Are ball-hogs bad?
It’s an age-old question that has frustrated many amateurs and pros.
Imagine you’re a kid again. You’re on a squad composed of other pre-teens your age within the city’s recreational basketball league. You have all your gear on: a headband, shooting sleeve and a new pair of your favorite player’s signature sneaker model. The game is about to start and you’re positioning yourself for tip-off. The buzzer screeches and your teammate catches the loose-ball, just to run down the floor with a tunnel vision that places a spotlight solely on that beautiful basket. His eyes are glued to the little square on the backboard and he chucks up a three in transition and bricks it. This is the infamous philosophy of “ball-hogging”, a label of either utmost blame or reverence; and it is a classification that many are not fond of being around, or being called.
While hoopers can mostly claim ignorance towards the empirical evidence that would support a designation like this at such an amateur level, the stats are clear as day at the NBA level. Sometimes the biggest ball-hogs are a team’s top scorer, sometimes they’re the scapegoat for shortcomings, and sometimes they’re just frustrating to watch. Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies was recently booed at his home stadium amid ball-hog allegations. His response reads like that of an aforementioned pre-teen who has been told by his parents that he’s doing great no matter what.
The question remains though, does a team-sport like basketball feature examples where ball-hogging can be a boon at the professional level? Here, we review some of the candidates and their contributions, or lack thereof.
Dillon Brooks
Taking a look at Dillon Brooks’ shot-chart leaves a looming inquiry: where is he good at shooting from? He’s extremely inefficient from everywhere just inside of the perimeter, with his best PPS (points per shot) landing at an abysmal 0.67, while his most frequent shooting areas, being medium mid-range shots and diagonal threes, all sit at below 1 PPS. His 31% success rate from beyond the arc has not stopped him though, as he ranks in the 85th percentile for 3PT shot-screation, but in the bottom 2nd percentile for actual makes. He profits a lot from transitional plays or coming off screens, so while many of his attempts come from an above-average amount of off-ball movement, he just is not capitalizing. More than this though, when he does create his own shots as a ball-handler trucking into the paint, he is often bull-headed, which leads to inefficiency. This is captured by his 23rd percentile rate of kicking out the rock during a drive, as well as his measly 55.7% conversion rate near the rim. Brooks’ saving grace is his defense though. He is an excellent perimeter defender who is able to navigate screens and sets well, which is aided by the fact that he often does not apply pressure beyond the arc. Surprisingly as well, and while he does not record many blocks, he has kept those who go at him in the paint at a field goal percentage that is -5.4% worse than their average. Brooks should be a proficient 3-and-D archetype, but he is currently lacking in the numbers department.
Cam Thomas
Cam Thomas has set the world on fire with his multiple +40-point games in the past couple weeks, taking on a larger role for the Brooklyn Nets in light of Kyrie Irving’s departure to the Dallas Mavericks. Now that Spencer Dinwiddie and Mikal Bridges have come to town though, it seems as though he may be reverting back to his resourcefulness as a spark-plug off the bench. Is he truly a lighting strike for the offense, or just an electrical fire? While he certainly does not have the volume at his disposal like Brooks does, his smaller sample size showcases his true talents. Thomas indulges in similar zones of the court as Brooks does, particularly from the perimeter, but at a considerably more efficient rate, but also like Brooks, struggles in some areas near the basket. Even though Thomas is right-handed, he seems to enjoy driving from the left for abrupt pull-ups or smooth floaters. Thomas is also similarly effective in the paint on defense, as Brooks is, but falls short of being an on-ball lockdown threat; and it doesn’t help that head coach Jacque Vaughn has him guard pretty much all positions (he is matched up with positions 1–4 over 15% of the time each). Still though, in the role that Thomas fulfills, he is under less scrutiny as Brooks is, and can often evade harsh blame for whatever shortcomings may be on display.
Michael Porter Jr.
Dillon Brooks may very well be evil-Michael Porter Jr. when you just glance at the brutal differences in efficiency between their shot charts. Porter Jr. is automatic in terms of his thought-process when he receives the ball anywhere on the floor. No need for a license because he does not drive (only 3 times per 75 possessions) and this means he almost never loses the ball (0% isolation turnover rate) because his isolation possessions consist of him being passed to, and then passing it to the rim. He’s average at defending and rebounding, and among the bottom of the league in basic and advanced playmaking stats, but he’s such a bucket that it’s a compromise most teams would be willing to take.
So, are ball-hogs generally detrimental to the teams that they’re on? Well, it depends on the needs and circumstances of the team at hand. In Brooks’ case, not really. Yes, he is surely underperforming as an individual, but his impact on Memphis’ ORtg (offensive rating) breaks even. It only looks bad when you compare it to last season, where the Grizzlies saw a 5-point increase in ORtg when Brooks was on the court. So, I agree that the criticism he is facing towards his shot-selection is valid in terms of evaluating his own playing style, but I think boos from his own fans are unwarranted when you consider the scarce overall negative effects that he has on an offensively solid team as the Grizzlies still are. In cases like Thomas and Porter Jr., they fit the role they are clearly told to occupy. As exciting as Thomas’ historic 3-game run was, it is obviously unsustainable and his inability to offensively contribute aside from personal scoring efforts should probably have Vaughn hesitant to hand him primary playmaking duties. Porter Jr. does not need to do much else besides score because of his partners being 2-time MVP, and passing extraordinaire, Nikola Jokic and a fringe-all-star in point-guard Jamal Murray.
CraftedNBA has a neat stat that evaluates the portability, or how seamlessly a player would fit on to other teams, which is certainly relevant when determining whether a score-first player is simply a product of his system, or truly an offensive anomaly. Porter Jr’s offensive prowess is highlighted by his 76th percentile rating in this regard, but Brooks sits at the 39th percentile, with Thomas even lower at the 21st percentile. All-in-all, ball-hogs can only rise to the potential that their teammates and coaches allow.
Stats are referenced from Basketball Index, Basketball Reference and CraftedNBA.
