Indiana Pacers: Cory Joseph’s versatile contributions
By Tony East
Indiana Pacers backup point guard Cory Joseph may be the best backup point guard in the NBA. Let’s take a look at his wide variety of contributions.
Among the many surprises for the Indiana Pacers so far this season, Cory Joseph‘s stellar play is not one of them. The new sixth man has always been one of the best reserve combo guards around the league, and with the Pacers, that has been no different.
Two seasons ago in Toronto, Joseph played more minutes at shooting guard than at point guard. Last season with the Raptors, the Texas product played more minutes at point guard than shooting guard and had a few minutes sprinkled in at small forward. He has spent his whole career being a versatile combo guard and playing next to many unique players.
That has carried over to Indiana, and it is allowing him to be extremely effective. First and most importantly, he has the second-best net rating per 100 possessions of any guard on the roster, per NBA.com.
Victor Oladipo has a net rating of +2.4, Lance Stephenson has a net rating of +0.7, and Darren Collison sits at +5.7. Joseph (+3.3) tops all of them with the exception of Collison. No matter who he is playing alongside in the backcourt, Joseph has been able to be effective.
He has the second-best defensive rating of that guard bunch as well. Joseph has always been known as a solid defender, and he has brought that distinction with him to the Pacers.
He shuts down his matchup far more frequently than just about anyone else on the team. Here, he hounds
with his quick hands and makes life hard for him, which leads to a miss:
He does a great job staying balanced and sliding his feet — instead of turning — when Ish takes off towards the rim. That allows him to stay in front and contest the shot — perfect fundamentals from the former Spur.
That balance grants him powers on offense too. He can dribble, rotate, pass and screen well thanks to his ability to stay on two feet, and the lack of errors he makes, as a result, is a nicety few teams have with their backup point guard.
This clip showcases his balance on both ends of the floor. He uses his balance to block Ish Smith once again (sorry, Pistons fans). He then grabs the rebound, pushes hard in transition without losing the ball, and finds Victor Oladipo for an easy layup on the break:
That is the complete package of Cory Joseph. The defense, the passing and the good ball handling — and it was all mistake free. He supports a turnover percentage of just 13 percent, better than all Indiana Pacers guards not named Darren Collison, which keeps the offense humming when he is in the game.
The biggest welcome surprise so far from Joseph has been his 3-point shooting. His career percentage from long range is only 33.4 percent, but Joseph is knocking down the deep ball at a rate of 46.8 percent so far this season — a career high by far. He’s also taking about one more attempt per game than he ever has before. Taking and making more 3s, could there be a better combo?
No, not really. Joseph is finding the open space off the ball, and when his teammates set him up, he drains the outside shot. Here, he sees his man slide over to help on a Lance Stephenson drive, so he drifts away from him to the open space on the wing. Lance gets him the ball, and he cans the wide open 3-pointer:
The Indiana Pacers offense has done a great job creating those looks for Joseph. Twenty-five percent of his shots have been wide open looks so far this season, per NBA.com. Last season in Toronto, that number was just 12.9 percent, and under eight percent of his 3s were wide open last season.
Now, 18.5 percent of his threes are wide open, nearly two and a half times more than last season. The Pacers believe in Joseph’s shooting, and they make a conscious effort to get him those looks. It is paying off big time.
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Who knows how sustainable his shooting numbers truly are. However, if Joseph can keep his turnovers down and keep playing stout defense with any lineup, he will continue to be effective regardless of if his shots are falling. Let’s all hope he keeps shooting so well, but with Thanksgiving coming up, let’s be thankful that Cory Joseph has been so versatile for the Indiana Pacers.