Really good article
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6800061...
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson becomes even more unguardable
James L. Edwards III
NEW YORK — Sometimes we take greatness for granted. We can get so used to it that it loses its luster. And when it’s expected, anything short of it can be a letdown. Call it fatigue. Call it boredom. Whatever.
It feels like Jalen Brunson is falling victim to this.
The New York Knicks guard is only the maestro of a 7-3 basketball team that just won its fifth straight game Tuesday night by beating the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s only averaging 27.7 points per game. He’s only dishing out close to seven assists per game. He’s only been one of the best shooters in basketball.
An early-season MVP conversation shouldn’t take place without Brunson’s name being involved. Yet, as the beginning of the season plays itself out, it feels like the All-NBA guard isn’t getting the credit he deserves.
Brunson is one of the best self-creating scorers in the NBA. He has been for the last several seasons. And, well, he’s still doing that. In bunches, even. But that’s not all. With a new coach in Mike Brown coming in with a plan to put the ball in Brunson’s hands a tad less, the 29-year-old is still thriving, now as an effective catch-and-shoot asset.
The old way had success. Brunson turned into one of the league’s elite offensive players using the pick-and-roll and isolation to break the NBA’s best, good and average defenders down off the dribble. His team is just months removed from making the Eastern Conference finals playing that way. Brunson could have rejected change. Instead, he’s embraced it.
The unguardable star has become even more unguardable.
“In the offseason, (relocation/catch-and-shoot) 3s is what I worked on,” Brunson said after posting 32 points, 10 assists and five rebounds against Memphis. “The talk was playing off-ball, so why don’t I just work on that? That was a lot of the stuff I did this summer. The ball is going in when I do it.”
Through the first 10 games, Brunson has been as impactful playing off the ball as with it in his hands, which says a lot. He’s averaging three catch-and-shoot 3s per game and converting them at a 50 percent clip. For comparison, Brunson only averaged 1.9 catch-and-shoot 3s per game last season. His off-the-dribble shooting is being supplemented by relocation 3s — some of which are by design, some by instinct — and standstill 3s within the flow of the offense.
Brunson has always been successful at the latter. The efficiency has always been there even when the volume isn’t. However, this isn’t just about Brunson’s ability to make these shots. He’s moving around and putting himself in positions to get these looks.
Some ball-dominant NBA stars stand around after they give up the ball. You know who they are. Brunson hasn’t done that. He’s creating a passing option for his teammates by refraining from staying stagnant. It also helps that he’s part of one of the league’s best offensive rebounding teams. Brunson has made himself available on the perimeter when defenses are scrambling after second-chance opportunities.
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“I’ve been around him so long and understand how well he can catch-and-shoot,” Mikal Bridges said. “I feel like I find him the most, him or OG (Anunoby), when I drive because they relocate so well and find the empty space. His catch-and-shoot is ridiculous. He works on it all the time, all day. His numbers might be different because he shoots a lot off the dribble, too.”
Brown said he is playing the long game with Brunson as it pertains to getting him off the ball more. He’s having him come off screens, using him in hand-off situations and as a screener, too. The results off the ball aren’t just 3-point shots. Sometimes it’s Brunson whipping a pass to a teammate on the run. In the meantime, Brunson is still putting up similar numbers to those of his All-NBA seasons while adapting to the change in where his shots are coming from and how they’re coming.
Per NBA.com, Brunson’s average time of possession with the ball last season was 8.6 seconds. He averaged 6.04 dribbles per touch as well. This year, through the Knicks’ first nine games, his average time of possession with the ball is down to 7.6 seconds, and his dribbles per touch have dropped to 4.52. And despite the changes, Brunson is averaging close to 21 shots per game, roughly 2.5 more than last year.
He has found a way to be equally as effective offensively while having the ball less.
“I like to move him around so that it’s a little harder to deny or be physical with him because he’s not in the same place all the time,” Brown said. “He may be setting a screen, getting a screen or cutting backdoor. All of those things, I think, for him in the long run, especially when you’re going against a team in a seven-game series and they’re trying to take certain things away, there are other things that he knows he can go to. We’ll work on that all year.”
There’s a saying in basketball that goes, “The best players learn to adapt.” That’s not always true. We’ve seen instances time and time again when a player struggles to find his way because of a change in style, or a team has to get certain types of role players to put around their particular star.
Brunson appears to be one of the exceptions. He’s thriving in a free-flowing offense that has everyone getting involved. While doing so, Brunson is still being himself in the process. He’s just engaged in other ways, too.
It was hard for teams to stop Brunson from scoring before. It seems even harder for them to stop him now.
