Basketball Intelligence for 11/16/23
Denver Nuggets' playcalling, rookie rankings, and more
LEAGUEWIDE STORIES
NBA Rookie Rankings: Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren matchup had flashes of what to expect from young phenoms
Jasmyn Wimbish, CBS Sports
Where teams stand in the NBA In-Season Tournament after Night 3 — and what comes next
John Hollinger, The Athletic
What Keyser Soze Taught Me About The Pump Fake
Marc Campbell, Low Man Help
[The pump fake] is a story that you are trying to tell to the defender. It has to follow a clear and familiar cadence. By the time any player has reached the NBA level, they have likely closed out on hundreds of thousands of shots. When closing out to a player, the defender's mind is chunking information, not looking at one specific thing. So when the last foot of the shot prep does NOT hit the floor, and the cadence of the pump fake becomes dissimilar to an actual shot, their mind automatically knows to tell the body to stop. An in-rhythm and on-balance shot is no longer physically possible, so there is no need to worry about the shot anymore
1 Problem Each NBA Team Didn't See Coming
Staff, Bleacher Report
3 points: Giannis Antetokounmpo's turnovers, Mitchell Robinson's D and the Timberwolves
Yaron Weitzman, Fox Sports
The raw numbers are fine (6.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and one block per game), but don't do justice to just how dominant he's become. For one, he's the best offensive rebounder in the NBA. Robinson is corralling 20 percent of the Knicks' misses, which not only leads the league by a mile (Clint Capela is No. 2 at 17.4) but is right in line with Dennis Rodman's record-setting 20.83 mark during the 1994-95 season.
What's different this year is the activity and energy Robinson is displaying on defense. He's become a master at the cat-and-mouse game required when guarding the screener and dropping back against a pick-and-roll.
Team Building with Generalists
Brian McCormick, Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter
14 Players Affected By Poison Pill Provision In 2023/24
Luke Adams, HoopsRumors
The 2023-24 NBA Rookie Rankings
J. Kyle Mann, The Ringer
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