Joel Przybilla: one of the best two point shooters in the league

Shooting about 83% from down low this season.

BNM

 

Maybe Joel needs to teach Greg how to finish.

 

We have a great one two punch at center. Greg is a monster and can only get better and Joel plays better having Oden there. Best I've seen Joel play since he's been here.

 

His soft touch around the hoop is money this year. Yet another improvement to a blazers game. Pretty special season this is shaping up to be.

 

Yeah I am really happy with Joel too. Who woulda thought!

 

This is the best Joel has EVER played. For some damn reason, he believes in his offensive game right now. Is it because he can be more aggressive knowing Greg is on the bench if Joel draws fouls (from the offensive end???).

Hm. Not sure. All I know is Joel is playing awesome.

 

He's 10 for his last 10, 18 for his last 20 and has only missed one shot at home all season (12-13).

He hasn't missed more than one shot in a game since going 2-4 opening night against the Lakers.

He's made more FG in 13 games this season than he did in 43 games two seasons ago.

BNM

 

Sick.

 

Sick.

 

These are great great numbers. Props for the Joel tribute thread!

 

Joel is playing super well. He has never been this good.

I was going to start a thread about it, but saw yours.

My thread title was going to be:

Oden Making Joel Better?

Is the arrival of Oden spurring Joel to play his best ever ball?

Have the practices with Oden motivated Joel?

Has the demotion to 2nd fiddle caused changes in Joel's mindset, attitude or approach to the game?

Or, does it have little to do with Oden? Does this offensive agressiveness and absurd effieciency of Joel have much more to do with the outstandig 3pt shooting creating space in the paint, coupled with willing passers, who are getting him the ball in positions where he can finish?

What in god's green earth is going on here?

 

I'm pretty sure there's never been an NBA player with a FG% 30 points higher than his FT%...

 

Not that I can think of off the top of my head. Wilt's FG% was> 20 pointts higher than the FT% on several occasions.

Wilt Chamberlain:

1966-67:
FG% = 0.683
FT% = 0.441
Diff = 0.242

1967-68:
FG% = 0.595
FT% = 0.380
Diff = 0.215

1971-72:
FG% = 0.649
FT% = 0.442
Diff = 0.207

1972-73:
FG% = 0.727
FT% = 0.510
Diff = 0.217

I expect Joel's FG% will come down - he's currently at an insane pace (Wilt's 0.727 is till the record, followed by his 0.683). And, I expect his FT% will come up - he shot a very respectable 0.680 last season. So, by the end of the season, the gap should narrow substantially.

BNM

 

The offense was built for Greg. Greg wasn't quite ready for it though. The offense still exists. Joel's stepped into it. For the first time he has an offense and a collective mindset from the team that helps get the most from their center.

 

It's the mindset of this team. I've thought for a while that, while never an option, if you threw it into Pryz and had him do basic post moves, he wouldn't be a terrible offensive center at all. On the contrary I think he'd be a decent option once he got comfortable. Well, we're not running low post plays for him, but we are finding him in open positions and he's flourishing. Way to go Thrilla.

 

During Joel's first season with the Blazers he had some very decent offensive games. Damon, and Nick Van Excel, for all their faults, knew how to hit the open big man. They new where to look for Joel and did a good job getting him the ball in a position where he could be successful. After they left, the team relied more and more on just dumping the ball in to Zach and letting him create his own shots. This clogged up the low post, stagnated the offense and pretty much reduced Joel to a rebounding/defensive specialist who only scored off an occasional put-back. It's taken a while to get back to a more open, free flowing half-court offense. Having multiple scoring threats on offense spreads the floor and creates easy scoring opportunities for everyone - especially Joel.

Joel is the one who usually gets left unguarded when a teammate gets doubled and when one of Joel's teammates (Roy, Rudy, etc.) penetrate and draw the help defender. Having multiple 3-point threats also spreads the floor and creates openings in the defense. Joel is doing a good job going to those open areas and his teammates are doing a good job finding him. I always tell the kids on the youth basketball team I coach that spacing, screening and passing are the three keys to an effective half-court offense (John Wooden's words, not mine). Right now the Blazers floor spacing and passing are outstanding. As a result, they are getting a ton of easy baskets. I also teach the big kids I coach that if their defender leaves them to immediately go to the box and get ready to catch the pass and put it up and in. I also teach my guards to look for their open teammate on the block when they penetrate and draw the help defender. It's pretty basic stuff, but it results in a lot of high percentage shot opportunities.

BNM

 

I agree that the players on this team, esp. Blake, Sergio, Roy and Rudy are doing what you say - spreading the floor with excellent jump shooting and passing the ball to Joel in good position when they draw his defender. Basketball 101.

That is a part of it, and a very important part.

Yet, still, Joel is hitting shots and layups that he NEVER has consistently hit so well. He is making lefty layins, and hook shots, etc. at very high rates. In years past he would make a good percentage, but he would also get blocked a lot, get swarmed and stripped, throw up ugly airball shots, and blow a few point blank layups and dunks.

So far this season for Joel:
Turnover % - career low
Defensive Rebounding % - career high at 32%!!
and of course, the career high Field Goal % of 83%.

This is where I think the Oden factor comes in. His concentration and focus is sky high. I don't doubt there will be a reversion towards the mean, but this far along into the season, he is likely looking at career numbers for effeciency.

Either Oden is the X factor or Joel has been using the new shake mix - "Never Miss Your Layups Soy Acai Rainforest Sports Supplement Powder". Got to get me some of that.

 

He has had some monster games in a Blazer uniform. Games that he has not come close to touching this year.

 

Lets not get too high on the guy. Of that 83% down low all of them are either put backs, garbage points, or penetrate and dish points. Rarely has he created anything down low for himself.