolved into him becoming a primary focal point to team success alongside Luka Doncic.
Last week, we broke down where Doncic’s game was when the NBA season abruptly hit pause on March 11th. As it currently stands, the season is still set to resume in Orlando on July 31st, with the Mavericks in prime position to play playoff basketball for the first time in four years. If Dallas is to shake up the standings in the remaining eight games of the regular season or make some noise in the playoffs, Porzingis is sure to be an essential part of the operation. In the second installment of this series, we’re going to examine how Porzingis looked at the time of the stoppage over three months ago.
Season stats: 51 games (per game): 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 1.7 assists, 42.0 FG percent, 34.9 3-point percent, 77.6 FT percent
Where he stopped: Porzingis actually didn’t play in the Mavericks’ final game against the Denver Nuggets on March 11th. With Dallas on the second night of a back-to-back after playing in San Antonio on March 10th, head coach Rick Carlisle opted to rest the big man to continue managing his knee. Missing 16 of the potential 67 games doesn’t exactly scream “durability,” but one thing that surprisingly stood out was that Porzingis only missed three more games than Doncic this season.
His last two games were duds, as he shot 3-for-17 and 4-for-15 respectively and scored nine points in each game. However, a larger sample size of his stretch run is more indicative of the personal groove he found. He scored at least 24 points in 11 of the 13 games prior, dropping a season-high 38 twice in that span. After spending much of 2019 trying to work his way back from a 20-month layoff due to the ACL injury and starting 2020 off with 20-day absence due to another knee issue, Porzingis began looking like the player who was an All-Star in 2018. He found his way in Carlisle’s system, particularly following his shift to playing more as a center after Dwight Powell’s devastating Achilles injury on Jan. 21. He also learned to play alongside an alpha superstar in Doncic and regained confidence in his own body.
Porzingis has shown to be a complete player this season, performing at a high level on both ends of the court. Porzingis’ rim protection, in particular, has been astounding. The blocks show up on the stat sheet but Porzingis does a good job of altering a lot of shots at the rim as well. He ranks fifth in the NBA in blocks and is one of two players to average at least 19 points and two blocks per game (the other is Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis). Additionally, he’s the 10th-ranked player across the entire league in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus. In this piece, we’re going to focus on his offense, but I’ve examined Porzingis’ defense and rebounding as recently as a week before the season was suspended.
Pick-and… roll/pop/stop
The pick-and-roll game is a significant part of what Carlisle likes to run in his offense; Powell has essentially built his career on becoming an elite roll man. What sets Porzingis apart is how his skill has allowed the pick-and-roll to evolve into a pick-your-poison situation for the defense. Every set starts out looking similar, but Porzingis is a good enough shooter, ball-handler and finisher to simply react off of the look that the defense presents him. It’s reminiscent of a shifty slot receiver in football running an option route against a slower, less athletic linebacker.
Here is a standard example of Porzingis setting the pick and rolling to the basket. With Porzingis’ man already switched on to Doncic, it’s an easy pass for Doncic that Porzingis slams home.
In the clip above, you’ll notice that after setting the pick, Porzingis has a clear path to the basket, which is why he decides to roll. In the highlight below, notice the pick being set from approximately the same distance as the first one. This time, not only is there a defender lurking in the lane in Porzingis’ path, but Tim Hardaway Jr. doesn’t have a path to the hoop either. Instead of attacking downhill, Hardaway drifts softly to the left. Instead of rolling hard, Porzingis pops back a step and is wide open.
So far, we’ve seen the examples of Porzingis reading the defense and either rolling hard or backing out, what you commonly know as pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop, respectively. The other part of Porzingis’ game in this area that has really started to see an uptick, especially since he returned from injury in late January, is the pick-and-stop; shuffling off inside off of a pick and simply stopping on a dime and shooting over the smaller player. (Porzingis is 7’3, so most players are smaller in comparison, but here I mean switching off from a center and on to a guard/forward.) It’s a way to free up Porzingis and get him on a mismatch while simultaneously moving him closer to the hoop for a higher percentage shot.
Porzingis has always been able to do this, but it started showing up more often in recent months because of who he’s on the floor with. Playing with Powell provides Porzingis a favorable defensive matchup, but offensively, Powell is fairly limited in his outside game. Maxi Kleber is much more efficient and provides a legitimate shooting threat whom defenders have to respect and play up on. As seen above, it pulls the big man completely out of the paint, and all Porzingis has to do is rise above and knock down the shot over the smaller defender.
This is why running a pick play with Porzingis can be virtually unstoppable. Each pick starts out looking the same, but whether Porzingis rolls hard, pops out or stops and rises is squarely dependent on the way the defense shakes out. Porzingis is able to take what’s given and make opponents pay.
Post-up
Ah, yes. The story of the Mavericks’ 2019-20 season can’t be written without Carlisle’s post-up rant in December.
“The post-up just isn’t a good play anymore,” Carlisle said. “It just isn’t a good play. It’s not a good play for a 7-3 guy. It’s a low-value situation. Our numbers are very substantial that when he spaces beyond the 3-point line, you know, we’re a historically good offensive team. And when any of our guys go in there, our effectiveness is diminished exponentially. It’s counterintuitive, I understand that, but it’s a fact. I think there’s certain situations where it makes sense. If we can get him on a roll in the paint towards the rim, that’s a good situation. And that’s what we’ll try to do with all our guys.”
I think it’s important to review that part of history before we move forward in order to give it proper context. Carlisle’s rant came at a time when Porzingis’ game was struggling overall as he worked his way back into NBA game shape after the 20-month layoff, and the head coach was getting peppered with a lot of pointed concern. He was defending Porzingis here, and there was some truth to his larger point, especially considering the center/power forward position through a traditional lense. If we break up distances into eight-foot increments, Porzingis’ highest shot volume comes from 24+ feet (359), and it’s not particularly close (second is 213 shots from within eight feet). However, that’s not to say Porzingis is not capable of posting up. As Carlisle said, there are certain situations where it makes sense, and when it does, Porzingis can execute.
This play is a standard from a very throwback brand of basketball. The ball gets dumped in to Porzingis, who has his back to the basket. It’s sticky defense, and Porzingis backs down the defender and makes the shot, with a foul.
When the defender is smaller, posting up can be like taking candy from a baby. It’s just a matter of if Porzingis’ shot is falling that night because the look will almost always favor the 7’3 guy.
Creating shots
Porzingis has the height of a center but also possesses the basketball skills of a guard. Most scoring opportunities for players in the Mavericks offense come through the system. The offense is produced through ball movement, some set plays and a lot of reacting off of the defense. What isolation basketball is usually expected to come from the playmaking guards, such as Doncic and Hardaway on this team. However, Porzingis is also capable of putting the ball on the deck and creating his own shots.
A prime example comes here, when he’s matched up against a guard in Lonzo Ball. Porzingis easily squares him up and takes him off the dribble. Since Ball is a guard, he’s able to keep up but has a significant size disadvantage and can’t contest the shot.
On the flip side, Porzingis is matched up against a big man in Naz Reid here. Porzingis takes him off the dribble, and Reid is unable to keep up.
Maybe the most remarkable example of all is this next one. Every few years, the NBA introduces a new flavor of play. Recently, the step-back 3-pointer has become a dazzling new toy, led in large part by James Harden and Doncic. For a couple of shifty guards to use that shot is impressive but plausible. A seven-footer going off the dribble and hitting a step-back is just unfair.
3-pointers
I could certainly throw some clips in here of Porzingis knocking down 3-pointers, but at this point, you’re well aware that it’s a big part of his game. Instead, I’m going to show one example of what those shots create for Porzingis.
Obviously, the ability to connect from deep creates a lot of spacing on the floor for everybody else on the team, but it also opens things up for Porzingis. This season, he is shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc. The conversion is the easy thing to look at but also quite important is the fact that Porzingis is averaging 7.1 attempts from deep per game, tied for second on the team behind Doncic’s 9.1. Not only do teams know Porzingis can hit the shot; they also know he has a quick trigger and can pull up from deep at any time.
This final offensive play is not just an illustration of what that does for defenses, it’s a culmination of a lot of the things we’ve discussed above in a single clip.
First of all, you see Porzingis set a pick and pop out. Doncic hits him with an on-target pass, and if Porzingis had wanted to, he could have launched a shot as soon as he received the pass. There are a plethora of examples of him doing just that. However, the defense also knows this and closes out on him aggressively. Porzingis then puts the ball on the ground and finishes with a monster slam.
The 3-point threat, guard-like ball-handling and a big finish at the rim – that play is a representation of the full Kristaps Porzingis experience.
https://theathletic.com/1885327/2020/06/22/film-room-kristaps-porzingis-the-pick-your-poison-unicorn-mavericks-envisioned/
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