Meet Kyle Korver: Your Eastern Conference All-Star
By Aaron Mah
When asked who the best two-way swingmen are thus far this season, the names that usually pop up are Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Wesley Matthews, and even rookie, Andrew Wiggins.
It’ll take a while, if ever, before someone mentions Kyle Korver.
And logically, it makes sense; Korver simply doesn’t fit the “profile.” The current crop of elite two-way swingmen are all younger, more athletic, and produce at a higher volume offensively.
Meanwhile, at age 33, an age when most perimeter players realize a significant decline in athleticism and defensive play, Korver is at the peak of his powers.
Truth be told, though, Korver has been an above-average defender throughout the incumbent decade, particularly after his stint with the Chicago Bulls (from 2010-12), where he played under head coach Tom Thibodeau, a notorious defensive drill sergeant.
At present, his current team, the Atlanta Hawks, is running rampant on the entire league, going 24-2 in their last 26 contests.
The Hawks dissect teams by playing a modern brand of basketball, with plenty of ball and man movement on the offensive end and a cohesive, scrambling style of rotating defense on the other.
Accordingly, the Hawks are currently top-10 both offensively and defensively, housing the league’s sixth best attack and fourth most effective defense.
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While Atlanta is deep and talented, with a roster full of versatile, multi-dimensional players, Korver is perhaps the most vital part and the one piece that makes the Hawks’ aesthetically-pleasing style viable.
Korver has always been an infamous dead-eye shooter, especially from beyond the arc — leading the league in three-point field goal percentage twice, and a career 43.1 percent three-point artist.
This season, Korver has taken his shooting prowess, and scoring efficiency, to uncharted heights. Specifically, he is poised to become the inaugural member of the 50-50-90 club for players averaging 10 or more points per game — as he’s currently shooting 50.6 percent from the field, a league-leading 52.5 percent from downtown, and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe.
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When purely assessing his raw statistical output, Korver’s line of 13.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game certainly does not scream All-Star lock. In fact, when compared to the contemporaries at his position, like Butler and Thompson, his numbers are extremely underwhelming.
In addition, his PER of 15.8 and win shares per 48 minutes of 0.173 are only slightly above the league average.
So, what makes Korver the integral piece to the Hawks’ attack and a deserving All-Star?
Well, when digging deeper, Korver’s unique presence, on both ends of floor, becomes abundantly clear — especially, when analyzing his on/off stats.
Most notably, he’s second only to Pero Antic, Atlanta’s backup center who plays significantly fewer minutes, on the Hawks in net rating, as the team scores more points — at 111.0 versus 106.2 — and concede fewer points — at 99.8 versus 99.9 — per 100 possessions when Korver is on the floor, per NBA.com.
As well, Korver is second among shooting guards in Real Plus-Minus (RPM), only trailing James Harden, and ahead of the likes of Butler and Thompson.
More interestingly, Korver is rated as a better defender, in the context of his role, than Butler, as he sports a higher Defensive RPM; and additionally, is ranked only a tenth of a percentage lower than Thompson, who has been universally crowned as the best two-way off guard in the NBA this season.
Furthermore, Korver is the most efficient scoring wing in the league, by a large margin. In fact, he leads all players in the NBA, who play more than 20 minutes per game, in true shooting percentage, and second only to Los Angeles Clippers’ center, DeAndre Jordan, in effective field goal percentage..
Skimming down the league leaders in scoring efficiency, particularly in the category of effective field goal percentage, you’ll realize that Korver is the lone perimeter-oriented player on the list — as the rest of the league leaders are comprised of dunk- and lob-happy athletic bigs.
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While it is hard to fathom Korver as a perimeter star-level player, as he defies the conventional definition of an “All-Star” — a ball-in-hand creator/scorer on the offensive end and a mano-a-mano lock-down defender on the defensive end — Korver manages to make a similar level of impact, on the aggregate, in his own atypical way.
The majority of Korver’s efficiency and efficacy on the offensive end is a product of his otherworldly shooting. In fact, Korver converts 53.0 percent of his three-point attempts and scores at an astonishing 75.1 effective field goal percentage in catch-and-shoot situations; far and away the league leader in both categories.
Kyle Korver’s 2014-15 Shooting Chart
However, unlike other designated floor spacers and catch-and-shoot specialists, like the J.J. Reddick’s and the Danny Green‘s, Korver leverages his supernatural shooting gifts to effectively impact all facets of the Hawks’ offensive scheme.
Opposing defenses usually devise their gameplan around preventing Korver from realizing catch-and-shoot opportunities. As such, the minute Korver starts moving without the ball, he often receives the attention of six-plus sets of defensive eyes.
Consequently, Korver does not only play the role of floor spacer and spot-up specialist, he is also Atlanta’s secondary perimeter playmaker.
Korver’s version of playmaking is unconventional, however.
Most modern wing creators usually generate scoring opportunities, for themselves and their teammates, through ball-in-hand situations — such as high-post isolations, pick-and-roll sets, and top-of-the-key penetration.
Korver, though, curates the majority of his playmaking opportunities through basic off-ball movement.
Accordingly, Hawks’ head coach, Mike Budenholzer, have constructed an entire offense based around utilizing Korver as the decoy, in many instances.
Particularly, Atlanta often uses Korver as the strong-side decoy — for example, running him off of a simple pin-down and cause multiple defenders to react and jump out at the threat of the potential catch-and-shoot. Meanwhile, on the weak-side, the Hawks will run a dribble hand-off with their point guard, usually Jeff Teague, turning the corner, as a backdoor screen is set for the initial screener.
As such, with all eyes on Korver, Teague can hit his sharpshooter to initiate a simple drop-off pass to the rolling big on the strong-side, or connect, on the weakside, with his cutting teammate coming off of the back pick.
As well, the Hawks have the luxury of attracting plenty of attention simply by running Korver across the floor, from strong-side to weak-side. From there, Korver usually sets a simple flare screen for one of their handful of stretch bigs, usually Al Horford or Paul Millsap. Consequently, two defenders must hug onto Korver in the event of a quick pop-out.
Thus, as Teague comes off a high pick-and-roll, he has a wide open Horford or Millsap flaring out, or, if the defense rotates accordingly, a 3-on-2 situation while turning the corner.
When their first and second actions goes awry, Korver, after acting as a screener, will subsequently come off multiple screens himself, against a discombobulated defense.
For that reason, even with all the extra attention from the opposition, Korver still manages attempt a respectable amount of shots while converting them at a jaw-dropping rate.
His smarts and ability to recognize collapsing defenses allows him, and his teammates, to pick apart opposing D’s. As well, Korver is extremely prudent with his shot selection, as he rarely shoots over multiple defenders.
Korver, additionally, is the modern day “master of the half-inch” (the original being “the Legend”, Larry Bird). More specifically, Korver has the innate knack of finding the most glimmer of daylights, in transition or in half-court sets, in an effort to unleash his stroke.
Most times, Korver will slide into an open crack against a collapsing defense, created by a Teague high pick-and-roll, Millsap penetration, Horford post-up, or a drive-and-kick off of the break. Thus, at least once a game, Korver hits a momentum-changing / back-breaking three-pointer.
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Defensively, Korver will never be mistaken for a lock-down individual defender. However, he is not the slow-footed, defensive sieve many perceive him to be.
While he may not have exceptional lateral quickness, he compensates his lack of natural talent with smarts, hustle, and heart.
In fact, he is one of the best, if not the best, perimeter help defender in the league.
Where most elite rebounders are said to have “a nose for the ball,” Korver, as a help defender, has a nose for the action.
On the defensive end, Korver is perpetually disrupting the initial action of opposing offenses — bumping a diving big at the nail, stunting at a the pop man foul-line extended, helping the helper, digging at a post-up, loading up on an isolation set, etc.
Additionally, he always manages to help and recover in time to, either, run the opponent off the three-point line or actively contest on an open three.
As an individual defender, Korver is no slouch as well. Most notably, he is terrific angle defender, especially when fighting through screens. Moreover, he moves his feet just well enough to consistently contest on his opponent’s pull-up attempts.
A game tape of Korver defending, on-and-off the ball, should be shown to everyone who does not believe that defense is about discipline, smarts, and effort. And it is his ability to defend at an above-average level, which allows him to make a material impact on winning, on both ends of the floor.
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While Korver is only the Hawks’ designated shooter, by role, and many wouldn’t consider him as Atlanta’s best player, as Teague, Millsap, or Horford seem to possess a monopoly on that title — Korver is undoubtedly the team’s most valuable player.
To be more specific, the Hawks can still function viably without, either, Teague, Millsap, or Horford, as their backups, namely Dennis Schröder, Mike Scott, and Pero Antic, can provide the same type of pick-and-roll negotiation and drive-and-kick play, offensive and defensive versatility, as well as a similar brand of interior defense and stretch qualities, respectively.
However, without the threat of Korver, many of their uncontested opportunities would be eliminated. And, as a result, the Hawks would revert into just another spread pick-and-roll team in a spread pick-and-roll league.
Korver, in essence, gives Atlanta their identity and spearheads their offensive movement. In addition, his defensive strengths allow the Hawks to scramble around, with precise rotations, to effectively stifle opposing offenses.
To conclude, I say all of that, to say this: Kyle Korver #NBABallot.