The Numbers like the Raptors

From Louis’ piece:

“When Barnes has been shooting the ball from beyond the arc, the means by which he comes by those shots has changed, too. Last season, a third of his triples were pull-ups, while 14.6 percent of his triples came from the corners. This season, 29.7 percent of his triples have been pull-ups, while 29.7 percent of his triples have come from the corners. Translation: he’s taking easier triples, more within the flow of the offence and from shorter distances, too. 

His usage rate is down, assist rate is down, driving rate is down. And his efficiency is up. And so too is Toronto’s offence. The team currently sits as the seventh(!)-ranked offence in the league after limping to 25th last season. Of course Ingram deserves credit there. But Barnes’ changes have added a tremendous amount of value beyond his box-score output, which looks similar to last season at first glance. But he isn’t playing the same on that end at all. 

In many ways, Barnes has returned to a portion of the role that brought him into the league. He was asked to create his own chances as a rookie by attacking closeouts, grabbing offensive rebounds, and making himself available with cuts and timely motion. All of that is back with a vengeance (although he does seem to be prioritizing transition defence over too much crashing of the offensive glass to this point of the season). But it’s in conjunction with more initiation than he had back then, more shooting, more scripted involvement in sets. 

As a result, Barnes is combining the best elements of the two stages of his career thus far. 

This is of course due to Barnes’ own talents and abilities. But it’s also a monstrous credit to Darko Rajakovic.”

From Samson’s notes:

Scottie: 19.9ppg/4.9asts/7rbs 49/45/76 splits 58% TS – 14th in the NBA in BPM, 14th in defensive win shares – 81 %ile transition scorer – 1.6stls 1.6blks. RJ: 20.7ppg/4.7rbs/3.8asts 55/40/75 splits 65% TS, 73% at rim, 42% C&S 3, 79 %ile ppc as a driver in the nba.

Quickley 2 %ile nba wide in rim frequency on drives – never gets there – 6 3PA per game, 34% – #1 on team in touches. Gradey still winning huge minutes, but shooting 39% from field, 4/13 at the rim, 47% C&S triples, 75% on wide open looks, 100% on open looks, 25% on contested looks.