Past Editions: Nikola Pekovic | Timofey Mozgov | Tiago Splitter

After coming out of Portland and playing one season in the D-League, Pooh Jeter headed to Europe.  After three seasons overseas (the final stretch was a 22 game stint with Hapoel Jerusalem) and numerous Summer League invites, the 5′11″ Jeter has finally got himself a NBA contract.

For this scouting report, I am looking at Jeter’s games overseas.  The reason I prefer to use this rather than his Summer League performance because I think it will give us a better look into his game.  With Hapoel Jerusalem, Jeter was playing with guys who he was comfortable with, rather than a group of guys assembled almost at random with each trying to prove themselves.

Note:  Jeter wears #15 for Hapoel Jerusalem.  Their colors are red and white.

Strengths

Ball Pressure

Pooh Jeter is small and quick, and this makes for the perfect on ball defender in my opinion.  He is able to get low and disrupt a point guard’s dribble and his speed allows for him to force the ballhandler to change directions a number of times:

Here, Jeter’s speed and ability to stay in front of his man forces him to change directions twice.  The second time, the ballhandler is worried about Jeter reaching in and stealing the ball, so he turns his back to Jeter.  This allows for the double team to come and force the turnover.

Now, the ball handlers are better in the NBA, but I think Jeter’s speed is enough for him to be able to stay in front of his man.

Ability To Run A Team

At 5′11″ Pooh Jeter just isn’t big enough to exclusively be a scorer.  In the NBA, you just can’t have a 5′11″ shooting guard.  It creates bad matchups on the defensive end and makes it hard to score on the offensive end.  This means that Jeter is going to have to handle the basketball/run the team part of the time he is out there.  Fortunately for him and the Kings, he does that quite well:

Running an offense and being a go to scorer are two completely different roles, and Pooh Jeter was forced to play both during his time with Hapoel Jerusalem and for the most part he did it very well. Most of the time, Jeter knew his role on the court, when the team wanted him to score, he scored. When they needed him to run the offense he did that. When he was the primary ballhandler, he wasn’t looking to get his shots. He was looking to get the team into the set and hitting his teammates in position to score.

Outside Shooting

Jeter’s best skill is his outside shooting.  Jeter uses the three point shot to get a good chunk of his points, but maybe more importantly, the threat of him hitting a shot is what allows him to get into the lane and create havoc.  When Jeter is under control (and not in heat-check mode), he has really good form whether it is coming from off the dribble or of a catch:

Off the dribble, jump shooters (and that is what Jeter is) tend to float and that really messes with the result of a shot. However, Jeter’s shot in the clip above is an example of perfect from. His last dribble loads him up, he rises up, and lands in the same spot.

Off the catch, Jeter again shows solid form. Here, he floats into the open space, makes the catch (and doesn’t bring the ball down – that’s important) and knocks down the jumper.

Once Jeter starts knocking down a few threes, he becomes really dangerous.  Jeter’s defenders now have to press up on him, and that is when he can use his speed to his advantage.

On both of these plays, Jeter uses the threat of a shot (once with a head fake and once with a hesitation dribble) to get his defender to push up on him. The result is a drive by from Jeter (though on one play he gets fouled).

Weaknesses

Tendency To Overshoot

If Pooh Jeter knocks a few threes down, he has a tendency to take a few heat-check shots.  When he is shooting under control Jeter’s form is on point, when he is firing up heat-checks that is a totally different story.  One of the three games that I watched Jeter went 9-10 from three (his one miss was a 3/4 court heave).  He was simply unconscious and he took a few heat-checks:

These threes are deep, and you see Jeter’s leg swinging out in front of him.  Now they go in, so that makes them good shots, but if he misses, those aren’t good shots.  Now maybe he keeps this tendency under control in the NBA.  However, he may be prone to chucking up a couple deep bombs, especially after knocking down two or three in a row.

Closing Out On Shooters

While Jeter’s on ball defense is very good.  His off the ball defense, and more specifically his closing out on shooters, needs to be improved upon.  Jeter either closes out, a little too wildly, jumping on pump fakes (my guess is that he is trying to make up for his height, wanting to get in the shooter’s face), or he doesn’t close out hard, and he doesn’t bother the shot.

Here, Jeter has a long way to go to close out on the shooter. So he goes hard at him and jumps to try and bother the shot. The only problem is that the shooter pump fakes and Jeter goes flying out of the play.

Here, Jeter does the exact opposite. He doesn’t close out hard enough, and at his size, he can’t afford to do that. Jeter doesn’t get his hands high enough to bother the shot, and the shooter makes it in.

Conclusion

Pooh Jeter is going to get a chance to be an effective player off the bench, and I think he will do that.  In fact, I think if Jeter plays well, he can be that go to scorer in that second unit.  He can play at either guard spot, and that versatility gives the Kings plenty of options.  They can play him with Beno Udrih either off the ball or on the ball.  They can also play him with Francisco Garcia  where Garcia would play the two with Jeter playing the point.

The Kings got themselves a very explosive scorer in Jeter, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put up a couple 20 point games off the bench.

Cousins makes his first catch as a professional just a few steps away from the block.  Instead of rushing the move, he lets the play develop and allows for the passer to cut through, clearing out an easy double team.  Cousins then takes what I like to call a “bait dribble.”  If you watch the video again, you can see the man who eventually doubles kind of floating, and then as soon as Cousins puts the ball on the floor, the double team comes.  This is because most NBA teams like to double team on the first dribble the big man takes, and DeMarcus Cousins knows this.  The dribble that Cousins takes isn’t to make a move or better his position, it’s to draw the double team so he can kick the ball to an open teammate.  It works, as the defense is forced to rotate, but the Kings can’t knock down the open shot.  This is really impressive to me because there are bigs that have been in the league for years that struggle with this concept, and here is Cousins getting it right on his first touch in the pros.

Another thing that impressed me about Cousins was his ability (and willingness) to keep his head up while making his post move, allowing him to spot open cutters.  Here, Cousins also shows an ability to make a pass into the lane with his back to the basket.  The fact that he doesn’t have to turn around and face up to make the pass means he can make the pass quicker (because a window on an open cutter only stays open for too long).

Again, this pass from Cousins is a direct result of his ability/willingness to keep his head up when making his move.  This was a set play to free up an open three point shooter on the weakside, but what impressed me about the pass was that Cousins was able to send it cross court with enough zip (instead of lobbing it over) that the man can make the catch and shoot it before a defender can close out.

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DeMarcus Cousins is so big and strong in the post that he will be doubled a fair amount of the time.  The way he handles these double teams will determine how effective he (and his team) can be.  If Summer League has been any indication, he will handle the double teams just fine.

• With Ron Artest (and Kobe) Covering Evans – 17 points (on 5-12 shooting – 6 of 9 from the FT line), 6 assists, and 8 rebounds in 38:14.
• With others (Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown) Covering Evans – 8 points (on 2-3 shooting – 4 of 5 from the FT line), 3 assists, and 3 rebounds in 4:08.

The numbers show the difference (17 points on 12 shots vs. 8 points on 3), but I think what really shows the difference is looking at the highlights.

With Ron Artest On Him

With Ron Artest covering Evans, you had a big body that wasn’t going to let Evans bully him into the paint.  The result was a lot of dribbling on the outside:

Once Evans crosses half court, he takes 7 dribbles without going inside the three point line and then passes it to Spencer Hawes.  Now Hawes hits the three, but I think the Lakers would rather have Hawes shooting threes than Evans getting inside and creating havoc.  In fact, this was how the Lakers played Evans all night as they were determined to let the other players beat him:

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And when he did attack, Artest’s size really gave Evans problems:

On this play, Evans goes away from the screen and the tries to hit Jason Thompson who is spotting up on the high post. The pass is deflected by Ron Artest though, and Thompson is forced to scramble to make the catch.

Without Ron Artest Covering Him

For a four minute stretch in the second quarter, Ron Artest was on the bench while Tyreke Evans was still on the court (he ended up playing 42:22).  This is where Tyreke Evans the bully came out, as the players who (Jordan Farmar & Shannon Brown) were defending him just couldn’t be physical with him like Ron Artest could:

These three plays were in the half court set, and you can just see the difference in how he attacked against these guys versus how he attacked Ron Artest.  There wasn’t a ton of stationary dribbles, there was just a lot of attacking.  He especially used his size well to get into the paint and get himself to the line.  The last clip, he basically runs through Jordan Farmar, getting the and one.

The Kings Counter

Evans did have 17 points when Artest was covering him, so the Kings had to have done some things right.  The Kings set up screens for Evans, allowing for Evans to get Ron Artest on his hip.  This negated his size and strength and allowed for Evans to use his speed:

Artest is too busy fighting through the multiple screens to stay in front of Evans, and this is what allows him to get to the basket.

Here, the screen gives Evans a sliver of space, and he uses his ability to take it and get to the lane.

The second way Evans was able to score and create on Ron Artest was in transition. Artest doesn’t have the speed that he used to, and running the court makes him somewhat ineffective on the defensive end.

When Evans gets a running start on Artest, Evans has a huge advantage.

Again, Evans (in transition) just blows by Artest forcing the help to come. Evans misses the lay-up, but he forces help to come, and that allows for an offensive rebound and a basket.

The Assists

In my opinion, assists are the toughest stat to compile when a player is going for a triple-double.  This is because it is all dependent on your teammates.  You can throw some great passes, but if your teammates don’t finish they don’t count.  However, if you teammates are stroking it, you can have your assist count rise really quickly, and that’s what happened last night.  Out of Evans’ 10 assists, only 4 of them were inside 10 feet, and the three that were at the rim were in transition:

The remaining 6 assists for Tyreke Evans lead to baskets outside 16 feet.  Some of them (including his final assist) were simple passes in the flow of the offense where his teammates caught it and hit the jumper:

The 6 assists doesn’t mean Evans was just standing on the perimeter throwing passes.  He was also attacking the basket strong, causing defenders to collapse on him, and then spotting teammates on the outside:

Watch that video again.  Evans strong drive forces 4 defenders to crowd up on him, and as that happens Evans finds Beno Udrih spotting up in the corner.

The Points

If Tyreke Evans assists were perimeter oriented, you can say his scoring was the exact opposite.  If you look at the advanced box score (from the great HoopData.com) you will notice that all of Evans’ baskets (that he made) were inside 10 feet.  He was 7-11 from that distance, including an amazing 5-7 at the rim.  While Evans’ shot is still coming along, the one thing that is for certain is his body.  Even as a rookie, Tyreke Evans is bigger than most point guards, and he knows how to use that size effectively:

He basically just bullied DeMar DeRozan there and then flexes after.

The Rebounds

Another benefit of Tyreke Evans size is that he is able to go up with the big man and pull down rebounds:

Now I know this is a simple rebound, but I want to talk about what happens after.  As he grabs the rebound, he pushes it ahead and starts a one man fast break.  Now he turns the ball over later in the play, but to be able to have a point guard grab a rebound and start a fast break without needing an outlet pass is rare.

Tyreke Evans Dominates Late In The 4th

The biggest effect Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin being on the court at the same time has on opponents is on the defensive end.  Defenses have to figure out how to cover both Kevin Martin and Tyreke Evans.  The Knicks really struggled with it last night.  This is what allowed Evans to go off late in the game:

The Knicks have to make a decision here concerning matchups.  They decide to put Chris Duhon on Kevin Martin with Jared Jeffries on Tyreke Evans.  My guess is because they were worried about Martin running off of screens, so they put the quicker defender on him.

Now with Jared Jeffries on Tyreke Evans, the Kings identify this as the mismatch, and they go to Evans.  Worried about Evans’ speed, Jeffries plays back on Evans, allowing him to walk to the top of the key.

Chris Duhon isn’t in proper help position (he is attached to Martin’s hip, worried about his shooting ability), and this is what allows Evans to get all the way to the hole.

With no help, Tyreke Evans is able to knock down an uncontested lay-up.  Besides creating matchup problems, Martin’s presence on the court also causes defenses to screw up their rotations:

Jeffries is once again covering Evans (why the Knicks didn’t switch out of this, I have no idea).  This time though, instead of sagging off of him, Jeffries gets right into Evans hip (I don’t know why he did this either).

Since Evans is quicker than Jeffries, he is able to get the Knick on his hip.  This is what lets him get to the basket.

Now, as Evans starts his attack, the two Knicks on the baseline have to figure out who is going to be the help defender.  Most teams would prefer to have the help defender leave the guy farthest from the basket (in this case Duhon leaving Martin).  This forces a longer pass and makes it easier for the defensive rotation to happen.  Duhon doesn’t leave Martin (because he doesn’t want to leave a good shooter open), so David Lee is the one who helps on this play.

As Lee steps up, he leaves Jason Thompson wide open.  Now, all hope is not lost for the Knicks.  As the help comes, Duhon can (and should) rotate over and at least try to defend the shot.

He doesn’t rotate though, and Thompson is able to finish strong with the dunk.

Kevin Martin Dominates Overtime

Now that Tyreke Evans has taken it to the whole time after time, he is going to draw some attention.  This attention is what frees up Kevin Martin.

As Tyreke Evans gets the rebound, he immediately pushes the ball up the court.

As he makes his move (a fantastic behind the back move, by the way), he gets himself in position to attack the basket.  The Knicks look like they have this covered.  They got two guys back on defense, but with Kevin Martin spotting up one of them needs to follow Martin into the corner.  However, both defender is worried about Tyreke Evans taking it  to the basket.

As Evans gets it to the top of the key, Jared Jeffries, the man closest to Martin, has his back turned to him.

Kevin Martin makes the catch, loads up his funky shot, and knocks it down.  That was basically the ballgame right there.

I started watching this game in the middle of the second quarter, and I hunkered down expecting an awesome game, and it was…for three quarters.  The Kings were actually winning this game by 2 points after 3 quarters, but a 33-10 fourth quarter ended the game with the Magic pulling away.

We are going to focus exclusively on the fourth quarter here for obvious reasons.

What The Kings Did Wrong?

Way too many threes.

Both teams weren’t that good from the three point line last night.  They both shot an identical 8-27 from deep, but the key here is when the threes were missed.  The Magic knew it was an off night for them, and they only attempted 4 three-pointers (making 1).  The Kings on the other hand, shot 7 of them (making none):

Sergio Rodriguez comes off of a Jason Thomas screen, and explores his options.  Ryan Anderson shows, but it is a soft hedge, and Rodriguez is able to get around it.  So you think that the Kings got something going.

However, instead of rolling and making himself available (the lane is wide open), he fades and just hangs around the elbow.  The roll would have forced J.J. Redick to make a decision as well, and that could have opened up Beno Udrih.  So why didn’t Thompson roll?  Well, I think it has to do with that big guy wearing #12 for the Magic standing in the middle.

Because there are no options, Rodriguez is forced to dump it inside on the baseline.  Brockman isn’t going to be able to do anything with Dwight Howard covering him (and that far away from the basket), so it is kind of a wasted touch right there.

Brockman kicks it back out to Rodriguez who now has no options besides creating something on his own.

So Rodriguez pulls up from 3.  Another result of taking a shot that isn’t in the flow of the offense is that your teammates don’t know you are shooting, so they aren’t in good position for the offensive rebound.  Look at Beno Udrih by the way, he didn’t move throughout that whole set.  Here is another example.  On the surface, this looks like a good shot, but the when you take into consideration the context, you start to think otherwise:

The Kings forced the Magic into a turnover, and they try to break.  The Magic defense is back though, so the Kings are forced to slow things down.

Udrih attacks towards the basket and kicks it out to Tyreke Evans.

Who makes the catch and pulls up.  It was an open three, which is why some people would think this is a good shot, but let’s look at the context.  The Kings are down 10 here, and he has J.J. Redick covering him.  If Evans were to throw Redick a pump fake here and attack the basket, you could get something out of this.  Either a lay-up, or draw a foul on Dwight Howard.  Instead, Evans takes a three early in the shot-clock, even though this is a shot you can get whenever.  So what does a good offense look like?  Well the Kings had some stretches where they played well and had a nice flowing offense:

What The Magic Did Right?

They took it inside.

It’s weird, I would totally expect it to be the opposite.  Me talking about the Magic shooting the three ball way too much late, and the Kings taking it inside late.  The Magic though, did a great job getting into the paint, and getting to the line (8-9 in the 4th):

The Magic discovered early on that the Kings didn’t really have anyone who could keep up with Dwight.  This is a set play for Dwight, and it is interesting, because they don’t really run set stuff for Dwight late because of his poor foul shooting.  They must felt that he was shooting it well enough or that the mismatch was too great.  So much so that Stan Van Gundy was compelled to run sets for Dwight.

Williams gives it to J.J. Redick (this is smart because the defender can’t sag off and double down on Dwight because of his shooting threat), who quickly dumps it into Dwight.

Look at how far out Dwight makes the catch.  If it was any other back to the basket center in the league, nothing would come of this, but Dwight is so strong and athletic…

…that all it takes is one dribble and a spin move (plus a shoulder to the stomach of his defender) to give himself enough room…

…for an open lay-up.

Milwaukee Bucks 98 – New Jersey Nets 76

If I have to watch the Nets every time they play (and I do), you are going to have to read about them.  I have been pretty positive through the Nets’ first 34 games (they are 3-31), but I think it was safe to say that last night’s game was the most embarrassing performance of them all.

I don’t know if it was because they were coming off a solid performance against the Cavs, or if it was because they started so well (8-0 run to start the game), but it was just real tough to watch.  Nobody on the Nets had a good a real good game except for Yi, who put up 22 points (but only 2 rebounds).

After the 8-0 run, Scott Skiles pulled both Andrew Bogut and Luc Mbah a Moute.  The strategy worked, as the Bucks’ bench outscored the Nets’ bench 34-7 in the first half, and Bogut played like a man possessed in the second half, finishing with 22 points on 9-12 shooting.

Turning Point – Skiles’ benching.  After pulling Bogut and Mbah a Moute, the Bucks’ closed the first quarter on a 22-8 run and it sparked a big performance from Andrew Bogut.

Phoenix Suns 113 – Sacramento Kings 109

This game was just an awesome one to watch.  There were at least 3 separate different runs, where you thought one team was out of it, they clawed back.

Casspi didn’t play that well in the first half, but he turned it on in the second, hitting some 3s and attacking the basket aggressively.  In the end though, the Suns’ experience was too much for the young Kings.  A young Kings team that saw its two rookies (Casspi and Evans) put up 51 of their 109 points.

Turning Point: Nash’s Dagger.  It was one of the few times that the Suns held the ball, but up 2 Nash dribbled out the clock and then calmly drilled a jumper, putting the Suns’ up four and effectively ending the game.

I am experiementing with different types of morning recap posts, so be patient with me.  Stay tuned for some possession breakdowns later today…

There are some real good games coming up this week, but the one that caught my attention when I was looking ahead at the schedule was the Suns-Kings game on Tuesday night. The first reason being you have Tyreke Evans vs. Steve Nash. The second, both teams love to run the court, and when they get going, it is real fun to watch.

The Last Time They Met

• The Suns won the game 115 to 107
• The Kings started the game with a tall lineup in there. Evans was at point, with Donte Green playing the 2
• Andres Nocioni and Tyreke Evans had 21 and 20 points respectively
• Steve Nash had 32 points and 6 assists
• The Suns hit 6 three pointers late (in the last 7 or so minutes – 7/9 in the fourth) to help pull away from the game

Kings “Go To” Set

Tyreke Evans in the post. The Kings started off the game having Evans run right into the post. Not only did he score out of the post, but he forced the Suns defense to rotate towards him, allowing for other Kings’ players. It was so successful that the Suns were forced to switch defenders on him (going from Nash to Grant Hill) just three possessions in.

The Suns might not match Nash up against Evans, but Evans will be covering Nash, so there will be times where Nash will be forced to cover Evans, and when that happens, look for Tyreke to run straight to the post.

Suns “Go To” Set

The Pick and Roll/Pick and Pop. You guys already know my love for the pick and roll, and when the Suns run it, they are very dangerous. Steve Nash is such a good decision maker, you can’t let him get a clean run off the screen, so most teams switch the Suns pick and roll. Whenever this happens, Nash doesn’t force it, he backs it out and uses the mismatch to his advantage:

The Suns run this a ton, and it is a major key to their offense, along with the fast break.

Kings’ Weakness

Late in the game, it turned into the “Tyreke Evans Show” in a bad way. They got him the ball early in the clock on the wing, and as the rest of the team stood and watched, Evans tried to score, it didn’t work out too well. However, when the rest of the team was touching the ball and it was getting swung around, the Kings were scoring. They just didn’t do enough of this late.

Now, I had video to support this, but for some reason, the fourth quarter footage that I have from the game isn’t jiving with the my video program.

Suns’ Weakness

The Suns tend to get 3 point happy every once in a while, it helped them pull away from the Kings late (Up 5 under 2 minutes left, they still were able to get 3 more threes up), but if they would have missed a couple of these shots, they would have shot Sacramento back in it.