Originally Posted by
Kumar
Its been 2 preaseaon games, he's only played 20mpg, and I'm already getting fired up. It's preseason bruh. I know. But I've paid close attention to these last two games when Tyreke has played. In the preseason, I look for trends and schemes. I look at who initiates the offense, what sets are run, how the defense works, as opposed to individual numbers. And in just two games I've picked up on some promising things.
We learned last year that Tyreke could go supernova when he finally got the chance to start, and I think he'll show us more of the same. I mean last year he was starting with Roberts, Eric, Davis, and Stiemsma. Replace Stiemsma and BRob with Asik and Jrue, and I don't see how he doesn't benefit even more.
But let me go into a little more depth. When Tyreke was putting up 20/6/6 last year, Davis was putting up 27/10/3. We learned last year that their two man game is nearly unstoppable. Tyreke would take it to the rim at will, and Davis would be the beneficiary of a pass or clean up the miss. At this time, Davis really started exploring his offensive game more too. He would be Iso'd often and get doubled. This would free up Tyreke's elite slashing game. Those two worked it from the inside and outside. Davis shot over 80% at the rim at that time, and that's where the majority of his looks came from.
Now imagine a world where Davis and Tyreke didn't have to play 2 on 5. Jrue and Eric contort defenses way better. And Asik is a sneaky good shot creator by virtue of his screen setting. Tyreke, and all our guards for that matter, are going to benefit a ton by the brutal screens Asik sets. Now Monty has gone on record saying he finally trusted Tyreke towards the end of last year and gave him more freedom. He has also said that Holiday will be playing off the ball more this year.
So picture Tyreke bringing the ball up the floor a lot more. We know he isn't a threat to catch and shoot, so its natural the ball will gravitate towards his hands more. But this is good in three fold.
Getting to the Rim
Firstly, Tyreke is simply the best among the starters at getting to the rim. Dribble penetration is a key facet of our offense, and his innate ability to get to the rim usually leads to three favorable outcomes. Either basket, a foul, or a pass when the defense collapses.
Taking a closer look, these three things are exactly what are happening. Sure he is a solid 6/13 on his FGA, but the more important thing is that he is drawing fouls at an absurdly high rate. His free throw rate currently sits at 69.2% (Durant's was 47.7% last year). The number isn't what's important here. Its the trend of drawing fouls. Sample size is tiny, but defenses have a tough time because of all the threats that surround Tyreke. Because if you contest him well enough, he'll just pass it to the other guys. He's averaging 7 assists per game, in only 20 min each. Again, its not the number, its the looks he's generating. I took a look at exactly what was happening with his assists:
Against OKC:
* Davis Dunk
* Davis Jumper
* Davis Layup
* Davis Layup
* Babbit Corner 3
* Davis And 1
* Davis Layup.
Total points generated: 16
See the two man game? No surprise Davis put up 28 points on 10-15 shooting.
Against Washington:
* Jrue shot at rim
* Gordon Corner 3
* Asik shot at rim
* Rivers Corner 3
* AD dunk
* Asik shot at rim
* Asik shot at rim
Total points generated: 16
My biggest takeaway from this was that a Tyreke assist either leads to an attempt at the rim, or a 3 point shot (all corners this time, usually drive and kicks). There was only one midrange jumper out of 14 assists. He's generating efficient looks.
His teammates
Secondly, Jrue and Eric are elite spot up shooters, and exactly the players we want on the perimeter receiving the pass. They shot 47% and 45% on spot ups respectively last year. Not only are they great shooters, but the are huge threats off the dribble and as dribble penetrators themselves. They can also put the ball on the floor and make plays for others. Its a dangerous situation for opposing defenses because they can't cheat at all. I was planning on using GIFs in this section to show the X's and O's of it, but I haven't had time to comb through the film yet. Maybe I'll make a separate post on it. Sorry!
Kobe Assists
Finally, a huge advantage of Tyreke being the main ball handler is the Kobe assists he generates. An incredible amount of his misses are retained for second chance opportunities. Last night for example, he went 3-7. Of on his 4 misses, here is what happened:
* AD offensive rebound and putback
* Anderson offensive rebound and tip in
* Washington defensive rebound.
* Asik offensive rebound, play restart, Tyreke layup.
On 3 out of 4 misses, we secured an offensive rebound and had a 100% conversion rate. That's 6 points generated and a 75% retention rate. Heck lets take it back to the previous game against OKC. Tyreke went 3-6, and missed 3 shots. Here is what happened on those misses.
* Asik offensive rebound leads to Davis freethrows (makes both)
* Davis offensive rebound and tip in
* Asik offensive rebound leads to Tyreke assisting on Davis layup.
Total points generated: 6
Again, a 100% conversion rate on second chance points, and this time a 100% retention rate too.
Don't expect numbers this high in the regular season, but do expect them to be higher than usual with offensive rebounders like Asik, Davis, and Anderson sharing that floor.
So how may points is Tyreke creating anyway?
In both contests, Tyreke has scored 10 points himself, generated 6 off of offensive rebounds, and 16 off assists. That's 32 points Tyreke is responsible for each game in just 20 minutes of play. Note, this doesn't include passes that lead to free throw attempts.
This just shows me he is going to be invaluable to our offense and that he's going to have more room to go wild. Gone are the days where Greg Stiemsma stares at the ball instead of rebounding it. Here are the days where the trio of Davis, Asik, and Anderson gobble up offensive rebounds.
Tempering expectations
As I said in the title, this is a complete overreaction. Its the preseason, and both opponents were lacking their stars. Do I expect him to replicate this night in night out? Nah. But his play closing out the year showed me the level he could play at, and gives me hope for this season. Having better players around him really opens up his game and his value comes from more than just box score stats, which for good measure he's grabbing 5 boards a game, and managed to rack up 5 steals last night.