San Antonio Spurs: The Blessing of LaMarcus Aldridge

As The Roll-Man

Back in the 1980’s and 90’s, of course the pick-and-roll was very effective.  It was just starting to become a preeminent part of NBA’s offenses, and more teams were adopting screen-roll plays as the years passed.

Now, in today’s game, there is no more important angle of an offense than the pick-and-roll.

There are many variations of it that teams like to mess with — the pick-and-pop, the use of “slipping the screen,” and even double screens that extend the play longer — but it all goes back to one thing.

How you execute and finish the pick-and-roll is what matters.  Because, like everything in life, processes are only beautiful if you have a finished product.  It’s about how well you finish the pick-and-roll, and the creativity of your roll-man to make a play.

Last season, there were only 15 players credited with 200+ roll-man possessions.  Now, it’s important to understand:  You don’t have to attempt a shot in order to receive the roll-man “possession.”  You can set the initial screen, roll off, and create a play for your teammates.  Big men that roll to the basket are typically going to finish the play themselves, but the great players are those that survey the floor after getting the ball on the roll.

Out of those 15 players, though, Aldridge didn’t perform so well.

(For reference, those 15 players were Anthony Davis, Brook Lopez, Tim Duncan, Nikola Vucevic, Marc Gasol, Marcin Gortat, Al Horford, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, David West, Luis Scola, and LaMarcus Aldridge).

He was 14th in points-per-possession in roll-man scenarios, scoring just 217 points on 263 possessions.  You could fire back with “Well, perhaps Aldridge didn’t take as many shots for himself on those rolls … and maybe he dished to teammates.”  It would be a logical question.

But, that wasn’t the case.

89% of Aldridge’s roll-man possessions ended with him attempting a field goal, which was higher than most of the group above.  Davis attempted a field goal in 83% of his roll-man possessions, with Tim Duncan at 81.8%, Marc Gasol at 81.3%, Marcin Gortat at 79.6%, and Blake Griffin at 89.4%.

What hurt Aldridge last season was his field goal percentage in those pick-and-roll plays.

He only shot 40.6% as the roll-man, which was also 14th out of the 15-player group.  It was only better than Luis Scola’s 35.1% efficiency.  To understand how much Aldridge struggled, consider the fact that Anthony Davis was 57.2% efficient as the roll-man last season, and Tim Duncan (his new teammate) shot 50.3% as the roll-man.

A lot of it could be correlated with Portland not having many “true passers.”  For as great as Damian Lillard is as a scorer, he’s not nearly in the same league as most other point guards when it comes to dishing the ball and making plays.

But, the blame shouldn’t rest on Portland’s guards.  The fact is, Aldridge knows he’s much better in post-ups and spot-ups, and he’s just not the type of player to make an incredible drive off a roll.

There are times, though, where he shines after flaring out from the screen.  To nobody’s surprise, it’s usually with the jumpshot:

Above, this is an instance where Aldridge doesn’t necessarily set the screen. Instead, he fakes it, then flares off the left corner before Blake Griffin can have time to recover.  It forces DeAndre Jordan to leave his man (Robin Lopez), but not even Jordan’s athletic body and long arms can stop Aldridge’s jumper.

Below, Portland runs one of their favorite play-types.  Lillard uses a cut to the baseline, just for the sole purpose of getting Chris Paul in motion.  He then wraps around the left wing, with Wesley Matthews faking a high-low movement towards the rim.  Instead of throwing a lob into Matthews, Aldridge hands it off to Lillard to initiate some pick-and-roll action.  DeAndre Jordan makes the mistake of hedging too hard, and it forces everyone to lose Aldridge on the roll.

Aldridge slips to the left, takes one dribble, and gets comfortable:

You can even find Aldridge playing the traditional role of a pick-and-roll big man, cutting to the rim and delivering the goods:

Although he wasn’t very reliable and impressive in screen-rolls compared to other big men, Aldridge may have something to point to as a positive.  He did finish with the 7th-most pick-and-roll possessions last year.  Regardless if he was efficient or not — it’s at least something that he gets a large dosage of.

With the Spurs, that could be beneficial … because they need more of those possessions.

San Antonio was just 22nd in pick-and-roll frequency last year, while also finishing 6th in points-per-possession.  You know what that says?  They were potent in these scenarios as a team, but they just didn’t get a high enough volume.  Perhaps if you increase the volume, their production could increase as well.

The eight teams below San Antonio in roll-man frequency last year had an average record of 39-43.  So, it’s not really an area where the Spurs should be toward the bottom of the league.  They were a 55-win organization last year, and should’ve been getting a healthier dosage of these plays.

With Aldridge and David West (another great pick-and-roll player) joining the club, this could take San Antonio to heights we haven’t seen.  Does that scare you, too?

Next: Rebounding Advantage