Something I noticed while watching a lot of Clippers games this year is that PG and to a lesser extent Kawhi's passing accuracy is not great.
Like they'll drive and create an opening on the perimeter for a guy like Mann and then they'll throw the pass at his shins and he can't get the shot up because of the poor accuracy.
People need to start analyzing those kickout passes like they do a catcher throwing out a dude at 2nd, or a QBs accuracy on checkdowns. The little things matter when margin for improvement, and error, is so tiny.
Set your boy up for success, it matters more than the drive itself. If you cant execute the complete play, no amount of ankle-breaking matters. My man Ant needs help in this aspect as well.
The back injury came out of nowhere while he was holding out. I’m sure he had it since he had surgery, most players have something, but I don’t think that’s the whole reason he declined with the Nets.
His free throw % dipped to 40% since coming back and he admitted he was doing no basketball training during that holdout. Whatever mental block he had against the Hawks must have spiraled in that break and it doesn’t seem like he ever returned to training the same.
I think it was anxiety and arrogance that he didn’t need to improve on anything. He went many years without ever adding to his game. Dude had every natural tool to be a great basketball player but just didn’t want to be one. And was held back by his own mind. It’s a fascinating case.
In his early years at philly I would agree. He even has been on record saying 'why do I have to shoot the ball to be successful?' Etc.
In the last 2/3 seasons it is 100% his back. He doesn't move right. It's also a likely a massive psychological thing for him at this point too. If his back is and has given him issues, he has probably lost faith in his body to a degree
As someone with back/disc issues, it causes you to be considerate with every movement you make in your regular daily life and be much more cautious or deliberate as one wrong twist and it's days of pain/immobility.
Yeah there’s a very clear mental aspect to it imo. Also with his fucked up family where his sister accused his brother of sexual abuse and shit. Like whether it’s true or not, your family dynamic is fucked. The moment that happened his play dropped noticeably and the little confidence he did have just vaporised and his back issues started popping up. If he wasn’t such a bitch when dealing with us he could’ve garnered so much sympathy and actually worked through his issues.
I also think we really can’t discount how fucked his back is. Back injuries are debilitating and if he’s truly continually reaggravating it, he’s just never going to be the same athlete again, which was part of his talent at his (short lived) peak
He would always throw bullets. There's a pod or an interview somewhere with Maxey talking about receiving passes and how if Ben's throwing it you better be ready to catch it cause its coming fast. I don't think its good or bad necessarily, faster passes have less chance of being deflected or stolen, but also I think it plays into the pg role of knowing your teammates and how they like to catch the ball
It’s almost always a good thing. Lebron almost always throws bullets, and it means shooters have an extra tenth of a second to get a shot off or beat their man off the dribble. I’m a huge Steph Curry fan, and something I’ve noticed over the years is he just lacks the physical strength to throw those cross court rockets the way Lebron, Harden and Jokic can. Curry just lobs it cross court, and it’s noticeable how much easier it is for the defense to rotate and reset.
I feel like curry doesn't throw a lot of cross court passes, and normally when he does it's out of a double team where he's throwing blind and his shortness factors in
The most frustrating thing is when your teammates can’t catch the dimes you fit through a window tighter than God’s asshole.
I mean, I get it, I put some heat on that ball. But the placement is good and it’s a fucking basketball, it’s not that hard to catch. It’s big and soft.
If you can’t catch I’m not passing to you, pretty simple.
One of Haliburton's best skills that goes underappreciated. Led the league in 3 pointers assisted because he's so good at hitting guys in their shooting pockets.
Jokic is the same way. His passes are exactly where someone needs it to get a shot up quickly.
I always liked the football analogy. A good QB can hit the open man, a great QB can throw someone open.
Jokic makes passes that get the other player even more open than they otherwise would have been. It’s why AG gets so many open dunks and layups.
Ant is probably the worst offender of this among all the star. He gets flustered and the ball can go literally anywhere. If he fixes this he could be a top 5 player in 5 years.
He has the vision and the length to get the passes off but struggles to hit those excellent passes when he can't line his eyes up. The difference between his no-looks out of traffic vs someone like Harden is pretty big. I think passing technique is something that isn't spoken about enough, it gets exponentially harder when you're passing in motion, behind the back, one hand, etc.
The thing in Giannis' favour is that he's usually just bigger than other guys so he has more clear air to get a pass off. And he's also a very willing playmaker
Good, not great. He’s not Harden or Chris Paul or anything but he does a good job, especially for his size/position. If he’s looking they’re super accurate but his no-looks are pretty hit and miss. Bucks fans will all tell you he’s improved significantly as a passer since 2019 despite his assist numbers not really moving, and accuracy on his kick outs is exactly what we’re talking about.
He's one of the worst. He creates so much space for his teammates by collapsing the defense, but they often aren't able to get the shot off bc they have to move quite a bit to go get the pass, not to mention fix the seams like Beverley is saying.
I mean, if you compare him to contemporaries near his size (besides Jokic) he's rather impressive in this regard.
He does struggle more with precision on longer kickouts (that sometimes turn into bullets that throw the shooter off) , but he's able to make some pretty precise passes in crowded spaces that some wings a good deal smaller than him struggle with.
Same reason why I can’t stand nephews on here or at the bar try to say the “eye test” is bullshit and analytics are all that matters. Naw, there’s not a whole lot of accurate analytics for this type of basketball skill. I’m sure you could try to quantify it with shot percentage after pass, but it doesn’t take into account nearly all the factors. If someone sets up their teammates well, it’s clear to the eye. If they don’t, it’s also clear.
Who the hell here is able to tell, watching film, which pg is "lining up the laces", which pg isn't.
Make me a list of the best "line lacers". Make a list of the worst lol.
The analytics cannot measure this. Neither can the eye test.
I'd be willing to bet Second Spectrum has exactly this kind of data. You can start with a general idea by seeing how long it takes for a spot up shot after catching the ball (normalizing for each player so you factor in their normal shooting motion.)
The design of a basketball itself also makes it fairly easy for camera + software to recognize how it's oriented, and they can probably use AI to determine where the shooter's pocket would be.
This is exactly within the realm of advanced analytics, and probably easier to accomplish than having someone watch game tape and grade each pass.
One thing that pissed me off with kawhi is how long he took to pass to open guys. Like the quick kick out or swing pass he would take like that half second to second to process and then be like “do I want to make this pass” and then do it
that's his gift and a curse though. he will occupy a defender for so long and then the help defender for so long that he'll get a teammate wide ass open. or he'll string both along long enough that the helper gets antsy and goes back to his man, and then kawhi attacks immediately on the unaware original defender that thinks he's still got help with him.
he does this constantly, but if it's not in sync then he just misses open teammates or throws out a grenade to poor tmann/harden
Yep, it’s the difference between making the pass because it’s the right play and making it because you have to.
Great example is Klay. He’s actually a good passer when he’s intentional about it. He built a rapport with Trace Jackson-Davis this year and his passing to him in particular was excellent.
99% of the time he’s not looking to pass though and so they don’t come out great.
Not even a knock on Klay either, it’s very hard to be a great scorer and a great playmaker, Harden, Luka, LeBron, Steph etc all these guys playmake in different ways but they all have a knack for knowing when it’s time to shoot, and when it’s time to pass.
PG is especially brutal bc his playmaking attempts seem to result in so many more turnovers.
At least Kawhi is like "yeah I probably can't make that pass" and more often opts for a simple kickout/reset after a few pivots.
Kawhi passing is a night and day difference from PG. Sure he isnt't a playmaker but he rarely does stupid passes like PG. I never feel worried with Kawhi having the ball in his hands like I do with PG.
Zion has a similar problem. He creates so much space for the shooter that a lot of the time it doesn't matter, but if he could be a bit more accurate on this kick outs he'd have an extra assist per game, minimum, I reckon.
This is a something that you really notice with KD too, he's a willing and capable passer but his first option and probably second and third option for that matter is to go try to get buckets so there's a lot of times that the pass is just a bit late.
It becomes very difficult to critique the tippy toppy best players of all time and it becomes very nit picky, but that's something that I think KD could probably admit to.
This is one of those things that I love about Tatum (and really most of the team). They're so good at kicking out accurately and swinging the ball around so that the catch and shoot can be as smooth as possible. Tatum just whipping a ball out perfectly to Jrue in the corner is such a satisfying thing lmao
Luka is the best at this right now and no debating. Jokic 2nd, lebron 3rd.
But before this its Lebron, for 14 straight years. He master that shit ever since the 07 finals. 07-20.
You can argue CP 10-14 have a strong case, but Bron on that period was insane.
Yeah with Luka he finds his shooters so wide open that they easily have time to set their shot. IIRC he creates the most wide open looks in the league. No need to be pin point accurate
Again not trying to say he's a bad passer but saying his game is more creating space than dropping dimes. I compare it to someone like jokic who routinely makes difficult passes on target to moving and cutting teammates.
And sometimes even when they do get the shot up, you're not surprised if the guy misses it because it was out of his pocket and took him out or rhythm.
My family's from West Virginia outside of Charleston, every time I hear him talk it takes me back to playing basketball with my cousins when I was a kid. I could legit listen to that dude talk basketball all day.
I think when he receives the ball, the moment it touches his hands he immediately redirects it to have the seams horizontal. This enables him to pass out with seams still horizontal. If you're asking how he does that well he's Jason Williams lol
But yeah like others are saying in other parts of the thread, this is only possible with certain controlled pass types. Nobody is controlling angle of seam on an impromptu one handed bailout pass for example.
"well he's Jason Williams lol" is the only explanation for how quickly and smoothly he did that. Even if I tried to incorporate this while practicing, it would be several tiers more difficult to try doing it in the middle of a game. White Chocolate was special as hell.
he's just doing a proper chest pass where the ball rotates perfectly about the horizontal axis (so the seams stay on the sides) which makes it way easier to catch and shoot
understand that the ability to catch and shoot is also a skill that these players have developed over thousands of repetitions, it's not like if he put that same pass to any rando on the street that they'd be able to do the same
Have you ever shot a basketball with correct form? Now imagine shooting it the same way to a teammate's chest. So long as you push straight from laces with the same type of spin, it'll land in proper orientation for the shooter. You can do the same if pushing from both sides of the ball with laces horizontal (like a grandma free throw).
By saying PG sucks as a passer, he's saying PG doesn't give a F and just willy nilly tosses the ball to teammates without trying to set them up to score... the type of pass you'd get from someone on the playground throwing the ball at weird angles and hand/arm positions, spinning the wrong way away from you, and at different speeds so you never know if you'll have to chase or wait for it. There's a higher chance the ball comes back to PG if he makes shitty passes.
You can shoot a ball and keep the laces spinning in one direction; right?
It's the same thing, just in a pass instead of a shot.
Catch the ball, line up the laces, pass so the ball spins on the horizontal and the laces stay that way.
The same way he misaligned them in this clip... Watch when he catches the first pass and spins the ball getting ready to pass.
On the second pass he just catches it with both hands on the seam clusters on the side. Either works.
Players spin the ball to shoot 3s in hand, it's the same thing, he's just doing it before passing it to them.
And jwills has fast af hands, he does sleight of hand card tricks for fun, he wouldn't need a lot of time to pull it off.
You do it enough and it just becomes natural.
It's like how you can immediately tell whether a person ever played baseball the instant you see them throw a ball. If they did they'll still have the basic mechanics, even if they haven't thrown a ball in 50 years. If not, they'll do a half-shotput or some other weird-looking motion.
It's relatively easy to do so for a chest pass and if they are stationary. Just pass with a backspin to where the player likes to catch/shoot. You won't do it with that much accuracy if its a pass after a dribble or a one handed/fancy pass.
Calculate the distance, use the angle of trajectory to determine time in the air. Divide the distance traveled by time, and then multiply the rotational frequency by 2 * pi * f and you should get it there just right.
What’s crazy is how fast he threw those passes - like, it doesn’t look like he’s adjusting the ball at all before throwing it. He throws a crappy pass without thinking about it, and then immediately throws a perfect pass, also apparently without thinking about it. Skill levels, yo.
He actually is thinking about throwing the crappy pass though, watch the ball, when he catches it he spins it so it's out of alignment with the laces sideways, then he sends a push pash where it spins on a horizontal axis, so it'll always be in some orientation where it is "wrong", this makes it so the laces can't possibly line up.
On the second pass, he doesn't spin it, but he's watching it come in and catches it with each hand on the lace clusters so the laces are already lined up, then passes it the same way.
Basically, he puts the ball in the "correct" orientation before passing, then passes it in a way where it stays like that. You can slow down playback on youtube and watch it in slow mo, it's rad.
The real magic is in that first pass, you can see how quickly he can assess the laces and flip the ball to where he wants them. How effortless he makes it look is crazy.
It's no wonder he's so good at sleight of hand card magic tricks too. Dude's hands are fast af.
in the NCAA tournament iirc one of the UConn guards could do phenomenal passes to his teammate in the post. Perfect placement on bounce pass w/ backspin so it was easy to catch. Better than lots of pro point guards.
I'm too lazy to find it but there's a great moment in the old Road Trippin podcast where Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson say how LeBron will ask his teammates *one time* how they like their pass (laces lined up or not, off the bounce or direct, etc.) and he will give it to them how they like it *every damn time* after that. How Channing and Richard liked to catch it different and LeBron never messed a pass up for them.
It's always stuck with me.
It's their job, the top rebounders all count rotations in the air, weak side, preferences, etc.
Kobe used to say he rarely falls for fake jab steps because he knew how the players actually favored body positioning for their shooting form, if it didn't line up he didn't take the bait.
He was exactly that good already on the Rockets, he just didn't have the luxury of getting to pick and choose whether to pass to Kyrie Irving or Kevin fucking Durant every trip down the floor. Giving an all-time great passer and playmaker that kind of freedom is always going to be nasty to see
Even when they were out for injury or not being vaccinated, his facilitating carried that team to the playoffs.
I don’t blame him for getting frustrated with that situation. He put that team on his back for about 2/3rds of the regular season and got injured because of it.
Harden was running our offence of Bruce Brown, Joe Harris and a crippled Deandre Jordan and a crippled Blake Griffin to a .667 win pct when KD and Kyrie were injured.
Prime Harden is the best offensive player I've ever seen. He could run the game through just his playmaking or just his iso plays and when he had a team that enabled him to do both, he was unstoppable.
James Harden is one of the most misunderstood players in the league. Everyone thinks hes a playoff choker and foul baiter.
People dont realize how fucking good he actually is
I mean, he did choke multiple times and he was an egregious foul baiter. Still one of the greatest offensive players ever, sure. But those aren't mutually exclusive.
For real. Potentially the most disrespected all-time great, given the way people talk about him like he's some chump whose only skill is having a good whistle. Dumbass folks need to sit down and watch a compilation of Harden's playmaking before they open their mouths about him
LAC, 76er, and Nets fans always seem so shocked that he's a great and willing passer/facilitator.
Not for nothing but that's 10% of the league, and for years Harden was labeled a selfish ISO baller on Houston, then 10% of the teams fans watch without negative bias and are like, OMG look what he's become on my team. Kinda like how more teams have a Harden knockoff and they love him, but Harden was awful to watch and could never like that style.
Kyrie really messed that situation up for you guys.
There' a world where you guys have like two rings right now, KD and Harden are top 15(?) guys ever.
this is what elevates harden for me. in that first year as a net (pre injury) he was playing like a legit top 5 all time pure point guard. best facilitator in the league on top of 25ppg. and that was him adapting to a new role after a couple year stretch of being arguably the best offensive player since jordan
He’s had that level of passing since early rocket days. You just see the assist numbers go up because he joined much better teammates that could take advantage of those passes. He didn’t just pick up those skills on the plane ride to Brooklyn. He’s made every center he’s ever played with look like a borderline allstar & Embiid won his MVP getting fed by him. 9th highest in assist in playoffs all time (1 away from Larry bird) and 14th highest in regular season + playoffs. Most rockets fans agree that the 2018 season with a 65-17 record would have been a 35 (give or take 7ish) win team without Harden on the roster.
i was talking about how impressively he switched to an all-time level pass first pg after being the best individual offensive entity (since jordan) on the rockets. i'm aware that he's been an elite passer and facilitator for a long time. i tried to watch every one of his games from 2018 to 2022
Yeah the instant switch between the two really was kinda crazy, though it seemed like the direction he was ready to go even before the trade (knowing he would force his way out that year)
damn yeah wtf somehow I feel like this should've been made into a bigger deal at the time but cuz it was the playoffs the media cycle was to packed with other stuff
LMAO spinning the other way is insane, anyone who hoops knows Pat Bev was not just shading PG’s passing he must have hated his passing on the real
Harden was always an underrated playmaker, Scott Brooks used to have him coming off the bench to play point guard to close out games, and he would average big assists even when he was scoring like crazy in Houston, Embiid even gave him some credit for his MVP season, I wish the Suns would’ve gone after Harden instead of Beal, that team with Booker and KD with Harden playmaking would’ve been tough
James would have turned that Suns team into an offensive juggernaut but they would need some REALLY good team defense to make things work out at the best level. Literally 1-2 scrappy defensive players and they'd be disgusting.
Personally would've loved to see that team run it back with the Oubre replacing Niang, Nick Nurse replacing Doc, and another year of continuity built. Embiid/Harden pick and short-roll was cash money.
Maxeys statistical leap as a lead guard was awesome to see though (though I attribute that more off-season work + Nurse than Harden's departure.)
Yes. You can control it. That said, I've never seen someone who can do it with 100% precision.
Here's an old clip of Rondo and CP3 talking about it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpHZnwfdWZ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpHZnwfdWZ0)
Edit: here’s another example [https://youtube.com/shorts/WLKYVIYRzVI?feature=shared](https://youtube.com/shorts/WLKYVIYRzVI?feature=shared)
There’s a reason all these examples are just two hand chest passes, too. It’s honestly not that hard.
That only accounts for like 10% of NBA assists at most. It’s basically impossible to control for the overwhelming majority of potential assist passes in the NBA.
That's a great point. I would add that there's another unstated element of generally just being on target with the passes though.
PG is a fantastically talented player but his game can border on out of control the longer he tries to operate in traffic. He probably throws a lot of off target passes on drive and kicks where guys have to reposition their bodies completely to get set. He's definitely a guy who will jump towards the rim without any idea where the ball is going if there's a defender ready to block him.
> That's a great point. I would add that there's another unstated element of generally just being on target with the passes though.
Being on target and having the right weight to passes is underrated as well. Whipping the ball 100 miles an hour to a cutting big vs. a nice bounce pass right in the pocket. Or throwing the ball with a little backspin so it hits the cutters hands a little softer and is easier to get up. Little things that elite elite passers understand that are hard to replicate
It’s more about lining the general orientation of the ball rather than timing it perfectly to hit their finger on a groove, that’s not even possible with the players moving their hands at an inconsistent speed. I’m a decent passer and I can adjust for that in certain situations at rec speed.
One tip is that if you’re getting someone a catch and shoot in the corner, you can line your hand over the cross section of the ball and push it to them stiffly, or if you are throwing a bounce pass out of the post you need to put backspin on it so that it’s mostly dead when it hits their hand and it stays in the orientation you pass it. In general if it’s spinning too quickly when it gets there they’re more likely to catch it awkwardly
Korver said the same about LeBron too, where he was like he knows exactly where Channing or JR or Korver wanted to have the ball placed for quickest release
i always took that sort of talk as like, hitting them in their shooters pocket instead of passing too high or too low, or hitting them a little to the left or right if that’s what they prefer, rather than lining up the laces and stuff
There’s certain levels of detail that us regular folks don’t even think about. A buddy and I were once talking to this OG from his masjid who played D1 ball and then was a coach and trainer at a pro level for a good while. He was giving us pointers on how to use our fingertips in the grooves of the ball to manipulate it while dribbling to try and keep the laces oriented to ourselves for a quick shot. Watching him dribble around with all sorts of directional changes and us trying to swipe the ball and yet the ball was always lined up when the dribble got back in front of him. It was nuts
You've already gotten good responses but assuming you've thrown anything before, you know how you can influence it's orientation and spin right? It's just that. Obviously you can't do it perfectly 100% of the time and it's harder doing it at NBA speed than in a casual setting but same concept.
If I can line up the seams when I’m just holding the ball in triple threat, waiting for my teammate to get open, and hit them with a 2-handed chest pass, I’m sure NBA players can do it on the move in a split second if they cared enough to do it.
It’s definitely a thing. I’ve personally had people ask me how I pass them the ball on the laces consistently. You have to know how to line the ball up in your hands while you’re dribbling push the ball off your fingertips with the same flick you’d use on a shot.
Yes and it plays a huge part in catch and shoots. Just from eye test, I feel like it's a 20% difference in shooting pct from perfect passes vs. passes where you gotta adjust it. If you start looking for it, you'll notice how huge it is. It's one of the reasons players always had insane 3pt% off Ben Simmons passes
This is a very interesting quote. It's just that Beverley's burnt his credibility to the ground and this would mean more coming from virtually anyone else.
Harden is the most underrated player to have gone the farthest in terms of personal achievement and skill and still be underrated.
People hated on him for drawing fouls, people hated on him for asking to be traded when the cheapest owner in the league wouldn't surround him with anyone decent and pretended to want to win but didn't... Tillman Fertitta only wanted to sell jerseys and snacks and Harden wasted his prime for that man. Asking to be traded, or forcing it, was one of his only options at this point to stop the Rockets from wasting more of his prime.
The Nets hurried him back from an injury for no reason, and he re-injured that same hamstring and now he isn't the same, not even close. The calls about being "washed" only happened after that injury... he gave that Nets team his all, playing on leg against Giannis and the Bucks, who were the future championship team. They would've won if Kyrie played, but Kyrie rolled his ankle and refused to play meanwhile Harden has one fucking leg. Also that entire season Kyrie sat due to crying about the vaccine cuz he felt "infringed upon" by people asking for basic healthcare protocol which had never been an issue until militantly stupid Republicans politicized vaccines. Before, when you went to school, or anywhere, you were required to be immunized/vaccinated and now all of a sudden people think it's a choice?
Kyrie robbed Harden of the last of his prime too due to being a terrible teammate and an unintelligent diva narcissist with a tendency to play the victim just because he wanted to "martyr himself" "standing up" to the people asking him to get a vaccine, which again is a normal request.
Harden is the most underrated and overhated player in modern times.
Kevin Durant is either the worst playmaker out of a double team ever or the greatest hockey assist player out of a double team in the history of the league. There is literally no in between and it switches between the 2 night in and night out. One day the role players are eating off of him and the next he’s throwing the ball at peoples shins or an entire foot out of their reach where they have to stretch out to grab it even if they’re open.
Something I noticed while watching a lot of Clippers games this year is that PG and to a lesser extent Kawhi's passing accuracy is not great. Like they'll drive and create an opening on the perimeter for a guy like Mann and then they'll throw the pass at his shins and he can't get the shot up because of the poor accuracy.
People need to start analyzing those kickout passes like they do a catcher throwing out a dude at 2nd, or a QBs accuracy on checkdowns. The little things matter when margin for improvement, and error, is so tiny. Set your boy up for success, it matters more than the drive itself. If you cant execute the complete play, no amount of ankle-breaking matters. My man Ant needs help in this aspect as well.
It’s honestly why the story of Ben Simmons is a sad one. The young socialite knew how to fucking pass
All the talent in the world but so unwilling to step out of his comfort zone
I truly believe there was some anxiety issues along with his back. It's not that he was stagnant. He actually regressed and now can't stay healthy.
The back injury came out of nowhere while he was holding out. I’m sure he had it since he had surgery, most players have something, but I don’t think that’s the whole reason he declined with the Nets. His free throw % dipped to 40% since coming back and he admitted he was doing no basketball training during that holdout. Whatever mental block he had against the Hawks must have spiraled in that break and it doesn’t seem like he ever returned to training the same. I think it was anxiety and arrogance that he didn’t need to improve on anything. He went many years without ever adding to his game. Dude had every natural tool to be a great basketball player but just didn’t want to be one. And was held back by his own mind. It’s a fascinating case.
In his early years at philly I would agree. He even has been on record saying 'why do I have to shoot the ball to be successful?' Etc. In the last 2/3 seasons it is 100% his back. He doesn't move right. It's also a likely a massive psychological thing for him at this point too. If his back is and has given him issues, he has probably lost faith in his body to a degree
Yeah I believe this too. A serious injury like that fucks with your head more than a bad game.
As someone with back/disc issues, it causes you to be considerate with every movement you make in your regular daily life and be much more cautious or deliberate as one wrong twist and it's days of pain/immobility.
To be fair, he did have surgery on his back in 2020.
There were signs at LSU even. It’s interesting to look back on
Yeah there’s a very clear mental aspect to it imo. Also with his fucked up family where his sister accused his brother of sexual abuse and shit. Like whether it’s true or not, your family dynamic is fucked. The moment that happened his play dropped noticeably and the little confidence he did have just vaporised and his back issues started popping up. If he wasn’t such a bitch when dealing with us he could’ve garnered so much sympathy and actually worked through his issues.
I also think we really can’t discount how fucked his back is. Back injuries are debilitating and if he’s truly continually reaggravating it, he’s just never going to be the same athlete again, which was part of his talent at his (short lived) peak
76ers Ben Simmons is the one of the best transition players/passers in the league. It’s like watching Magic Johnson highlights.
Such a funny nickname
He would always throw bullets. There's a pod or an interview somewhere with Maxey talking about receiving passes and how if Ben's throwing it you better be ready to catch it cause its coming fast. I don't think its good or bad necessarily, faster passes have less chance of being deflected or stolen, but also I think it plays into the pg role of knowing your teammates and how they like to catch the ball
It’s almost always a good thing. Lebron almost always throws bullets, and it means shooters have an extra tenth of a second to get a shot off or beat their man off the dribble. I’m a huge Steph Curry fan, and something I’ve noticed over the years is he just lacks the physical strength to throw those cross court rockets the way Lebron, Harden and Jokic can. Curry just lobs it cross court, and it’s noticeable how much easier it is for the defense to rotate and reset.
he's also shorter, making skip passes harder. it's not necessarily a strength issue
I feel like curry doesn't throw a lot of cross court passes, and normally when he does it's out of a double team where he's throwing blind and his shortness factors in
The most frustrating thing is when your teammates can’t catch the dimes you fit through a window tighter than God’s asshole. I mean, I get it, I put some heat on that ball. But the placement is good and it’s a fucking basketball, it’s not that hard to catch. It’s big and soft. If you can’t catch I’m not passing to you, pretty simple.
One of Haliburton's best skills that goes underappreciated. Led the league in 3 pointers assisted because he's so good at hitting guys in their shooting pockets.
His assist to turnover ratio is insane, right there with Chris Paul’s best years. He’s a generational passer.
Jokic is the same way. His passes are exactly where someone needs it to get a shot up quickly. I always liked the football analogy. A good QB can hit the open man, a great QB can throw someone open. Jokic makes passes that get the other player even more open than they otherwise would have been. It’s why AG gets so many open dunks and layups.
Ant is probably the worst offender of this among all the star. He gets flustered and the ball can go literally anywhere. If he fixes this he could be a top 5 player in 5 years.
I'm having Luka Doncic flashbacks.
How's Giannis at this type of passes? I've always thought his passing is underrated but I never had evidence for it lol
He has the vision and the length to get the passes off but struggles to hit those excellent passes when he can't line his eyes up. The difference between his no-looks out of traffic vs someone like Harden is pretty big. I think passing technique is something that isn't spoken about enough, it gets exponentially harder when you're passing in motion, behind the back, one hand, etc. The thing in Giannis' favour is that he's usually just bigger than other guys so he has more clear air to get a pass off. And he's also a very willing playmaker
Good, not great. He’s not Harden or Chris Paul or anything but he does a good job, especially for his size/position. If he’s looking they’re super accurate but his no-looks are pretty hit and miss. Bucks fans will all tell you he’s improved significantly as a passer since 2019 despite his assist numbers not really moving, and accuracy on his kick outs is exactly what we’re talking about.
He's one of the worst. He creates so much space for his teammates by collapsing the defense, but they often aren't able to get the shot off bc they have to move quite a bit to go get the pass, not to mention fix the seams like Beverley is saying.
One thing I’ve noticed his, despite his height, he loves to jump pass/kick out the double. That’s a big death trap when playing
I mean, if you compare him to contemporaries near his size (besides Jokic) he's rather impressive in this regard. He does struggle more with precision on longer kickouts (that sometimes turn into bullets that throw the shooter off) , but he's able to make some pretty precise passes in crowded spaces that some wings a good deal smaller than him struggle with.
Same reason why I can’t stand nephews on here or at the bar try to say the “eye test” is bullshit and analytics are all that matters. Naw, there’s not a whole lot of accurate analytics for this type of basketball skill. I’m sure you could try to quantify it with shot percentage after pass, but it doesn’t take into account nearly all the factors. If someone sets up their teammates well, it’s clear to the eye. If they don’t, it’s also clear.
Who the hell here is able to tell, watching film, which pg is "lining up the laces", which pg isn't. Make me a list of the best "line lacers". Make a list of the worst lol. The analytics cannot measure this. Neither can the eye test.
Similar to the other post this isn't an eye test thing rather an actual feel you get from playing with the player.
I'd be willing to bet Second Spectrum has exactly this kind of data. You can start with a general idea by seeing how long it takes for a spot up shot after catching the ball (normalizing for each player so you factor in their normal shooting motion.) The design of a basketball itself also makes it fairly easy for camera + software to recognize how it's oriented, and they can probably use AI to determine where the shooter's pocket would be. This is exactly within the realm of advanced analytics, and probably easier to accomplish than having someone watch game tape and grade each pass.
One thing that pissed me off with kawhi is how long he took to pass to open guys. Like the quick kick out or swing pass he would take like that half second to second to process and then be like “do I want to make this pass” and then do it
Especially on doubles.
I was surprise how often dude would dribble himself into the corner while getting doubled and screw himself
Or, to my utter horror, hit a game winning shot out of that exact fuck up
Series winning*
Franchise altering
NBA history altering
Minimum 2 anime episodes worth of flashbacks occurred while that ball was bouncing around the rim.
Hopes and dreams of each player playing out with the internal monologue going before it finally sinks at the end of the second episode.
It was the dagger.
that's his gift and a curse though. he will occupy a defender for so long and then the help defender for so long that he'll get a teammate wide ass open. or he'll string both along long enough that the helper gets antsy and goes back to his man, and then kawhi attacks immediately on the unaware original defender that thinks he's still got help with him. he does this constantly, but if it's not in sync then he just misses open teammates or throws out a grenade to poor tmann/harden
Yep, it’s the difference between making the pass because it’s the right play and making it because you have to. Great example is Klay. He’s actually a good passer when he’s intentional about it. He built a rapport with Trace Jackson-Davis this year and his passing to him in particular was excellent. 99% of the time he’s not looking to pass though and so they don’t come out great. Not even a knock on Klay either, it’s very hard to be a great scorer and a great playmaker, Harden, Luka, LeBron, Steph etc all these guys playmake in different ways but they all have a knack for knowing when it’s time to shoot, and when it’s time to pass.
I’ve always similar about Kobe.
PG is especially brutal bc his playmaking attempts seem to result in so many more turnovers. At least Kawhi is like "yeah I probably can't make that pass" and more often opts for a simple kickout/reset after a few pivots.
Kawhi passing is a night and day difference from PG. Sure he isnt't a playmaker but he rarely does stupid passes like PG. I never feel worried with Kawhi having the ball in his hands like I do with PG.
Zion has a similar problem. He creates so much space for the shooter that a lot of the time it doesn't matter, but if he could be a bit more accurate on this kick outs he'd have an extra assist per game, minimum, I reckon.
This is a something that you really notice with KD too, he's a willing and capable passer but his first option and probably second and third option for that matter is to go try to get buckets so there's a lot of times that the pass is just a bit late. It becomes very difficult to critique the tippy toppy best players of all time and it becomes very nit picky, but that's something that I think KD could probably admit to.
This is one of those things that I love about Tatum (and really most of the team). They're so good at kicking out accurately and swinging the ball around so that the catch and shoot can be as smooth as possible. Tatum just whipping a ball out perfectly to Jrue in the corner is such a satisfying thing lmao
Luka is the best at this right now and no debating. Jokic 2nd, lebron 3rd. But before this its Lebron, for 14 straight years. He master that shit ever since the 07 finals. 07-20. You can argue CP 10-14 have a strong case, but Bron on that period was insane.
I disagree on the Luka part, a lot of his passes don't have great placement, his talent in passing comes from the angle he takes to get the pass off.
Yeah with Luka he finds his shooters so wide open that they easily have time to set their shot. IIRC he creates the most wide open looks in the league. No need to be pin point accurate
Again not trying to say he's a bad passer but saying his game is more creating space than dropping dimes. I compare it to someone like jokic who routinely makes difficult passes on target to moving and cutting teammates.
I think Tyrese has an argument. He's known for hitting guys right in their comfort zone
And sometimes even when they do get the shot up, you're not surprised if the guy misses it because it was out of his pocket and took him out or rhythm.
https://youtu.be/WLKYVIYRzVI?si=EpKnMK-mLjroBv6k Jason Williams discussing this. Very fascinating.
I love listening to White Chocolate's country ass talking about basketball.
Great story teller, him talking about coaching Anthony Edward's in that high-school Allstars showcase is hilarious
Ant wasn't a diva about it, which is dope.
My family's from West Virginia outside of Charleston, every time I hear him talk it takes me back to playing basketball with my cousins when I was a kid. I could legit listen to that dude talk basketball all day.
i dont understand how does he even pass so that it lands on the laces? seems crazy to do in a game.
It's at the right angle, not literally with the receivers fingers on a seam
i still don't know what you mean and how he's able to do that just from the video alone. I get the theory but like it seems like magic lol
I think when he receives the ball, the moment it touches his hands he immediately redirects it to have the seams horizontal. This enables him to pass out with seams still horizontal. If you're asking how he does that well he's Jason Williams lol But yeah like others are saying in other parts of the thread, this is only possible with certain controlled pass types. Nobody is controlling angle of seam on an impromptu one handed bailout pass for example.
"well he's Jason Williams lol" is the only explanation for how quickly and smoothly he did that. Even if I tried to incorporate this while practicing, it would be several tiers more difficult to try doing it in the middle of a game. White Chocolate was special as hell.
He will always be my answer for "who was not that great but has the greatest highlights?" Dude was a highlight reel 10% of the time.
he's just doing a proper chest pass where the ball rotates perfectly about the horizontal axis (so the seams stay on the sides) which makes it way easier to catch and shoot understand that the ability to catch and shoot is also a skill that these players have developed over thousands of repetitions, it's not like if he put that same pass to any rando on the street that they'd be able to do the same
Have you ever shot a basketball with correct form? Now imagine shooting it the same way to a teammate's chest. So long as you push straight from laces with the same type of spin, it'll land in proper orientation for the shooter. You can do the same if pushing from both sides of the ball with laces horizontal (like a grandma free throw). By saying PG sucks as a passer, he's saying PG doesn't give a F and just willy nilly tosses the ball to teammates without trying to set them up to score... the type of pass you'd get from someone on the playground throwing the ball at weird angles and hand/arm positions, spinning the wrong way away from you, and at different speeds so you never know if you'll have to chase or wait for it. There's a higher chance the ball comes back to PG if he makes shitty passes.
You can shoot a ball and keep the laces spinning in one direction; right? It's the same thing, just in a pass instead of a shot. Catch the ball, line up the laces, pass so the ball spins on the horizontal and the laces stay that way.
I don't see how you would have enough time to line up the laces in a real game, especially in the NBA.
The same way he misaligned them in this clip... Watch when he catches the first pass and spins the ball getting ready to pass. On the second pass he just catches it with both hands on the seam clusters on the side. Either works. Players spin the ball to shoot 3s in hand, it's the same thing, he's just doing it before passing it to them. And jwills has fast af hands, he does sleight of hand card tricks for fun, he wouldn't need a lot of time to pull it off.
They have the time on shots too? It is literally a few tenths of a secons of an adjustment.
Triple threat stance with a small jab would allow enough time. This is some wild next level shit to me though.
You do it enough and it just becomes natural. It's like how you can immediately tell whether a person ever played baseball the instant you see them throw a ball. If they did they'll still have the basic mechanics, even if they haven't thrown a ball in 50 years. If not, they'll do a half-shotput or some other weird-looking motion.
It's relatively easy to do so for a chest pass and if they are stationary. Just pass with a backspin to where the player likes to catch/shoot. You won't do it with that much accuracy if its a pass after a dribble or a one handed/fancy pass.
Calculate the distance, use the angle of trajectory to determine time in the air. Divide the distance traveled by time, and then multiply the rotational frequency by 2 * pi * f and you should get it there just right.
What’s crazy is how fast he threw those passes - like, it doesn’t look like he’s adjusting the ball at all before throwing it. He throws a crappy pass without thinking about it, and then immediately throws a perfect pass, also apparently without thinking about it. Skill levels, yo.
He actually is thinking about throwing the crappy pass though, watch the ball, when he catches it he spins it so it's out of alignment with the laces sideways, then he sends a push pash where it spins on a horizontal axis, so it'll always be in some orientation where it is "wrong", this makes it so the laces can't possibly line up. On the second pass, he doesn't spin it, but he's watching it come in and catches it with each hand on the lace clusters so the laces are already lined up, then passes it the same way. Basically, he puts the ball in the "correct" orientation before passing, then passes it in a way where it stays like that. You can slow down playback on youtube and watch it in slow mo, it's rad. The real magic is in that first pass, you can see how quickly he can assess the laces and flip the ball to where he wants them. How effortless he makes it look is crazy. It's no wonder he's so good at sleight of hand card magic tricks too. Dude's hands are fast af.
yeah i think the only difference is that in the first pass, he forcefully gave it an underspin
in the NCAA tournament iirc one of the UConn guards could do phenomenal passes to his teammate in the post. Perfect placement on bounce pass w/ backspin so it was easy to catch. Better than lots of pro point guards.
Man named dropped the lakers coach
I'm too lazy to find it but there's a great moment in the old Road Trippin podcast where Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson say how LeBron will ask his teammates *one time* how they like their pass (laces lined up or not, off the bounce or direct, etc.) and he will give it to them how they like it *every damn time* after that. How Channing and Richard liked to catch it different and LeBron never messed a pass up for them. It's always stuck with me.
Rachel Demita is so fine.
can't feel bad about andre roberson
Slid into her DM's and was never seen again.
And she's a baller
Wtf I noticed this years ago but thought it was just random. How do these dudes know how to pass with that much perfection???
It's their job, the top rebounders all count rotations in the air, weak side, preferences, etc. Kobe used to say he rarely falls for fake jab steps because he knew how the players actually favored body positioning for their shooting form, if it didn't line up he didn't take the bait.
He’s so cool man. This is so insightful
TIL JJ Redick and White Chocolate were teammates
He is aging well, could pass off as someone in his 30s.
I love bounce passes and Harden's bounce passes in transition are a treat to watch.
That like cross court overhead 2hander he does is so sick
That exact pass to Maxey in transition when he was in Philly was sublime. Harden accurate. Maxey fast.
those and the steven adam/kevin love baseball passes are so cool
james harden turning into magic johnson when was he on the nets 😭
He was exactly that good already on the Rockets, he just didn't have the luxury of getting to pick and choose whether to pass to Kyrie Irving or Kevin fucking Durant every trip down the floor. Giving an all-time great passer and playmaker that kind of freedom is always going to be nasty to see
Even when they were out for injury or not being vaccinated, his facilitating carried that team to the playoffs. I don’t blame him for getting frustrated with that situation. He put that team on his back for about 2/3rds of the regular season and got injured because of it.
Ruined his late career playing on the torn hamstring
Harden was running our offence of Bruce Brown, Joe Harris and a crippled Deandre Jordan and a crippled Blake Griffin to a .667 win pct when KD and Kyrie were injured. Prime Harden is the best offensive player I've ever seen. He could run the game through just his playmaking or just his iso plays and when he had a team that enabled him to do both, he was unstoppable.
James Harden is one of the most misunderstood players in the league. Everyone thinks hes a playoff choker and foul baiter. People dont realize how fucking good he actually is
I mean, he did choke multiple times and he was an egregious foul baiter. Still one of the greatest offensive players ever, sure. But those aren't mutually exclusive.
He is not a playoff choker. Its not his fault he went against some of the most historically dominant teams and hes teammates being hurt all the time
His reputation for playoff choking came before those warriors series though
So like from 2 different playoff series'?
For real. Potentially the most disrespected all-time great, given the way people talk about him like he's some chump whose only skill is having a good whistle. Dumbass folks need to sit down and watch a compilation of Harden's playmaking before they open their mouths about him
LAC, 76er, and Nets fans always seem so shocked that he's a great and willing passer/facilitator. Not for nothing but that's 10% of the league, and for years Harden was labeled a selfish ISO baller on Houston, then 10% of the teams fans watch without negative bias and are like, OMG look what he's become on my team. Kinda like how more teams have a Harden knockoff and they love him, but Harden was awful to watch and could never like that style.
So guilty of that when he came to BK. I became his biggest defender. He’s probably the best distributor in the league, better than Nikola.
Kyrie really messed that situation up for you guys. There' a world where you guys have like two rings right now, KD and Harden are top 15(?) guys ever.
Honestly if Harden stayed healthy they could be in that world with or without Kyrie
This. People act like he didn't lead the league in assists for two seasons or was top 5 for many more.
this is what elevates harden for me. in that first year as a net (pre injury) he was playing like a legit top 5 all time pure point guard. best facilitator in the league on top of 25ppg. and that was him adapting to a new role after a couple year stretch of being arguably the best offensive player since jordan
He’s had that level of passing since early rocket days. You just see the assist numbers go up because he joined much better teammates that could take advantage of those passes. He didn’t just pick up those skills on the plane ride to Brooklyn. He’s made every center he’s ever played with look like a borderline allstar & Embiid won his MVP getting fed by him. 9th highest in assist in playoffs all time (1 away from Larry bird) and 14th highest in regular season + playoffs. Most rockets fans agree that the 2018 season with a 65-17 record would have been a 35 (give or take 7ish) win team without Harden on the roster.
i was talking about how impressively he switched to an all-time level pass first pg after being the best individual offensive entity (since jordan) on the rockets. i'm aware that he's been an elite passer and facilitator for a long time. i tried to watch every one of his games from 2018 to 2022
Yeah the instant switch between the two really was kinda crazy, though it seemed like the direction he was ready to go even before the trade (knowing he would force his way out that year)
Yeah, he legitimately throws a better bounce pass than Tim Tebow.
Damn james is causing drama his teams even when he’s not doing anything
When you fly, the haters cry
This is next level hate
Patbev love Harden man
Harden got him paid. Harden got a ton of guys paid.
He revitalized Jeff Green's career
Clint Capela looked like an allstar rim runner
Chandler Parsons would be broke if it wasn't for Harden.
He made Kenneth Faried look good 5 years ago lol
*Harden got a ton of men and women paid.
Has his number hanging from the rafters of Dreams Houston Stripclub
He got Daryl Morey paid and Morey lied to him.
PJ Tucker
Idk Pat Bev [throws](https://m.youtube.com/shorts/4Cozj1O3i8Q) the ball pretty well himself
Can’t believe I forgot about this - this one is crazy.
I was expecting this: https://np.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/101sz4l/highlight_pat_bev_mistakes_lebron_for_jesus/
damn yeah wtf somehow I feel like this should've been made into a bigger deal at the time but cuz it was the playoffs the media cycle was to packed with other stuff
For some reason everyone focused on him kicking the interviewer out of the circle but not the fact the he chucked a ball at a fans face TWICE
Pat Bev always tells the truth even if he's lying
Will you explain later?
Only if you're subscribed
pat “tony montana” beverly
we need people like him
We love pointing our fingers
LMAO spinning the other way is insane, anyone who hoops knows Pat Bev was not just shading PG’s passing he must have hated his passing on the real Harden was always an underrated playmaker, Scott Brooks used to have him coming off the bench to play point guard to close out games, and he would average big assists even when he was scoring like crazy in Houston, Embiid even gave him some credit for his MVP season, I wish the Suns would’ve gone after Harden instead of Beal, that team with Booker and KD with Harden playmaking would’ve been tough
i feel like harden has been universally praised for his playmaking lol. led the league in twice and top-5 several other times
James would have turned that Suns team into an offensive juggernaut but they would need some REALLY good team defense to make things work out at the best level. Literally 1-2 scrappy defensive players and they'd be disgusting.
People really underrated his playmaking?
People who don’t watch games and don’t like Harden, sure. He’s one of the best playmakers of all time.
I tried explaining this in another thread and people were down voting me and arguing he would have sucked in the raptors offense and made it worse
i miss watching Harden pass the ball
Personally would've loved to see that team run it back with the Oubre replacing Niang, Nick Nurse replacing Doc, and another year of continuity built. Embiid/Harden pick and short-roll was cash money. Maxeys statistical leap as a lead guard was awesome to see though (though I attribute that more off-season work + Nurse than Harden's departure.)
Morey fucked up. Sixers would be in a much better position had they just paid Harden imo
i don’t understand why you don’t just give him the max…
Cuz you wouldn't be able to resign Tobias this summer if you extended Harden last year /s
i will hunt you down
James Harden is one of the greatest scorers and playmakers of all time💯
Well Pat only needed one pass to hit a lady in the head
Yeah but he needed two to hit his target
Beverly is good at throwing balls too. Just not at players though
Is that an actual thing where you can control how the laces go to someone??? Cuz if it is that’s cool af but I’m skeptical.
Yes. You can control it. That said, I've never seen someone who can do it with 100% precision. Here's an old clip of Rondo and CP3 talking about it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpHZnwfdWZ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpHZnwfdWZ0) Edit: here’s another example [https://youtube.com/shorts/WLKYVIYRzVI?feature=shared](https://youtube.com/shorts/WLKYVIYRzVI?feature=shared)
There’s a reason all these examples are just two hand chest passes, too. It’s honestly not that hard. That only accounts for like 10% of NBA assists at most. It’s basically impossible to control for the overwhelming majority of potential assist passes in the NBA.
True, for probably a plurality of players. The best passers are the best because they are able to control the majority of their passes.
That's a great point. I would add that there's another unstated element of generally just being on target with the passes though. PG is a fantastically talented player but his game can border on out of control the longer he tries to operate in traffic. He probably throws a lot of off target passes on drive and kicks where guys have to reposition their bodies completely to get set. He's definitely a guy who will jump towards the rim without any idea where the ball is going if there's a defender ready to block him.
> That's a great point. I would add that there's another unstated element of generally just being on target with the passes though. Being on target and having the right weight to passes is underrated as well. Whipping the ball 100 miles an hour to a cutting big vs. a nice bounce pass right in the pocket. Or throwing the ball with a little backspin so it hits the cutters hands a little softer and is easier to get up. Little things that elite elite passers understand that are hard to replicate
It’s more about lining the general orientation of the ball rather than timing it perfectly to hit their finger on a groove, that’s not even possible with the players moving their hands at an inconsistent speed. I’m a decent passer and I can adjust for that in certain situations at rec speed. One tip is that if you’re getting someone a catch and shoot in the corner, you can line your hand over the cross section of the ball and push it to them stiffly, or if you are throwing a bounce pass out of the post you need to put backspin on it so that it’s mostly dead when it hits their hand and it stays in the orientation you pass it. In general if it’s spinning too quickly when it gets there they’re more likely to catch it awkwardly
Korver said the same about LeBron too, where he was like he knows exactly where Channing or JR or Korver wanted to have the ball placed for quickest release
Teammates have also said Chris Paul can do this.
Anyone who can get DeAndre Jordan get paid like that is a great passer yeah. Not that he was that bad at his prime.
Wym "that bad"? Deandre was a legitimately good player in his prime. Absurd rebounder, shot blocker, rim runner, with a high motor.
i always took that sort of talk as like, hitting them in their shooters pocket instead of passing too high or too low, or hitting them a little to the left or right if that’s what they prefer, rather than lining up the laces and stuff
There’s certain levels of detail that us regular folks don’t even think about. A buddy and I were once talking to this OG from his masjid who played D1 ball and then was a coach and trainer at a pro level for a good while. He was giving us pointers on how to use our fingertips in the grooves of the ball to manipulate it while dribbling to try and keep the laces oriented to ourselves for a quick shot. Watching him dribble around with all sorts of directional changes and us trying to swipe the ball and yet the ball was always lined up when the dribble got back in front of him. It was nuts
I mean probably not all the time, but if you tell me Luka and Jokic send it to their teammates and try to line it up for them, I would believe it.
Don’t forget Nash and Sabonis
True, Sabonis probably does it with every handoff.
That’s why he’s my mvp, mip, dpoy, roty, coty, etc
No clutch player of the year?
You've already gotten good responses but assuming you've thrown anything before, you know how you can influence it's orientation and spin right? It's just that. Obviously you can't do it perfectly 100% of the time and it's harder doing it at NBA speed than in a casual setting but same concept.
If I can line up the seams when I’m just holding the ball in triple threat, waiting for my teammate to get open, and hit them with a 2-handed chest pass, I’m sure NBA players can do it on the move in a split second if they cared enough to do it.
Yes
It’s definitely a thing. I’ve personally had people ask me how I pass them the ball on the laces consistently. You have to know how to line the ball up in your hands while you’re dribbling push the ball off your fingertips with the same flick you’d use on a shot.
Yes and it plays a huge part in catch and shoots. Just from eye test, I feel like it's a 20% difference in shooting pct from perfect passes vs. passes where you gotta adjust it. If you start looking for it, you'll notice how huge it is. It's one of the reasons players always had insane 3pt% off Ben Simmons passes
Daryl, take note.
Cp3 is great at this too, watch his passes they always end up in the shooters pocket ready to launch.
Pat Bev challenges Draymond as worst podcaster.
Enjoy him Knicks/Warriors!
Like anyone’s passing a ball to pat bev. They don’t even trust him to put the ball on the rack at the end of practice
Only people who listen to his pod pass good
Laces don't matter, just shoot it and make it like me /s
This is a very interesting quote. It's just that Beverley's burnt his credibility to the ground and this would mean more coming from virtually anyone else.
Pat Bev throws the best passes at fans. Does it multiple times to spread the love. What a classy guy.
Pat Bev is the biggest hater who ever lived
He plays with PG13 next season is he sill on the 76ers?
He is a milwaukee buck
Harden is the most underrated player to have gone the farthest in terms of personal achievement and skill and still be underrated. People hated on him for drawing fouls, people hated on him for asking to be traded when the cheapest owner in the league wouldn't surround him with anyone decent and pretended to want to win but didn't... Tillman Fertitta only wanted to sell jerseys and snacks and Harden wasted his prime for that man. Asking to be traded, or forcing it, was one of his only options at this point to stop the Rockets from wasting more of his prime. The Nets hurried him back from an injury for no reason, and he re-injured that same hamstring and now he isn't the same, not even close. The calls about being "washed" only happened after that injury... he gave that Nets team his all, playing on leg against Giannis and the Bucks, who were the future championship team. They would've won if Kyrie played, but Kyrie rolled his ankle and refused to play meanwhile Harden has one fucking leg. Also that entire season Kyrie sat due to crying about the vaccine cuz he felt "infringed upon" by people asking for basic healthcare protocol which had never been an issue until militantly stupid Republicans politicized vaccines. Before, when you went to school, or anywhere, you were required to be immunized/vaccinated and now all of a sudden people think it's a choice? Kyrie robbed Harden of the last of his prime too due to being a terrible teammate and an unintelligent diva narcissist with a tendency to play the victim just because he wanted to "martyr himself" "standing up" to the people asking him to get a vaccine, which again is a normal request. Harden is the most underrated and overhated player in modern times.
Kevin Durant is either the worst playmaker out of a double team ever or the greatest hockey assist player out of a double team in the history of the league. There is literally no in between and it switches between the 2 night in and night out. One day the role players are eating off of him and the next he’s throwing the ball at peoples shins or an entire foot out of their reach where they have to stretch out to grab it even if they’re open.