NBA Miscellany -- Part I

John Wall and Marcin Gortat – A Happy Marriage

Let me be clear: everyone in DC is drooling at Wall’s recent assistapalooza– he’s had double-digit assists in 8 of his last 9 games (and has reached 17 twice). But I am particularly drawn to Wall’s connection with Marcin Gortat. The large, tatted, Pole has scored via assist 108 times, and Wall accounts for 51 of them, per NBA.com.

Conventional basketball wisdom says, when defending in transition, to first get back to establish a paint presence before fanning out to the perimeter. But Wall loves to kick out to wide-open shooters in transition. I think that’s why Gorgui Dieng, Gortat’s defender, put himself in better position to contest an Otto Porter three, rather than stopping Gortat’s rim run. Wall looked off Dieng and delivered a lob that even the earth-bound Gortat could finish.

Gortat and the other Washington bigs set tons of down-screens for Bradley Beal, who only needs a slither of daylight to knock down a jumper. Dieng, again matched up on Gortat, relaxes when he assumes his man is simply setting a screen to free up Beal. Instead, Beal sets a back-pick for Gortat—now Dieng, asleep at the wheel, is grossly out of position. And Corey Brewer, guarding Beal, is equally baffled. The result: an easy two for the Wiz. Wall and company properly executed clever half-court offense from Randy Wittman and his staff.  

Beno Udrih and Andre Miller – Aging Like Fine Wine

Both guards are certainly past their prime, and each is seeing limited minutes on contenders. But occasionally, they can light a little twinkle in my eye.

Beno is long removed from his first few years in the league in San Antonio, but he still shows flashes of Spurs-like savvy in the half-court. Solid in pick and roll situations, Udrih can also hit pull-up jumpers with consistency. Not to mention this gem from last night:

Andre Miller is a better-known commodity, from my vantage point. He has been giving fellow guards the business from the post since 1999. His stats have never overwhelmed me, but I would defend Prof. Miller; he is a cerebral player who has maximized his physical gifts (which are relatively low). He’s the master of keeping his defender on his hip, Joe Ingles the victim in this instance a few nights ago:

Harrison Barnes

Despite starting in all 24 Warrior games, Barnes uses only 14% of Golden State’s possessions per Basketball Reference. That number isn’t too surprising given his high usage backcourt brethren, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Looking at Barnes’s numbers, I am a tad surprised; lower usage players generally are more efficient than are high usage players. I thought  he would be operating at a more efficient clip. That said, this guy can go get you a bucket. He’s probably the third or fourth option in crunch time, but if Curry or Thompson are forced into an unfavorable late-game scenario, I am confident Barnes could at least generate a decent look.

In the first of two end-of-quarter scores against Memphis two nights ago, Barnes beats Jon Leuer off the bounce, jump-stops and shows great footwork with the finish. Impressive finish over two dudes standing 6’10 and 7’0.

                                      

One possession later, Barnes beats the buzzer with a tough, leaning floater. Guards tend to struggle with that short mid-range shot in the 8-12 foot range. Barnes three-point shot is dangerous enough to force defenders to respect it, and he showed deft touch in each of the above instances.