Coach Spins' Clipboard: Hunting Zion, Sharing in Utah, and more
This week's NBA observations include the fun Bol Bol, the vengeful Cam Thomas, and future DPOY OG Anunoby
As our bodies still adjust to clock changes in the United States and our minds adjust to Elon Musk’s dumpster fire version of Twitter, basketball is hitting its stride. College hoops came back this week (and will admittedly eat up a large chunk of my viewership) and high school season has begun for my own team.
The NBA is still rolling along. As we creep closer to the Thanksgiving point where standings and records start to really show consequence, we’re slowly sifting teams into contenders and pretenders. On both ends of the spectrum are fun players fighting to add wrinkles to their games or emerging youngsters proving themselves as rotation pieces.
Thursday night had a wildly fun Pelicans-Blazers matchup that we want to dive into. The Nets and Magic have found intriguing rotation pieces, the Raptors are Raptoring in Toronto, and the Jazz are shocking everyone in Utah.
The NBA is so much fun. Let’s basketball.
Hunting Zion
Some regular season games are important not because of the result, but because of what they reveal. On Thursday night, the Portland Trail Blazers walked into New Orleans without Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic or Shaedon Sharpe and absolutely blitzed the Pelicans. Late in the game, Portland had one strategy they went to over and over again: find Zion Williamson and attack him relentlessly.
The former number-one overall pick has been a dominant offensive force at times. Defensively he’s been the opposite. Zion’s body type and athleticism make him a unique player and limit the types of guys he defends. The issues on Thursday, however, were as much effort-based as they were defined by physical limitations.
Down six at the half, the Blazers wasted no time in going right at Zion to start the third quarter. They put him in isolations of switches, ball screens where he’d need to show near the sideline, or quick-attack closeout situations atop the key. Zion failed each one, and the common thread was that he was standing far too upright. That led to getting blown past at the point of attack by Anfernee Simons or losing his man for a split-second off-ball that leads to a breakdown.
Before you could blink, the Blazers were back in control of this game mere minutes into the third. I’ve seen teams adjust to mismatches with pre-switches and doubles late in games, but with 8:00 left in the third? That’s a new level of urgency that I haven’t seen in a November game before.
Sure enough, Willie Green changed the scheme, having Brandon Ingram sprint double atop the key whenever Zion got switched back onto Simons. Portland made the right basketball play and moved the ball around, and Zion was a split-second late on his rotation.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter and the Blazers once again went right after Williamson. On three consecutive possessions, they put him into ball screens. By that point, the Pels were trying to hard hedge with him and avoid the switch. It didn’t work.
1st possession: not a good enough hedge, gets driven around, give up dunk at the rim.
2nd possession: easy switch forced, blown by for a slam
3rd possession: re-screen forces trap on PNR, gives up kickout 3-pointer
The Pelicans dropped a home game they should have definitely won. Zion’s defensive issues are a legitimate issue for Willie Green and his staff to worry about. There are only so many ways to scheme up to protect a player without leaving a vulnerability somewhere. Unfortunately, Zion doesn’t seem to help himself too often by playing with energy or engagement.
He’s far too athletic to be torched off the bounce the way he is, and not engaged enough off-ball to make up for those concerns. Zion is still a net positive on almost every night due to his offensive production. What this Blazers matchup on Thursday revealed is that a postseason series could get really ugly for Zion if he’s picked on by a cerebral opponent.
The Novelty Item in Orlando
Sam Vecenie and I talk a lot about the difference between a player being novel and being good. Fans fall in love with novelty players because they’re so rare, so unique to watch. But the goal in team-building is to find players who are effective. The rarity is only important if it translates to success.
Since being in the 2019 draft class, Bol Bol has been too much of a novelty item and not enough of a tangible impact-maker when playing. But through 11 games this season with the Orlando Magic, Bol is averaging 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds while going 7-16 from deep and swatting 2.1 shots per game. He’s been legitimately really good, a 7’2” weapon to unleash as a weak-side rim protector and floor-spacer around Orlando’s blossoming young stars.
Where Bol has learned to be good is in the unorthodox ways he’ll be deployed. At 7’2”, he’ll spend time near the basket as a roller or standing in the dunker spot. Those are all well and good, but he’s certainly not more elite of a finisher in those actions than other bigs who provide a ton of impact on defense. Bol’s value comes in his ability to play multiple frontcourt positions, so learning how to thrive in an off-ball setting on the perimeter was always important for his development.
Bol is operating really well as a cutter. Whether Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner or Jalen Suggs, the Magic have physical top options who like to operate out of the pinch post. While those post-ups are going on, Bol has shown a propensity to understand when to cut to the rim. His 45-cuts are dangerous because of how quick and fluid he is as a finisher on the move.
While the percentage is strong right now, Bol doesn’t shoot a ton from 3. He’s legitimate enough to be closed out to, and that’s a huge weapon that he’s still learning to harness. Blowing by closeouts is so much about quick recognition and a long, decisive first step. If Bol dribbles his first bounce in place and right at his side, he’ll have a harder time getting separation and to the hoop.
Now his run-through on the perimeter is a weapon. Even against short closeouts, he’s able to get to the rim in one bounce, the perfect harnessing of all his skill points.
Those are the ways Bol can be good within a team system. Attack closeouts, move off the ball when his man isn’t looking, and occasionally knock down the open jumpers he’ll get. By being good, Jamahl Mosley now can keep Bol on the floor long enough to let him be the jaw-dropping specimen in transition that makes him so damn fun.
What’s most encouraging about Bol is that the Magic are 11.4 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the court than off it. For a team that’s 3-9, that’s a massive mark. He’s averaged 14 and 6 over the last week and is a reliable cog in their rotation. Bol is here to stay.
Taming the Gunner in Salt Lake City
Man, these Utah Jazz just won’t go away.
The Jazz sit 10-3 and atop the Western Conference standings, a stunning development given the lack of proven stars and the direction of the franchise over the summer. There’s too much talk about trying to firesale the veterans in Utah because it’s ruining their tank this season — no team should ever be upset with winning games. What we’re seeing is that, with the right maneuvering over the next year or so, the stockpile of draft picks can help the Jazz limit their stay at the bottom and add true stars to the mix.
Will Hardy has been an unbelievably effective coach thus far. He’s developing defensive schemes that work, getting guys to buy into a motion-based offense, playing effective 5-out styles with Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk, and hitting every right button at the right time.
Markkanen (34.1% from 3) has started to hit after a cold start from deep. Everyone else has been absolutely unconscious from deep: Olynyk (56.8%) and Jarred Vanderbilt (50%) are excellent spacers for big men, while Malik Beasley (42%), Mike Conley (41.3%) and Jordan Clarkson (41.2%) are always willing to knock down the open look.
Hardy has been able to tame the many score-first guys in Utah by playing a 5-out scheme that almost always keeps the lane unoccupied. They’ll run a litany of pick-and-pops (unless Walker Kessler is in) and always have the floor well-spaced. That 5-out spacing leads to easier decisions for whoever ends up in the lane, and it’s so much easier to buy into making that extra pass when you believe the guy you pass it to is going to drill it.