DeRozan is the best average in the basketball
Demar is one of the main adherents of the “obsolete” basketball, preferring a lot of attacks from an average distance. This is his zone of terror. He works great on his feet, he is the god of false impressions and due to this he always finds an opportunity to shoot. In addition, Demar does not need much space to release the ball, the throw itself is perfected to the limit, and formally difficult attempts fly in just like that. Together, this creates a powerful and unstoppable option ahead. Demar will find and hit his shot, it’s inevitable.
Perhaps it helps Demar to some extent that the league isn’t too ready to counter mids right now, this item is the last item on the list of priorities when defending pick-and-rolls (and they make up more than 40% of Demar’s attacks). It is clear that opponents know about Derozan’s love for the middle, but in the regular basketball season there is rarely an opportunity to properly adjust your defense for one basketball match with a specific opponent. And the standard defensive models, aimed at anything but medium defense, do not work against Derozan.
There is a complete feeling that Derozan does not smear
And here, of course, there is a certain illusion. While mediums aren’t particularly effective in terms of marks per shot, they still hit the target more often than 3s. Three-point shooting in the NBA is now just under 35%, 3 marks with 35% shooting is 1.05 marks per shot. Implementation of averages, depending on the specific distance, is 40-44%. Two points with 44% accuracy is 0.88 points per shot. The difference in efficiency is huge. Even if we only look at dribbling 3-pointers, the league average is around 32%, which is 0.96 points per shot.
Treshka is unconditionally more effective. But they fly into the target less often, and players who take more than the average look more accurate by eye. So DeRozan, who is “having a terrific season and not missing at all”, puts out an eFG% of 53.3, while Curry, who “forgot how to shoot”, puts out an eFG% of 54.4%. In fact, this is 1.066 marks per throw versus 1.08 marks per throw. If we just take a percentage from the basketball game, which does not take into account the fact that three-threes bring one and a half times more points, then it turns out that Curry hits less than 43% of his shots, and DeRozan – more than 51%, which makes a big difference “by eye” and leaves a fundamentally different impression of the game.
What can the Bulls claim with such a player on the roster?
Okay, DeRozan is unstoppable. He hits again and again, and his Bulls are at the top of the table. What about ambition? Is it already possible to buy champion cigars? Right now, the bookmakers have “bulls” 9th in the list of contenders for the title.
It’s between Boston and Memphis. The Bulls are hard to believe in a playoff context. Perhaps the point is me, and in the context of the regular basketball season, it was difficult for me to believe in them. And yet the reasons for such distrust are quite significant.