The first step of having an elite skill is always figuring out how to implement it. Then it becomes about responding to the response. A counter, if you will. When the Raptors run Spain Leak with Gary Trent Jr. as the leaker, they might not expect that he comes wide open from the action, but that his shooting will move the defense in a way that the Raptors can take advantage of. Yes Samson well done, you’ve described gravity in basketball, something everyone knows.
When it comes to gravity serving Trent Jr. himself we’re talking about harder closeouts, more aggressive lines taken, and the seas parting to allow him a path to the interior of the defense. For a long time, Trent Jr. has been hesitant to extend his drives past 16-feet. He was a very good pull-up shooter from the deep mid-range and from the 3-point line last year, and this year he hasn’t been at all. He’s been streaky in the past, so it’ll likely sort itself out. Prior to this season he shot 39-percent from 16-feet to the 3-point line over hundreds of shots and this year he’s sitting at 27-percent. He’s taken hundreds of pull-up threes in his career and hit around 35-percent in that time. This year? 22-percent. This slump should crater his effectiveness, but it hasn’t because he’s started to introduce better decision making into his game.
This season, he’s seen marginal gains in his frequency below the free throw line, taking more shots at the rim and from the short mid-range, respectively. He’s above average within 4-feet (63-percent) for the first time since his low-volume rookie season, and he’s been absolutely elite from the short mid-range (56-percent !!). We’ve also seen a massive jump in his free throw rate – and as we all know, the free throw line is the last bastion of consistency. This is how you survive a slump with your pull-up jumper, and it’s something that he wasn’t capable of in his career until this point.
“I’m just out here to play my role to the best of my ability, and do whatever I can to help this team win.”
Gary Trent Jr.
Despite Trent Jr.’s slump as a shooter, teams haven’t forgotten about what he can do. Once you have the reputation, does performance really matter? He draws defenders out on more aggressive lines and closeouts, so lanes open up to the interior. The reputation Trent Jr. doesn’t have, is as a driver and finisher. Jonas Valanciunas is the only player who sells out to stop the drive in this collection of clips, and it’s because it’s in pseudo-transition and there’s no help whatsoever. Teams are more cautious rotating to ‘GTJ’ because they’re waiting to see if he’ll actually threaten the rim. This year, he’s tried it more and more often.
Additionally, we’re seeing Trent Jr. maintain advantage. He’s had trouble creating from a standstill this year with the less effective pull-up jumper, so he makes his decisions faster and makes the defense play catch up. Often times last year he would let the ball settle to get into his combos and test the limits of his pull-up shooting talent. The returns were elite for how tough the shots were, and okay from a points-per-possession point of view. It’s good to be able to hit tough shots, but creating easier ones that bend a defense is the process we want to see.
Orlando is overloaded to the strong-side, so when he puts the ball down an easy read to Malachi Flynn is there. Kevin Porter Jr. tries to shoot over the top of the screen, and Trent Jr. gets an opportunity to put him in jail and sink the defense for an Anunoby 3. He puts pressure immediately after the wide-pin and Larry Nance Jr. has to step up, so we get a little slip to the rim for Christian Koloko. A little more pressure, and some better outcomes.
“You know, whatever opportunity is given to me, I’m gonna try my best to go out there and do everything I can to showcase the work I put in. You know, continue to keep building. Continue to keep growing. Go from there.”
Gary Trent Jr.
There’s been a lot of talk about how disappointing this season has been for Trent Jr. so far, and I understand why some people have thought that. The creation off the bounce has fallen off a cliff because jumpers aren’t falling. I’m here to tell you, everyone should feel way better about his game now than they ever have. The shooting is the shooting, and it will come and go as it often has. He is still very capable of providing all of the feast performances (five straight 30-point games, type of thing), but these improvements start to eliminate the famine aspect of his game. Quiet steps made to be more dangerous without relying on the jumper, now that’s something to get excited about.
Have a blessed day.
