The dunk:
https://youtu.be/q6wWCj0lTeI?t=1m3sThe clip starts with Yabu tipping a rebound to Jaylen who is right in front of the rim. He turns and heads up the floor, confident and determined but not at a breakneck pace. He even gives a bit of a hop as he starts out as if to corral himself a little. This is growth. Last season, too often Jaylen would get the ball in transition and just go as hard as he could at the rim, often winding up in trouble. This season he's more restrained, understanding that there will be a time for him to turn on the jets, but it's not right away.
What prompted me to want to watch this clip again was I noticed just how straight of a line Jaylen makes from rim to rim. It's perfect. There's no wasted motion, no detours, there isn't even a side-to-side fake. He keeps a straight line, headed downhill the whole time.
Right before he reaches the Celtic logo, he turns his head to Bledsoe, who is a little behind the play. But Jaylen knows Bledsoe is going to be the one to check him and has to know where he is before he does anything.
Sure enough, as he reaches the 3 point line, Bledsoe hops into the play but Jaylen is ready for him. He still doesn't turn on the jets, instead he hesitates, throwing Bledsoe off balance a little, which is what enables him to create space. Ironically, it's slowing down here that creates more space than trying to speed up would have.
That hesitation just before the 3-point line has another important effect: With Bledsoe behind the play, Giannis is in Jaylen's path to the basket. Jaylen's hesitation forces Giannis back to his own man (Horford). Had Giannis stayed home on Jaylen, Horford would've been wide open for a 3. So Giannis scurries back over the his man, giving Jaylen a runway.
Bledsoe takes a poke at the ball but it's too late. This is the moment Jaylen has been waiting for. He's a tiger who's been creeping up on an antelope and now he's close enough to pounce for the kill. He turns on those jets and leaves Bledsoe in the dust. (yes, Jaylen is both a rocket ship and a tiger)
His coiled athleticism let loose, poor Tyler Zeller doesn't stand a chance. By the time Zeller realizes what's going on, Jaylen is already in orbit.
It's cool that he's throwing it down lefty but it's also cool that Jaylen recognized that going lefty was going to be his path and that, because he took a straight line the whole way down the court, he had the option of going either way. He goes left because that's where his path materialized.
Beat to beat, Jaylen had this thing measured out beautifully. He makes it look easy because he's not just throwing his body around, he's thinking the game, taking his time, and picking his spots. I think it's great.
Topic: A Close Reading of Jaylen Brown's Lefty Dunk (Read 893 times)