HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Each week HOOPSWORLD NBA analyst and coach Anthony Macri opens his notebook and offers an assortment of observations on games, players, and teams from throughout the league. Coach Macri serves as a player development consultant for the Pro Training Center and Coach David Thorpe, working with a variety of NBA players on their skills and game understanding. The Coach’s Notebook appears on HOOPSWORLD every Thursday.

The value of prime real estate

Now in his third year, New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez’s points per game continue to rise.  However, he is shooting a lower percentage than ever before, and his assist and rebounding numbers are both down from a year ago.  While the Nets are an improved club under new coach Avery Johnson, Lopez’s efficiency and overall level of play seem down from the past.  To what can we attribute the drop off?

The central problem for Lopez seems to be how little he’s prizing position before the catch.  That is, he seems content to receive post passes with both feet outside the lane, sometimes an entire stride outside the lane.  He is often higher up the lane line (sometimes at the second hash mark or higher) as well.  Being so far off the block leaves him squarely in no-man’s land when it comes to post play.

The primary side effect of mediocre positioning is Lopez must work much harder after the catch.  Attacking from this range involves more ball-handling and decreases the distance defenders must travel to double-team him, which explains his increased propensity to turn over the ball.  It’s also affecting his assist numbers because help defenders can more easily dig down on Lopez and force the kickout. They also don’t have as large a distance to close out on shooters, which means less open shots when Lopez makes a pass.

Lopez has always gone to right hand hooks when they are available.  Now, however, he is taking the shot from seven or eight feet instead of five or six feet.  That may not seem like a big difference to the naked eye, but in a game where slim margins make a big difference, it might as well be an ocean.  In addition, he is less likely to get to the front of the rim because of how far he must travel to get there. That means less dunks and lay-ups and more short jumpers and runners – generally lower percentage plays. This may also explain his lower rebounding numbers; being further from the basket lessens opportunities for putbacks, which can be a huge part of his game if he made them a point of focus.

For Lopez to capitalize on opportunities this season and increase efficiency (while maintaining and even increasing production), his first order of business must be seeking out, establishing, and maintaining position in "prime real estate" areas.  This small change affects every dynamic out on the court, both for him personally and his teammates.  Even when he can’t get to his preferred spot, he can be more effective by automatically facing up to the basket.  This would make him harder to double-team, give him greater vision of the entire floor, and prevent the defense from physically holding him out of the paint.  Now that he’s established as a low post force, Lopez’s growth and development will depend on how well he can recognize and adapt to the way defenses attempt to deny him his most productive locations.

Rose’s long distance improvement

Watching the Chicago Bulls this season, it is impossible to go long without seeing the striking improvement in the perimeter shooting of point guard Derrick Rose.  Last year, Rose shot just 26.7% from beyond the arc, making just 0.2 three-point shots per game.  This season Rose is shooting 42.1% from long range and making almost two trifectas in every contest (1.8 to be exact).  This progress contributes a great deal to his increased production – both in points per game and even in assists.  In fact, should his development continue, it is hard to imagine Rose not rising even higher up the hierarchy of NBA point guards.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Compare his stroke from this year to last year and the differences are pretty obvious. Mechanically Rose is more compact and consistent than he was in years past.  Last year most of Rose’s shots began with a ball dip and his hand stayed on top of the ball.  His knees would bend slightly, mostly out to the side.  He brought the ball up out in front of him, not tight to his body, and he would start his jump as the ball reached his chin.  There would often be a hitch as Rose reached the top off his jump, since the ball had not yet found its release point by the time he got to his highest point off the ground.  He paid nearly no attention to his landing, often landing with one leg kicked out, sometimes leaning away, and pulled his hands out of his follow-through as soon as he could on most shots.  In many ways, watching a shooter’s finish can be just as informative as watching his preparation.

Each part of Rose’s stroke appears to have received treatment in the offseason and his attention to detail this year has been excellent.  Rose rarely dips the ball now, instead keeping his hand mostly behind the ball on the catch.  By eliminating the ball dip, he has a better chance of getting the ball from shooting pocket to release point quickly and without being disturbed (either by a defender’s quick hand or by wasted motion).  His knees are centered over his toes and he is getting a much better knee-bend before starting the shooting motion so his jump is more straight up and down, giving the ball a much higher, softer trajectory toward the rim.  Because the ball is higher in his shooting pocket when he starts, it allows for a much smoother release as he jumps and the hitch has all but disappeared (in other words, he is ready to release the ball as he reaches the height of his jump and is still on his way up). 

In player development, we look at this as creating one single movement, transferring energy from the floor all the way through the hips and core to the shoulders and up through the hands.  This type of movement allows shooters to add range – not pure strength, but energy transfer.  Finally, on most shots, he is locking into the follow-through, holding his hand in the rim and landing with stability on two feet. 

In summary, he now just looks like a shooter.

The technical improvements have also borne great mental benefits, as Rose now displays great confidence shooting the ball.  This is such a huge part of the equation for a shooter and can’t be undervalued.  In his first two years Rose would purposely avoid shooting the three, so much so that defenders did not keep their hands in a position to contest when guarding him and he would rarely look toward the rim while dribbling out on the perimeter.  Now with his newfound confidence and streamlined mechanics, he is a threat to dial in from long distance at any time – a weapon that will only become more potent as Chicago challenges the best in the East.

Have questions for Coach Macri? Be sure and drop by HOOPSWORLD on Mondays at 2PM Eastern for the Coach’s weekly basketball chat!  You can also follow Coach Macri on Twitter @CoachMacri.