Player Previews with a twist: Why Cristiano Felicio is HBO’s “Ballers”

Player previews are great, but they can get a little tired after a while. This season at BC, we’ve decided to keep things fresh. You might not see a preview for every player, and the previews you do see might have a decidedly non-basketball tint. Let’s get weird, starting with Michael Walton and Cristiano Felicio.

I hope you watch HBO’s hit comedy “Ballers”. It’s a show about professional athletes and the world they live in. The main character is none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and he is a former NFL superstar who is now a financial manager constantly re-inventing himself and taking on new challenges.

Cristiano Felicio is a center in his third year in the league with the Chicago Bulls. He showed promise in his second year, but did not get a ton of play due to the presence of veteran center Robin Lopez. Felicio has averaged 11.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per 36 minutes in his brief NBA career. There has been many flashes of what Felicio can become, but extended playing time is the only way for his progress to continue. His progress should (keyword: should) be accelerated in the 2017–18 season. It will be full of many new challenges for Felicio considering how short Chicago is in the frontcourt this year.

Cristiano Felicio is “Ballers”.

The description may sound somewhat deep,but the show is mostly a copy of HBO’s Entourage with a heavy focus on the NFL. Take a look at the clip below for a great example of what the average episode of Ballers feels like.

WHO?! Steph Curry — MVP-STEPH CURRY?! — is calling? Nevermind that Spencer Strasmore (Dwyane Johnson’s character) is a powerful man in sports, and a player like Curry calling him shouldn’t be THAT exciting. Just take into account everything Curry and his wife Ayesha let us know three things in this great clip:

1. Steph has a nickname for Spencer: “Spencie-poo”. It’s so great to see Curry be informal with Mr. Strasmore!
2. Ayesha Curry mentions her restaurant “International Smoke” and Steph mentions his digital media company, y’know, “Slyce”.
3. And finally, Steph let’s us know he and Ayesha still have fun despite being parents, as he tells her he is trying to get her into the “Mile High Club”.

The above clip is the perfect example of why Ballers is successful. It’s fun, it’s full of superstar cameos, and it never takes itself too seriously. But my main issue with Ballers is that the execution of what the actors are trying to get across in certain situations can be so-so. Even when the show misses it’s mark in the occasional unneeded scene, the overall episode leaves me entertained.

Sound familiar?

This Cristiano Felicio rookie card could be worth much more by the end of his career.

Felicio is a fan favorite for his baby-face and the fact that he has played well in the league despite being an undrafted free agent. Just like the show Ballers, Felicio knows his role and plays it well. He has holes in his game — just like the occasional hole in a Ballers plot — but he never tries to do too much.

In year two he saw his minutes rise from 10.4 to 15.8 per game. And is due for another increase in playing time this year. On offense Felicio uses his wide frame to set solid screens. In 2017 he finished in 69th percentile in pick-and-roll efficiency, scoring 1.12 points per possession using the play type. He is the most effective pick-and-roll big on Chicago. He is extremely nimble for his size, and puts the ball up quickly when he receives passess. His soft hands allow him to catch passes on the move with ease. When he receives a decent amount of looks — let’s say five to seven shots — you can see how effective his offensive prowess is, especially in offense where floor-spacing is essential (though often not provided).

His style can be described in one word as: active.

27.6 percent of his shots were out of the pick-and-roll last year, and that number is ideal for Felicio’s current skillset. As to what he can improve on? The list is long but they are some positives in the negatives so to speak.

His average wingspan and height (six-foot nine-inches) make him a liability against certain elite centers. But he moves his feet well. He is nimble on pick-and-roll defense. As long as he can stay in proper position on defense, his lack of blocks won’t matter (career 0.3 blocks per game). Defense is the only thing seemingly keeping him off the court. So common sense says he should see more minutes in a year where the Bulls won’t be seeing many victories.

The other main issue right now is passing. Felicio is by no means going to Nikola Jokic overnight, but he definitely needs to take baby steps towards becoming a better playmaker. When he rolls down the lane this season, teams will pay attention to him now. He is no longer (completely) unknown. The Bulls’ shooters won’t scare teams on the perimeter, so he will have plenty of open targets to hit when teams try to provide help defense and bump him as he streaks to the basket. Being able to identify open shooters will boost the effectiveness on the Bulls offense when he is on the floor. And that is where Felicio is actually a lot like actor Rob Corddry, who plays Strasmore’s right-hand man at the sports agency: “Joe”.

Corddry is a comedy veteran, and his presence is awesome on the show. He — like Cris — needs to pass more. What I mean in Corddry’s case is: his humor is part of what keeps the show going, but the show (I’m looking at you writers) misses opportunities to get his character interacting with others to boost the overall amount of funny things in the show.

Though labeled as a comedy-drama, the drama is more just to keep the plot rolling along so more funny/epic/uber-cool things can take place. Corddry’s phone argument with Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Terrell Suggs on why he shouldn’t sell his Apple stock culminates in Suggs bellowing “MY DREAMS HAVE MEANING B*#CH!” It is simple, but damn did it make me laugh. It is just one of many moments that show how the Ballers writing team should have more moments where Corddry is passing the comedy baton to someone else in the scene. Even though Corddry is one of the best in my eyes, he has the potential to make the other actors in the show better in the comedy department, the same way Felicio has the potential to make better shooters out of the Bulls ragtag bunch if he gets a better balance between shooting and/or passing out of the pick-and-roll. He (and Corddry and Ballers as a whole) can get much better. It is awesome to hear that Felicio can get better on offense when you consider that his offensive rating of 126 points per 100 possessions was first amongst 2017 Bulls players with at least 1000 minutes of playing time.

Just like Ballers, Felicio was renewed for a fourth season (but Felicio will be getting a fifth and sixth season as well) and there is potential for both to get better.

Felicio is fun, and you know what you’re going to get when he takes the floor. Ballers is fun, and you know exactly what you’re going to get when you fire up an episode.

Baller’s Spencer Strasmore once said:

“…my first bit of financial advice. Never buy a depreciating asset…”

And at a reported $32 million over fours years, the Bulls definitely heeded the advice of Mr. Strasmore. Felicio is an asset that is locked up through what figures to be the prime of his career (and again for a very reasonable price tag). As the Bulls look to unleash the youth movement many around the league see the writing on the wall for a Robin Lopez trade just to free up minutes for the young Brazilian big man. Lopez is the only steadying veteran presence in the locker room, and I’m not sure if I am ready to see him go — strictly as a locker room presence — just yet.

But either way I have fans will have the same problem with Felicio in 2018 that they will have with Ballers. And that problem is: we simply need to see more.