» Kevin Pelton

  • Nov
    18

    Just a quick note about Anthony Morrow as we await his chance to prove Saturday’s game wasn’t just a one-hit wonder of the highest NBA order.

    In what I would like to call an “homage” to Kevin Pelton over at Basketball Prospectus (and don’t send me notes about how I’m ripping off ideas, since Kevin imported the original concept from Michael David Smith over at Fanhouse), I thought I’d dissect Morrow’s entire 37-point barrage against the Clippers, to try and glean if that performance will translate against a team that’s not on pace to go 8-74.

    Type of play Points
    Catch and shoot 14
    Pull-up jumper 10
    Layup off cut/fast break 6
    Turnaround jumper 4
    Driving layup 3
    Tap in 2

    (Yes, this totals 39, not 37, because there was one play where Kelenna Azubuike delivered the ball to Morrow on the baseline while he was facing away from the hoop. Morrow then wheeled and fired, all in the same motion, so I put it under “Catch and shoot” and “Turnaround jumper”. Also, I included a made free throw in the category that led to the FT — i.e., the one “Driving layup” was a three-point play.)

    The catch-and-shoots coming off kick-out passes are no surprise given the range, accuracy and touch on Morrow’s jumper. (The Clippers’ inability to close out: Also no surprise, given the roster, the lack of motivation and the record.)

    But Morrow’s ability to put the ball on the deck and get to an empty spot on the floor (such as when he ran Ricky Davis off a screen and popped up for two on the other side), up-fake his defender out of the way (as he did to Al Thornton) or just blow by someone with a swift change of direction (so long, Baron Davis) was very impressive.

    One thing that really struck me was how many possessions Morrow was just a decoy, patrolling a station in either corner or in 3-point territory on the wings. Stephen Jackson mentioned at practice Monday how helpful that threat is:

    “As you see, by him being able to shoot and score, that opened up the floor so much for us, as far as Corey (Maggette) getting isos playing the 4. Me and (Andris Biedrins), when we pick-and-roll, the floor’s wide open now. It helped us in a lot of aspects of our game.”

    In other areas . . .

    Morrow’s 11 rebounds are probably going to be tougher to duplicate than the 37…

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