As things currently stand, Ty Lawson is one of the biggest names to move from the NBA to Europe, joining the Lithuanian team, and VTB United League/EuroLeague participants, Zalgiris Kaunas. With that being said, Lawson is probably the most disappointing NBAer preforming overseas right now. So far in 10 games, Lawson’s Zalgiris Kaunas team has played to a 6-4 record (0-2 in EuroLeague/4-0 in Lithuanian League/2-2 in VTB United League) and has averaged just 7.32 points per game and 2.02 assists per game in 17.54 minutes per game (7 ppg/1.5 apg/21.5 mpg in EuroLeague – 5.3 ppg/1.5 apg/12.8 mpg in Lithuanian League – 9.5 ppg/2.8 apg/20.3 mpg in VTB United League). This drop in production is pretty surprising, especially considering the fact he is coming off of a breakout season where he played very well in Denver. So what is the reason for the drop in productivity? Well the first thing that jumps out at you is that Zalgiris Kaunas isn’t using him in the best way possible. Here’s a breakdown of some of the playcalling problems:
Too Much Transition
One of the things that doesn’t get mentioned about Lawson’s game enough is that he isn’t the greatest when it comes to transition. Maybe the fact that Lawson is a lighting quick point guard skews perception, but the numbers show that Lawson struggles when on the run (at least when compared to other aspects in his game). Last year with the Nuggets, Lawson was among the bottom half of the league in terms of points per possession in transition, posting a PPP of 1.139 when on the break. The biggest reason for the low PPP is that Lawson has a tendency to turn it over when on the break. With the Nuggets, Lawson turned it over 13.4% of the time on the break as he was in transition 22% of the time. So what did Zalgiris Kaunas do with Lawson? Put him in transition more. So far in 10 games, Lawson has been on the break 30.8% of the time. The result was more turnovers with Lawson coughing it up 20.8% of the time in transition:
It is worth mentioning that Lawson could improve in transition, he’s playing on a new team trying to adjust to new officiating (that travel call for instance in that clip might not be a travel in the NBA). However, with that being said, Lawson has shown a history of turning the basketball over in transition so it seems silly to give him the basketball and ask him to run right off the bat, asking him to run and get out in transition before even being comfortable with his teammates or with the style of play.
Not Enough Spot Ups
One of the more underrated aspects of Ty Lawson’s game is that he is a very good spot up shooter. In Denver, Lawson spotted up 22.7% of the time, posting a PPP of 1.144 (putting him in the top 13% among all NBA players, Lawson is in the top 4% among all NBA players in all catch and shoot situations) on 46.2% shooting:
Lawson’s form might be a little funky, but he does a great job of making the catch and quickly getting the ball off. That fast release combined with an ability to get his feet set means that he can hit that shot consistently. With that as a strength, you would expect to see Zalgiris Kaunas try to take advantage of this and use Lawson as a spot up shooter from time to time. Instead, Lawson has taken a spot up jumper just 10 times in 8 games (going 3-8).
Comparing Lawson’s spot up opportunities in the NBA to his opportunities in Europe, there is a pretty apparent difference. While most of Lawson’s catch and shoot jumpers in the NBA came off of dribble penetration from a second ballhandler (either Raymond Felton or Anthony Carter). With Zalgiris Kaunas, all of Lawson’s catch and shoot opportunities came from either BLOB sets, post entries, or ball reversals and with those actions taking place less often, it means that there are less opportunities for Lawson to spot up, have the ball come his way, and knock down a jumper.
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It’s fair to say that Ty Lawson’s European experience hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start, but all hope is not lost. If Lawson starts running less and starts spotting up more, while getting more acclimated to his teammates and to officiating, he can return to old form. However, with that being said, if Zalgiris Kaunas continues to use Lawson in this manner, they are going to have to explain his poor play to fans.
