Everything Valanciunas

[KHD]

JV's per game front court and paint touches are almost identical to last year. His usage is only up about 10% from last year.

you have to watch video to see the difference really. It's night and day.

By my eye, most of JV's perimeter touches last year were of the "let me wait for kyle to come get the ball on the reset" variety.

[tDotted]

It's really pretty amazing how he managed to transform himself in one off season. How many of the big centers that tried to model their body and defensive game after the early/mid 2010's Roy Hibbert are now net positive players?

Well, how many big centers tried to model their game after Roy Hibbert in the first place? lol

[KeonClark]

Well, how many big centers tried to model their game after Roy Hibbert in the first place? lol

I'd rather model my game off Dr. Hibbert

[3inthekeon]

The way he's getting them is different though, especially the high up touches. In the past our bigs would mostly be stationary, waiting for action designed to free up just one guy for the handoff. Not really engaging. There is more movement now and the bigs are free to react and be like "oh, they are taking away the pass on side A, let me turn and try to create a better option on side B".

A minor kind of change that makes a big difference for our offence, and keeps the bigs more engaged.

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Your right that the offensive system is better for the bigs, but Poeltl played hard on D last year with no touches. The explanation almost makes it sound like JV was selfish and not really giving a fuck on D because he wasn't being used properly on O.

Personally, I think JV's transformation this year has more to do with JV just becoming a better player himself rather than the credit even mostly going to the system change.

[Nilanka]

Well, how many big centers tried to model their game after Roy Hibbert in the first place? lol

I remember Hibbert basically being credited with creating the 'principle of verticality', and everyone else trying to follow suit.

[SkywalkerAC]

Damn he's playing well. Also seeing a lot of quick-finishes, keeping the ball high, which has been a work in progress for him.

[KeonClark]

I remember Hibbert basically being credited with creating the 'principle of verticality', and everyone else trying to follow suit.

I love how smart they made it sound "The Principle of Verticality" like its some new hypothesis that needs a textbook to explain to engineering students.

It just meant you can put your arms up straight and its not a foul

[rocwell]

I remember Hibbert basically being credited with creating the 'principle of verticality', and everyone else trying to follow suit.

Hibbert and Indiana...

[Nilanka]

I love how smart they made it sound "The Principle of Verticality" like its some new hypothesis that needs a textbook to explain to engineering students.

It just meant you can put your arms up straight and its not a foul

...while jumping.

Not sure if there was ever an official rule change, but in the past, as soon as the defender left his feet, a foul would be called.

[tDotted]

I love how smart they made it sound "The Principle of Verticality" like its some new hypothesis that needs a textbook to explain to engineering students.

It just meant you can put your arms up straight and its not a foul

It's a stupid "principle" because it only really applies to allstars.

[3inthekeon]

The inspiration came during the 2009 NBA Finals, when Hibbert saw a Lakers player drive into center Dwight Howard. Howard jumped straight up, and while there was contact, no foul was called.

Hibbert was intrigued. Frank Vogel, then a Pacers assistant and now their head coach, explained to him the NBA's principle of verticality: A defender can leap straight up to absorb contact from a ball-handler so long as he establishes a legal defensive position before leaving the ground and remains vertical in the air.

Vogel designed a drill in which Hibbert was stationed at the hoop and players at the top of the key and in the corner would attack the rim. His goal was to get three consecutive stops without fouling. It taught him to always jump straight up.

Soon Hibbert would take advantage of this rule like no player the league had ever seen.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...angeles-lakers

It's amazing how often players get a foul called and they stick their hands straight up to the ref, but when they show the replay their hands were actually angled toward the ball.

[KHD]

Your right that the offensive system is better for the bigs, but Poeltl played hard on D last year with no touches. The explanation almost makes it sound like JV was selfish and not really giving a fuck on D because he wasn't being used properly on O.

Personally, I think JV's transformation this year has more to do with JV just becoming a better player himself rather than the credit even mostly going to the system change.

The idea that being involved on offence makes him more active on defence isn't mutually exclusive with him becoming a better player. He's absolutely a better player than he was. Last year's JV couldn't physically keep up with this year's version, he's passing better, scoring better, etc. etc.

Furthermore, i guess if you take it to an extreme then yeah, you could say it's "selfish", but I don't really see it that way per se. I also don't think he wasn't giving effort before, I think he's just got his head in the game a lot more this year.

[white men can't jump]

Your right that the offensive system is better for the bigs, but Poeltl played hard on D last year with no touches. The explanation almost makes it sound like JV was selfish and not really giving a fuck on D because he wasn't being used properly on O.

Personally, I think JV's transformation this year has more to do with JV just becoming a better player himself rather than the credit even mostly going to the system change.

I would agree JV's transformation is largely on him being an even better player. It's not wrong when they say D takes longer for bigs to get used to at the NBA level, and JV is also clearly a step quicker physically. Both those things clicking at the same time, while also finally having a solid defensive frontcourt beside him (seriously, we have had at least one massive whole every year at one of the forward spots), probably play a big part for the defensive end.

For the offensive end, I think there are a combination of things:
-He looks a step quicker (but it's not like he relies a lot on quickness on that end)
-The system is better for him
-He seems more confident, maybe because he also looks like he's finally shaken off the constant benchings
-He also looked great in training camp and early on until that early season injury, and when he came back Casey kept trying to figure out that three C rotation (which was always a dumb idea). A combination of being a bit off physically along with even more inconsistent minutes
-He's hitting that 3 at a good clip. Low volume, but that's fine. Let him just take a few this year to help him build on it going forward. Could also be helping his general confidence in feeling like he belongs in the "new NBA".

---

On the other point, I think it's different for Poeltl. He's more offensively limited and knows that's not going to be his main area to contribute. JV has always been talented, and probably also felt like he had to "dominate" to stay on the court (which Casey has basically said himself), so there could be some psychological nonsense at play there. JV's character has never really seemed selfish.

[The Great One]

He is slowly turning into an Al Horford type of player. Awesome to see. EASILY the Raps second best player this year.

[KeonClark]

#AllStarSnub