Zach Lowe posted an interesting analysis in his weekly “10 things” article of Trae’s effectiveness off the ball. I’m pretty sure Zach was skeptical of the fit when we originally got DJ but there are some good stats and objective analysis in here-
> “The Dejounte Murray-Young pairing — for which Atlanta paid an enormous price — won’t reach its potential unless Young engages his off-ball movement mode. Young is the team’s best ball handler and passer; you don’t want to siphon too much offense away from him. Murray has nailed 43% on catch-and-shoot 3s, so he has been more effective than expected as a floor-spacer. If he hovers around 40%, defenses will start guarding him more closely. But that will take time, and Murray’s track record is uneven. He needs the ball more than anyone Young has ever played with, and Young has to accommodate him some. Young is still spending too many Murray-centric possessions chilling near half-court or in the corners. He’s useful there; defenses face-guard him everywhere. But he could raise hell running basic off-ball actions. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Young is using about 11.5 off-ball picks per 100 possessions, up from a career average of seven, per Second Spectrum. That’s a good start, but that number should jump toward at least 15 or 20. A lot of those picks come on scripted out of timeout plays; they fade away in the flow of the game. Clint Capela screens for Young to cut across the foul line. Young fakes that way, sees his man (Barrett) shoot the gap, and moonwalks into open space. Barrett scrambles to catch up, leaving him vulnerable to Young’s step-back. It’s hard to get an early feel for the Hawks. They’re 5-3 against a cupcake schedule, with a middling plus-7 point differential. They’re plus-51 with Young and Murray on the floor, but losing the minutes when either goes solo. Bogdan Bogdanovic would stabilize the wing rotation, and allow Nate McMillan to use De’Andre Hunter at power forward more. Atlanta’s next nine games are against good teams.”
[Link to the article which provides some videos.](https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/34942612/lowe-10-things-sizzling-start-paolo-banchero-get-early-trouble-knicks)
by Ice2jc
6 Comments
Good analysis and basically everything is correct imo.
We need Trae to embrace his inner Curry and Bogi to come back.
This isn’t just a Trae thing, this is a team issue. I’m not saying Zach Lowe is wrong, I agree with him that Trae does need to be more active without the ball. But I would also argue that the majority of the team also show’s no effort to move without the ball.
Do you know who I’ve seen play best off-ball? Justin Holiday! We have serious issues when JH is the most willing to move around the court and try to get into positions to score.
I feel like I’m a broken record player. This is how Nate’s offense is run. There is no movement, no cutting, no back screens, there’s just a huge lack of motion within the offense. We run PnR, ball screens, and we have players who camp out on the perimeter waiting for the ball. If that doesn’t work, we run Iso’s. That’s our offense summed up.
My biggest gripe is that almost no one plays effective off ball basketball on this team right now and that’s more of a coaching issue than most people are willing to admit.
Trae doesn’t have to be Curry. We just need him to not always be so stagnant when the ball isn’t in his hands. So much easier guarding a team that’s not moving vs one where there’s movement. Movement will make defenders have to think more.
“Young is still spending too many Murray-centric possessions chilling near half-court or in the corners. He’s useful there; defenses face-guard him everywhere. But he could raise hell running basic off-ball actions. It doesn’t have to be complicated.”
This is all we ask for. I don’t expect Trae to be running marathons on the court like Curry just yet, but seeing some initial off ball schemes to get him open looks would be nice. We did have a shortened pre season to work on things due to traveling so much/games over seas. Hopefully this is something they can practice when we have a couple of days between games.
“middling plus-7 point differential.”
since when is plus 7 middling?
“Engaging: Off-ball movement mode!”
-Trae Young
(before hitting the court with DJM)