The Raptors 905’s season may be over, but for the five Raptors rookies – Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamison Battle, and Ulrich Chomche – who made both their G League and NBA debuts this season, their careers are just getting started. Here we are going to breakdown the plays they ran and the situations they were put in while playing in the development league context.
The rookies have seen ample time in larger roles with the Raptors this season, given the injuries, trades, and eventual lineup decisions, but their time with 905 serves as a macro version of that. The idea of this piece is that looking at how the organization used these players in a setting that allows for more experimentation will help inform us on future plans for their development.
In my previous 905 playbook installment, I opened with a somewhat long-winded section about how complicated professional basketball offences have become. I want to walk some of that back a bit. What I was trying to convey is that over time the NBA (and, as a result, its affiliate league) has evolved to incorporate more and more actions. That being movement, handoffs, and both on and off ball screens. I certainly didn’t want to be prohibitive or make X’s and O’s seem like some big daunting thing that is impossible to understand, because I feel like sometimes it can seem like that on the surface, and I don’t think it has to be.
It also seems fitting that I write this piece at the conclusion of my own rookie season at Raptors Republic and on the 905 beat.
We’ll start off with an unlikely candidate, but a fun one because of his shooting gravity and prowess, Jamison Battle, then cover what we saw during Jamal Shead’s brief stint in the G.
First, we have Battle acting as the back-screener in a popular Raptors play that has been covered extensively this season, Spain Leak. Because of the threat of the six-foot-seven wing leaking out to 3-point line for an open shot, Westchester Knicks guard Alex O’Connell sticks with Battle rather than helping on the Evan Gilyard drive. The problem is that Gilyard has sprung free off Frank Kaminsky’s ball screen and Battle also plants the back screen, leaving an open path to the hoop.
Battle is third among all NBA rookies in 3-point shooting at 40.4% and shot 44.8% in the G League. The Raptors have also started to use him as the back-screener in Spain Leak on occasion (in the absence of Gradey Dick or Immanuel Quickley) to utilize his ability to drag defenders around the floor for fear of leaving him open.
The next plays are where we see Battle’s development come into the picture. He’s already proven himself as a standstill shooter. And while that skill earned him a spot on Toronto’s roster to start the season, he will likely have to do more to stick around long term. Battle has been vocal about the work he’s putting in to improve on defence, as a cutter, and as a movement shooter, and that has shown up both in the film and the numbers.
The second play in the video is “Indiana” or a Veer STS being run for Battle. He sets a back screen for Mogbo while Kaminsky sets the ball screen. Kaminsky then “veers” and sets a down screen for Battle (hence screen the screener). This can be effective as his defender was already in pursuit due to the coverage of the initial off-ball screen. The goal is to uncork a shooter for an open 3 or to at least curl and attack downhill. Here Battle manages to stick a pull-up middy against the drop defence. Since working on this at the G League level, we’ve seen Battle start to incorporate both hitting 3s while moving off STS actions and pull-up jumpers into his game with the big club.
To further exploit his gravity, Battle has started to slip screens for easy lanes to the hoop. Since he’s such a shooting threat, defences will always play him up to touch or at the level, never sagging off for fear of a quick handoff or screen to free up the jumper. He takes advantage in the last couple clips, diving to the hoop when defenders least expect for the open finish. Again, Battle’s improvement as a cutter has also bled into his game at the NBA level and has been on display as of late – he cut for two dunks against Charlotte on Wednesday.
There’s also a bonus clip of Battle coming off a Chicago action after a SLOB and hitting another mid-range jumper. Enjoy!
Now onto Shead. He didn’t spend much time with the 905 this season, so there isn’t a ton to go over here. But I do want to highlight some good passing reads and his ability to drive the paint and create from there, because they are both key aspects of what he offers offensively.
The first play is trusty old Spain Leak again. Long Island switches it to deter Shead’s drive, and of course Battle’s man follows him out to the line, leaving Chomche with a mismatch underneath. The weak side help is late to recognize this, but Shead isn’t, and he sends a perfect pass over the top that the Cameroonian youngster sends hurtling through the hoop.
Next, Shead shows why Long Island felt the need to deter his drive on the first play, as he bolts to the paint the moment his defender goes over the screen. From there he makes a good pass to Walter on a 45 cut, who then makes a good secondary pass of his own out to Battle for the open triple.
To start the season defenders almost never chased Shead over screens, and this hasn’t really changed, as despite him attempting more 3s and his overall percentage trending up, he still isn’t an adequate pull-up threat. But if he were to become one, it would open even more opportunity for him to use his quickness to touch the paint and distribute from there. Or hit one of his signature push-shots off glass.
Coming up in part two (three?), we will go over Ja’Kobe Walter’s creation, both for himself and others, and the wingification of Jonathan Mogbo.
