Mike Bibby
Player Info
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 195 lbs.
- College: Arizona
- Age: 32
- Years Pro: 13
- Position: PG
- Team: Atlanta Hawks
- Role: Lead Ball Handler/Spot Up Shooter
At the age of 32, Mike Bibby seems to be on his last legs. He has been on the decline for a couple years now, and last season Bibby put up career lows in points per game (9.1), assists per game (3.9), and minutes per game (27.5). Due to his body breaking down, he can’t really create his own shot in the mid-range area, and he struggles on the defensive end in ISO and PNR sets. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute to a competitive team like the Hawks. Bibby is one of the best point guards in the league when it comes to protecting the basketball, limiting his turnovers and getting his team into their offense with ease. You can’t leave Bibby to double team the post, due to his solid catch and shoot game.
Strengths
Takes Care Of The Basketball
While he isn’t a guy who is going to rack up the assists, Bibby will take care of the basketball and get his team into their offensive sets very efficiently. Bibby’s assist rate is right on average with other point guards (who played 40+ games and 25+ minutes), which makes his high Assist to Turnover ratio of 3.43 (5th among point guards) even more impressive. Bibby really limits his turnovers when he is on the court, only giving the ball up 1.1 times per game (2nd in the NBA among point guards), and Bibby’s turnover rate (turnovers per 100 possessions) of 8.12 is good for 2nd among point guards.
Bibby would rather make the easy pass in the flow of the offense rather than trying for the home run highlight reel type of passes. He also takes into consideration the defense being played on his teammate he is looking to pass it you. You are rarely going to see Bibby throwing it to a player who is being doubled, or isn’t in a position to score:
Here, Bibby brings the ball up and gets the Hawks into the offense. After making the pass to the wing, he cuts through to the opposite wing. The ball eventually finds him on that wing and Zaza Pachulia flashes to the high post. Pachulia is open and some players would try to fit the ball into him, but Bibby sees the defense collapsing on Pachulia so he kicks it out to the top of the key rather than forcing it to the middle.
Here is another example of Bibby running his offense. Bibby gets the ball, and the Hawks run a pick and roll on the wing. Bibby runs the pick and because the Spurs switch it, Manu Ginobili is now on Bibby. Instead of Bibby trying to take advantage and work one on one, he sticks with the offense and hits Joe Johnson in the corner.
Here is another example of Bibby seeing the offense all of the way through. Bibby gets the ball on the wing, and despite heavy pressure from his defender, he stays poised and keeps his head up. The result is that Bibby is able to hit Josh Smith on the lob. What really impresses me is that most guards would handle the pressure by dribbling and maybe miss the cutting Smith. Bibby knows where and when Smith is going to cut, so he stays calm under the pressure long enough to hit the cutter.
Spot Up Shooting
Mike Bibby is still a pretty big threat in three point shooting situations, more specifically when spotting up to catch and shoot. Bibby shot 38.9% from the three point line last year, good for 11th among PGs who played in 40 or more games with 25+ minutes per game (the average is 36.54%). When working off of spot up situations, Bibby is even more of a threat, shooting 41.7% on his 240 attempts from three. It is not just from the three point line either, Bibby shot 41.5% on 73 attempts from inside the arc on spot-up situations. His 1.12 points per possession on spot ups is good for 50th in the entire NBA.
What I like about Bibby is that he knows what his strength is and tries really hard to put himself in a position to succeed. Bibby knows that he is a good spot up shooter, so he tries to find the open spot on the court every chance that he gets. Here, the Hawks are in transition and instead of coming to get the ball and run the offense, Bibby decides to hit the open area in the corner and spot up. His teammate finds him in the corner, and Bibby is able to knock down the three.
Bibby knows areas and knows how to find the open space on the court. Here, after getting the ball to the wing, Bibby spaces out to the open space in the zone. When the ball goes to the high post, Bibby is now in an area on the court where no Suns’ defender can get to him easily. So when Bibby makes the catch, he is 15 feet away from the nearest defender, and he is then able to knock down the open jumper.
Bibby’s shooting ability is also valuable when his teammates drive the basketball. Bibby’s shooting threat keeps his defender honest most times and if they do leave Bibby to help, he usually makes the defense pay, like in the clip above.
The same thing happens when the Hawks get the ball into the post. Here, Josh Smith gets the ball in the post, and Derrick Rose (the man covering Bibby) takes a second to look over to Smith’s direction and survey the situation. In that second, Bibby is able to find an open spot in the court, and Josh Smith hits him with the pass for the jumper.
Bibby’s shooting ability also causes defenses to run at him and close out very hard, but out of control at times. When the defense closes out too hard, that gives the Atlanta Hawks an advantage on the offensive end:
Here, Bibby gets the ball at the three point line. The defense closes out so hard, that all Bibby has to do is give a small pump fake and he sends the defender flying by him. After that, all Bibby has to do is take one dribble and knock down the jumper.
And here, Bibby makes the catch on the wing, and the defender closes out on him, ignoring Mo Evans in the corner. All Bibby has to do here is make the easy pass to Evans, who knocks down the wide open three point shot.
Weaknesses
Can’t Create His Own Midrange Game
The first area where Bibby’s body lets him down is in the mid-range game. Bibby still shoots the ball very well from the mid-range area, shooting 43% from 16-23 feet each of the last two seasons, but he has seen his attempts from the area drop significantly. Bibby attempted 5.3 shots per game from 16-23 feet 2 years ago, last year he only attempted 2.9 shots per game. Another number that must scare the Hawks is the % of shots from 16-23 feet that are assisted. In 2010, Bibby saw 73% of his shots from 16-23 feet come via assists. This is a jump from 48.9% two years ago. Bibby simply can’t create his own shot anymore, and this leads to turnovers:
Here, Bibby makes the catch and starts to go by Rajon Rondo, however he is unable to create enough separation with his first attack dribble, and Rondo is able to reach in from behind and get his hand on the basketball. This causes Bibby to lose control of the basketball, and eventually turn it over.
Here, Bibby gets the ball and is trying to work it in transition. There is nothing there so he pulls it out, as his defender starts to get in front of him, Bibby tries to change speeds and get to the basket. However, he tries to go faster than his legs can handle and falls, turning the ball over.
In this clip, Bibby gets the ball in the corner, and Chucky Atkins picks him up and gets in his face. Bibby tries to drive by him, but Atkins stays in front of him, and eventually Bibby has to resort to throwing his arm out there and picking up the offensive foul. Keep in mind that this is Atkins, a 35 year old reserve point guard, who Bibby can’t go by.
Again, Bibby gets the ball in the corner here. He tries to get by his defender, but all he can manage to do is take one dribble and pull up a jumper. Except Bibby doesn’t have the quickness to create a ton of separation on the dribble, and that leads to a tough jumper that is missed.
Struggles Defending Ballhandlers
Bibby’s aging body hurts him on the defensive end as well. Where Bibby really seems to struggle on defense is when defending opposing ballhandlers. A lot of ball handlers in the league are too quick for Mike Bibby, and that leads to a lot of dribble-drives past him.
Here, Bibby is covering Jameer Nelson who is bringing the ball up. Nelson uses a quick hesitation dribble and Bibby bites on it, closing the distance between himself and Nelson. However, Nelson quickly changes speeds and starts to go by Bibby. All Bibby can do is grab Nelson’s arm, and Nelson hits the runner while being fouled.
In this clip, Bibby knows that he is going up against a quicker player in Jrue Holiday. As a result, Bibby tries to play far off of Holiday. However, the result of this is opposite than what is intended. Holiday now is able to get a running start on Bibby, close the distance between them quickly, and finish at the rim.
Finally, Bibby is playing defense on Kyle Lowry. Lowry looks like he is going to run a pick and roll, and as a result, Bibby tries to cheat the play and quickly get in front of the screener. The reason Bibby does this is because he knows he isn’t fast enough to stay in front of Lowry throught the PNR playing him straight up. However, as Bibby jumps the play, Lowry quickly changes direction, and hits a wide open jumper.
