⭐️ Quickley the Future All-Star? NBA Scorigami, Gunners and More

Welcome to the NBA Librarian Weekly, where we curate and summarize the best NBA content of the week.

In this Week's Edition:

1. Immanuel Quickley: The breakout All-Star?

2. NBA Gunner Rating

3. NBA Scoring Leaders in 2023 from each shot distanc …

4. Pelicans Struggles in the Clutch

5. NBA Boxscore Scorigami

6. Derrick Jones Jr. is more than a dunker

7. Nikola Jokic on Michael Porter’s Podcast

Immanuel Quickley: The breakout All-Star?

OG is receiving a lot of attention for the trade, but there's increasing buzz that Quickley might emerge as the best player in the deal. Vecenie does a good job highlighting his compatibility with the rest of the team and provides a more thorough analysis of the numbers to support this perspective.

1. Quickley averaged 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game with shooting splits of 47/40/85 in the 21 games he started last year.

2. His per-minute production has improved even more this season.

3. The article emphasizes his capability as a three-level scorer, demonstrating solid percentages at the rim, in the mid-range, and from distance. There are numerous clips showcasing his scoring versatility and adaptability and how he’s one of the higher rated pick and roll points per possession players in the NBA

4. Areas for improvement include playmaking for three-pointers for his teammates and how that would open up the game for him and Barnes to form a potential duo as well.

Vecenie also offers insight into how RJ Barrett might not face the same levels of success as Quickley too. Definitely check it out.

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NBA Gunner Rating

My take-aways:

I think this is one of those kinda stats that really match up with the “eye” test. The gunner rating essentially highlights how often a player shoots vs. passes when they receive the ball off a pass. In other words, these are the dudes that tend to shoot the ball every time they touch it, aka “chuckers.”

We featured an interview with Cam Thomas on the Redick podcast in a previous edition, where he delved deeper into his mindset as a scorer. Link. It's no surprise that he tops the list here.

However, I am somewhat surprised by DeRozan's inclusion. He's a significantly more skilled ball-handler and pick-and-roll player compared to the others on the list. This could probably be attributed to DeRozan playing more minutes than anyone else mentioned.

This stat will be updated daily on Crafted NBA. https://craftednba.com/

NBA Scoring Leaders in 2023 from each shot distance

Two weeks, I shared a post by Kirk Goldsberry that highlighted the leading scorers in the NBA per zone. This post takes it a step further by highlighting the leading scorer from each distance range. The biggest takeaways are clear: it's easy to see where certain players primarily operate and the importance of finding your space on the floor, then perfecting your moves and counter-moves in that area.

Giannis leads from 1-3 feet, Jokic from 4-9 feet, DeRozan from 17-22 feet, and Curry from 27-29 feet. These aren’t that surprising, but I believe that if we were to look at this same statistic over the past 4-5 years, we'd see a very similar pattern. It's also no surprise that Embiid is scoring a lot from the free-throw line or just inside it.

Also worth noting that Jalen Brunson, at PG, is one of the better mid-post scorers in the league because excels at getting to his spot on the floor.

Pelicans Struggles in the Clutch

Key takeaways:

1. Recurring Problem: The New Orleans Pelicans have developed a pattern of losing games in the clutch, particularly in the fourth quarter, despite having leads. A recent example was an overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, where the Pelicans lost control of the game in the final moments, despite leading for most of it.

2. Struggle in Close Games: The Pelicans have a 0-6 record in games decided by three points or fewer and a 5-8 record in "clutch" games (within five points in the final five minutes). They've lost several games this season despite holding double-digit leads.

3. Team's Big Three: The trio of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum have shown individual brilliance but struggle to perform collectively in high-pressure situations.

4. Execution Issues: The team has difficulty in spacing, decision-making, and generating easy shots under pressure, contributing to their late-game collapses.

5. Statistical Struggles: The Pelicans have one of the worst offensive ratings and turnover percentages in the league during clutch minutes.

NBA Boxscore Scorigami

I swear I'm not working for @Sravan in any way—I just find the stuff he's been doing recently really cool. I called attention to his pickup NBA style application he put out last week. This week, he's introduced a new app called NBA Scorigami. It allows you to select any two stats for one player and see how many combinations each player has across a range of games.

It's interesting because I think this can be gamified in some way. Perhaps you could guess who the player is, similar to the Immaculate GRID game, based on their career highs and most average stats, to get a sense of their identity.

Try some out here!

Derrick Jones Jr. is more than a dunker

Great article here by Mike Shearer. Here are my biggest take-aways:

1. Jones’ defensive versatility - Mike points out he’s faced the fourth hardest matchups in the league and his covers defensively have ranged from perimeter players like Ja and Shai to long lanky do-it-all forwards like Durant and Scottie Barnes.

2. He’s terrific at not fouling - lowest foul rate of his career.

3. He’s also having a career year shooting the ball - both in terms of effieicncy and volume.

Mike also provides a ton of video clips to back this up and goes more in-depth on some of the Mavericks most effective lineups often coming with Jones Jr. being on the floor - proving to be an even more valuable pickup potentially than the more heralded Grant Williams acquisition this past off-season.

Nikola Jokic on Michael Porter’s Podcast

Michael Porter has a podcast?

With so many podcasts available today, this is actually why I created the NBA Library—there's just an abundance of NBA content coming from everywhere and it’s hard to find a centralized source that does a good job of highlighting the different mediums these are posted on. Check out all the player podcasts I’ve found here: https://nba-library.glide.page/dl/podcasts

Anyway, the interview isn't the longest, but considering Jokic is the unquestioned best player in the NBA right now, it's noteworthy that he seldom participates in long-form interviews or shows much interest in them. However, since Porter Jr. is his teammate, he made an exception this time.

What I appreciated most about this interview is how Jokic describes his winning lifestyle and what motivates and drives him. It dispels the unfair notion that he somehow prioritizes basketball less. Instead, it highlights his pursuit of excellence in all aspects of life, not just limited to basketball.

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