Indiana Pacers film room series: Darren Collison

Darren Collison is exceeding expectations this year and has helped the Indiana Pacers get off to a 2-2 start. Let’s break down how he has been able to succeed.

Darren Collison was signed to a two-year contract this summer to fill a void at point guard. The Indiana Pacers needed someone to take the minutes that Jeff Teague occupied last season, and they decided Collison, a former Pacer, would be perfect for the role.

A proven veteran, Collison came into the season as a solid bridge point guard. He isn’t a world-beater with the ball in his hands, but he is good enough on offense to help other players develop, and he’s a good enough shooter to create space for others. His stats never jumped off the page. But this season, they are.

Diving into the film after only a few games can be challenging. It is tough to say what is normal and what is flukey. But Collison has been a welcome surprise on the offensive end of the floor, and his contributions are worth taking a closer look at.

Getting to the rim

A career 49.5 percent shooter inside the arc, Collison is 18-of-26 so far this year. Those 6.5 attempts per game would be the lowest rate of his career from 2-point distance, so this is a small sample. It appears that, so far, he is taking less and making more, statistically a great combination of efficiency.

Good offense starts with good defense. Collison is supporting his highest ever steals per game so far, and it is leading directly to some of these easy buckets propping up his 2-point field goal percentage:

The fast break is just the tip of the iceberg. Here, he shows something he is not known for: his speed. When the screen comes, he splits the pick-and-roll and goes right at Karl-Anthony Towns before finishing over him at the rim with a deft touch:

Alone, these two drives to the rim mean little. But combined with this shooting ability from long range and his newfound passing prowess, and Collison has put together a modern point guard package.

Passing

The aptness passing the ball this season is very clear when taking a closer look at his production. On the surface, he’s averaging double his career 4.9 assists per game to this point, as he is currently at 9.8 per game.

Under a microscope, every player on the team outside of T.J. Leaf is shooting better from 3-point range when the sharing the floor with Collison (so far). This is due to a combination of both his floor-spacing and his passing, as he helps create space for others and dimes them up. Lance Stephenson is the beneficiary here:

He also has the pick-and-pop game working, which was talked about in Dunking with Wolves’ preview of the Pacers-Timberwolves game. He draws both defenders driving to the basket, and Turner gets an easy open look:

Sometimes, a little luck helps your passing stats, too:

Out of nowhere, Collison has gone from being a five assists-per game-guy to a nearly double-double averaging point guard. Whether or not he can keep this level of passing up remains to be seen, but at the present moment, he is clicking with the rest of the offense.

Shooting from deep

The grandaddy of them all. A career 38 percent shooter from long range, Collison is chucking more per game than ever before. Here, he slides to the corner when the drive starts to create some distance from his defender. Once Al Jefferson jabs, Collison’s man helps and Collison himself is left wide open for a corner 3:

His basketball I.Q. is showing big time too. Here, Spencer Dinwiddie forgets the scouting report and goes under on a screen for D.C. He immediately regrets it, as Collison loads up and nails a bomb from the wing:

And it isn’t just from deep. His basketball IQ shines through at the right elbow as well. Teams are sagging off in the pick-and-roll against Indiana, but Collison has the smarts to still make them pay for it.

When the big man prevents Collison from getting to the rim and the defense switches to prevent the pocket pass to the roll man, Collison has been draining a pull-up from the elbow to make them pay. Seriously, look how similar these two clips are:

and again:

I promise those aren’t the same clip. Collison has become so consistent at that shot that he is much harder to stop than in years past.

Putting it all together

Getting to the rim has never been a strength of Collison’s, but so far this season he has done well with it. Now given free rein to finally be unleashed more as a passer, Darren is setting up his teammates better than he ever has. While improving in both of those areas, he is still knocking down his threes.

Putting it all together, it becomes clear how Collison has been able to lead the team in offensive box plus-minus, and by nearly three points over anyone else. He has had a massive impact on the offense, and it has lead to the team scoring 130 or more points twice in four games.

Could this be a product of a new system? Sure. Are these numbers inflated due to a small sample size? Almost certainly. But through four games, Collison has been unquestionably awesome in the starting point guard role for the Indiana Pacers. The longer he can keep it up, the longer the Pacers can keep having a high-scoring offense. In the meantime, expect more clutch plays like this:

All aboard the Collison express. The train is departing soon and arriving in Oklahoma City Wednesday night for a battle against Russell Westbrook.

Next: 2017-18 Week 2 NBA Power Rankings

Let’s hope Collison can keep up the strong play and get the Indiana Pacers another win.