Pascal Siakam Film Room Breakdown
Over at the Raptors Playbook YouTube channel (@RaptorsPlaybook on Twitter), I am breaking down the X’s & O’s and film of the Toronto Raptors. To ease back in and preview the upcoming season, we’ll focus on Pascal Siakam’s skill development. Watch the video embedded below alongside the summary written, and remember to follow and subscribe to never miss out on a video.
Coast-to-Coast
Pascal Siakam took a gigantic leap last year, which is not only in reference to his ability to handle the ball and pass, but also referring to a growing confidence to even attempt the things he did. Among the best instances of how that improvement came to an observable state was his tendency to grab a rebound and go. Whether it is referred to as going “coast-to-coast”, or more simply “grab and go”, the idea is the same in that whatever player rebounded the ball will not wait to make an outlet pass, and will instead opt to speedily dribble the ball up the court themselves. This is a pretty common tendency for versatile players, such as LeBron James or Draymond Green, who have the combination of size to grab rebounds on the interior, as well as the skill and speed to aggressively dribble the ball.
Drive and Finish — Starting at 0:08
In the first section of the video, examples of Siakam taking the ball the entire length of the court to finish at the rim are shown. A trend that quickly emerges is that instead of finishing, Siakam is often fouled as he makes his final strides in the paint. The combination of size and speed really work to his advantage here, as larger defenders that can stand him up at the rim are usually not fast enough to be in legal defensive position to protect the rim, and smaller players that are quick enough to get in position do not have the size to stop Siakam from finishing without illegally swiping at him.
Playmaking Around the Rim — Starting at 1:31
The second section of the video showcases Siakam’s playmaking ability. When teams are able load up on him, often requiring a second defender, off-ball Raptors are able capitalize on such an advantage by getting into prominent position around the rim. Siakam has shown a wonderful ability to distribute the ball, and this is evident by his passing when he goes coast-to-coast
Perimeter Playmaking – Starting at 2:28
The last section of the video is more of the same, but the beneficiaries of Siakam’s ability to create an offensive advantage are now along the perimeter, and often beyond the arc. This just illustrates that there is versatility in the types of shots Siakam is able to create for others, including the ability to produce three-point attempts off of dribble handoffs (DHOs) in semi-transition.
Initiating Halfcourt Offense
Towards the latter half of the 2017-18 season, the Raptors gave Siakam the freedom to not only push the ball up the court in semi-transition when he grabbed a rebound, but also to initiate normal halfcourt offensive sets as a point guard/forward usually would. The examples are relatively scarce (I only have 5-6 examples in my personal archive), but it shows a confidence from both the organization and Siakam to expand his responsibilities as a playmaker in a serious way. This is an area to track throughout the year where Nurse can push the scale more towards “experimental”.
For those curious what set they were usually running – Double Drag Continuity Series with Siakam in the role of the point guard/1 and Fred Van Vleet or Delon Wright in the role of the power forward/4.
Leakouts
This isn’t so much of Siakam’s skill development, and more of a trait that he has had since he entered the league that is amusing to track. Former Toronto Raptor and teammate of Siakam, DeMar DeRozan, famously was quoted as saying that “there’s a difference between fast and running extremely hard. […] He gets out them blocks real hard. But fast? I don’t know. We’ve got to put him in a race and see.”
Whether Siakam runs hard or fast is apparently a humorous point of contention – however the product of running hard/fast frequently is that Siakam guarantees himself a breakaway dunk or layup once every other game.
One of the most absurd examples of his speed to beat defenders down the floor is in this image against the Orlando Magic (which can be seen at 1:30 in the video).
Siakam is behind all 5 Orlando Magic players when the ball hits the rim – yet he makes it to the other rim before any other player and is able to get a dunk.
