Last Friday, after Marc Gasol dished out 8 assists in a 106-98 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers — the eighth time in 11 games this season in which he’d had at least 5 assists; last season he did this 14 times in 65 games — I asked head coach Lionel Hollins about Gasol’s playmaking this season.
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Marc Gasol, plotting another assist against the Lakers last week.
Hollins asserted that it was mostly a matter of Gasol’s teammates making more shots this season. This wasn’t a particularly surprising answer. Hollins has an honorable tendency to reflect individual praise into a team context. But as terrific a head coaching job as Hollins has done, on this subject I have to take issue.
The Grizzlies offense this season has improved dramatically, from 21st in points scored per possession up to 5th, per ESPN.com, but it isn’t because they’re simply making more shots. The team’s overall shooting percentage has actually declined slightly, from .447 to .446. Instead of making more shots, the team has improved offensively by taking better shots:
Grizzlies Shot Distribution, 2011-2012
Paint: 52.5%
Mid-Range: 31.8%
Three-Pointers: 15.7%
Grizzlies Shot Distribution, 2012-2013
Paint: 55.7%
Mid-Range: 25.7%
Three-Pointers: 18.7%
— NBA.com
Essentially the Grizzlies have cut down on mid-ranger jumpers — the game’s lowest-efficiency shot, on average — while replacing them with more interior attempts and more three-pointers. (The team actually is shooting better from long-range, but percentages are actually down a little in the paint.) The increase in interior attempts also seems to be reflected in an increase in free-throw attempts, up from 22.8 a game last season to 24.3 a game so far this season. On a related note, after being among the league’s worst assist teams for the past five seasons, the Grizzlies have inched toward league average (currently 19th in assist ratio).
The causal relationships among all of these offensive factors are unclear, but Marc Gasol’s emergence as an elite playmaker at the center position seems to have a lot to do with this.