Coach Spins' Clipboard: Josh Giddey's Shot, Jalen Brunson's Hot Streak, & Houston's Rim Defense
Coach Spins' Clipboard: Josh Giddey's Shot, Jalen Brunson's Hot Streak, & Houston's Rim Defense
Plus an uptick in full-court pressure, Jaden Hardy, Paolo Banchero, and more
Happy Saturday! Let’s talk basketball…
It’s been a fun week in the NBA. We’re seeing young players figure out how to play off-ball, great performances from some strong-bodied scorers, and a glut of teams jockeying for position just above mediocrity in the playoff picture. The next month, in advance of the trade deadline, figures to be a major push while teams figure out whether they are buyers or sellers.
Here are a few of our main observations around the league this past week.
Giddey Up
I always struggle to know exactly how long of a positive stretch is needed to move from ‘hot streak’ to ‘this is who he is now.’ Josh Giddey is definitely entering this territory. Over his last 19 games, the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard is averaging 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists on essentially 50/40/90 splits. That’s a stretch of games that is about a quarter of the season.
It’s not just what Giddey is doing but how he is doing it. Josh has dramatically fixed his 3-point jump shot. He’s taking 3-pointers in higher volume, and while most of them are of the catch-and-shoot variety, the fixes to his form are notable. The presence of Chip Engelland, the renowned shooting coach hired away from the San Antonio Spurs, is already paying dividends.
Giddey is really focused on keeping his elbow tucked in, getting his momentum north-south toward the rim, and has mastered the follow-through with a split-legged landing.
By being able to shoot, Giddey can play next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 30 PPG scorer and top option in OKC’s backcourt. That fit gives the Thunder a backcourt they can build around, with a great deal of length and potency. OKC is 7-5 in their last 12 games because those two have been in sync and Giddey has learned how to play next to SGA in a meaningful way. He’s always been a smart cutter and has great touch on his runner, but the little impact he has as a shooter made it more challenging to get to those spots as often.
Now that he’s making shots, the pump fake or quick attack off a closeout is getting more traction. Help defenders inch closer to him, meaning backdoors and 45-cuts are more open than ever.
Giddey likely won’t be a primary scorer anytime soon. His self-creation and pull-up jumper is non-existent, he finishes more in the 5-8 foot range than truly at the rim, and he’s a tad right-hand dominant. There are still areas to work through with Giddey before he’s an All-Star caliber player without flaws to be exploited in the postseason. But the Thunder faithful should be thrilled with his recent developments as a shooter and how that impacts the rest of their half-court offense.
This team believes. They play hard and together, are incredibly smart, and maximize their spacing on offense. Don’t simply expect them to fade away because they’re the youngest and least experienced team in the West playoff race.
Alperen Sengun’s Interior Defense
I find the Houston Rockets to be one of the most fascinating teams in the NBA right now. It feels like I write about them every week. They’re a young, rebuilding group without many veterans and plenty of guys struggling to fit together. It feels like the Rockets have gone after the most talented young players on their boards and haven’t figured out how to get them to mesh just yet… on either end.
Part of the reason they struggle is the lack of consistency on defense. Young players always struggle on defense, but the Rockets are a little bit hamstrung by the minutes they give to Alperen Sengun. Sengun is a 6’9” big without athleticism or length. Man, that’s tough to play at the 5 in the modern NBA. Sengun simultaneously gets exposed when moving on the perimeter and muscled around inside — by guards and bigs alike.
Because of the lack of foot speed, the Rockets have tried to get Sengun to play in Drop coverage. It takes time to learn angles and read opposing handlers. Size eats up space, and Sengun doesn’t have elite size. He has to be great in angles in Drop coverage, and he quite simply is not. Sengun struggles to read when he should commit to the ball handler and when to stay home on the roller. Far too often he tries to fake at the handler, hoping he picks up his dribble.
The drivers immediately call Sengun’s bluff and just waltz into uncontested layups in ways that should never happen in Drop coverage.
Even if Sengun recovers to the roller from his deep drop, he’s not strong enough to withstand one bump to his core. While Alperen does have strength, he focuses too much around the rim at maximizing his length, being very vertical and straight up. But his verticality takes him out of any sort of stance, where he’s on his toes so much that one bump to his core shoves him backward.
Domantas Sabonis simply discarded of him on one bounce this week, shoving Sengun directly underneath the rim:
The strength issue on defense is an overall one that pops up time and time again. Sengun’s interior defense, even without ball screens, isn’t effective because he hasn’t found the effective balance between staying vertical and sliding to contest shots. Often he just throws his hands straight up, stands in his spot, and fears making physical contact or leaning into guys. In the NBA, contact is allowed so frequently that being a tall-ish statue near the rim simply isn’t good enough.
Both Sabonis and Rudy Gobert punked him this past week while he stood there, daring people to finish over him, when they are within their rights to finish through him.
From a tactical perspective, why not try to take Sengun away from the basket more then? Playing more at the level on ball screens, forcing the pick-and-roll initiator to be more of a passer, could blanket Sengun and protect him a bit.
The young Rockets don’t have great help defensive IQ around Sengun. When he does show more aggressively, the roller tends to be open for easy slams:
Sengun’s leash is short on defense, where a few mistakes and a quick run from an opponent can end his stint earlier than usual. He isn’t given the opportunity to play through mistakes in the ways that other young players on the Rockets are, despite his high offensive ceiling. It often feels like the Rockets aren’t sure how much they should embrace Sengun as part of their future. His passing and offensive impact is clear, though there hasn’t been a commitment to playing through him at the elbows or blocks and letting the offense flow through more motion. It does feel as if such a decision would help the team hold Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. accountable for all their over-dribbling.
On the flip side, we’re a year and a half into Sengun’s NBA career and I have no idea what the ideal pick-and-roll defensive scheme is for him. He isn’t very switchable, recovery from playing more at the level is brutal (and the Rockets helpers aren’t experienced enough to compensate), and Drop coverage has been awful time and time again. Sengun has to make some strides quickly, but the Rockets coaching staff can help by tweaking some things.
Jalen Brunson’s Hot Streak
What a week for Brunson! Three straight games over 34 points, 16 assists and 5 turnovers in that span, and pretty solid defense. One of the most impressive individual outings of the year took place this week, when he scored 44 points against the Milwaukee Bucks while being guarded by Jrue Holiday and Jevon Carter.