Only six weeks into his NBA career, rookie O.J. Mayo has taken immediate control of the offense in Memphis, and the individual results are impressive. In just under 40 minutes a game, Mayo is averaging 21.3 points on 46% shooting from the field. He’s getting to the line a little under four times a night — but shooting almost 90% when he’s there. Mayo’s Hollinger assist number is under 10, lower than ideal for a team’s leading primary shooting guard [Eric Gordon's is 18.2], but he doesn’t appear to be the ball hawk that many skeptics assumed he’d be on a poor Memphis team.
I spent some time watching Mayo against Oklahoma City the other night — a game in which Mayo went off for 30 points on 22 FGAs in 42 minutes — to get a better idea of how Memphis is using Mayo in their offensive sets:
- The Pick & Roll: Marc Gasol is usually the screener for Mayo. It’s interesting to see just how symbiotic the two players are in the confines of Memphis’ offense. If you watch Gasol, you get the sense that among his top priorities in the offense is maintaining constant awareness of where Mayo is on the court. The instant the ball goes into Mayo, Gasol snaps into action, offering Mayo the screen that ignites Memphis in the halfourt. Against Oklahoma City, Mayo is the ballhandler on a S/R on 11 possessions. Oklahoma City chooses to double Mayo on three of those 11 occasions. All three instances result in a Memphis turnover. On the first, he throws the ball away; the second possession, he has the ball stripped in traffic; on the third, he forces a shot against the double-team and has it blocked. How does Mayo perform when the Thunder choose to show or switch? Memphis converts on six of eight such possessions. Mayo almost always goes right, usually opting to pull-up for the jumper, though if he’s given an open seam to the hole, he’ll drive all the way to the rim.
- Isolation: Mayo has a nasty crossover, and he loves to use it against bigger defenders to create a drive to the hoop. He embarrasses Kevin Durant with such a move early in the game against OKC that results in a driving flush. On two other occasions, the crossover gives Mayo the opening he wants to go the rack — only Mayo fails to finish the layups. If he can get his defender back on his heels and work himself sufficient space, Mayo will step back for a jumper. Against OKC, he’s less successful with this course of action. On his eight iso sets, Mayo converts points on three of them.
- Spotting Up: Mayo is fond of setting up on the weak side for a potential spot up opportunity. Russell Westbrook does a generally good job of keeping this opportunities to a minimum, but twice Mayo is able to elude Westbrook to break free on the perimeter. Both times, Mayo drains the 3PAs.
For a guy who’s 13th in the league in FGA/game, Mayo doesn’t settle for a lot of stupid shots — though it might be worthwhile to watch him against a stronger defensive team. The Clippers would be wise to double him off that Gasol S/R, but that will require Marcus Camby to do the kind of defensive work he prefers to leave to others. Doubling Mayo would also require Randolph to rotate off Darrell Arthur and onto the rolling Gasol, because Thornton will have his hands full with Rudy Gay. When you consider what the Clippers need to do defensively against a team like Memphis, Chris Kaman becomes a more valuable player. Of the Clippers’ three primary bigs, he’s the most proficient at defending the S/R.
6 Responses
The main important thing is that Clippers need communication, responsibility, and respect. They don’t have that so far this season. If they want to win tonight relies upon responsibility and communication more onto the defensive end containing Mayo, Gasol, and Gay. If they do not do a good job defensively tonight against them it is going to be a long night for the Clippers. They have to get some fastbreak points by getting into the passing lane, play more smarter and faster basketball by creating shots for open players. Baron and Ricky have been mainly held accountable for their losing streak upon their shot-selection hopefully that changes tonight against Memphis. Plus Randloph has done a good job since they grabbed them from the trade but he has to play better defensively and take better care of the basketball.
Posted on December 5th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Instead of this, the Clippers should try to contain Dunleavy’s mouth…dude needs to be quiet and focus on winning…who cares what D-Wade does??
http://hoopsoup.com/2008/12/05/mike-dunleavy-accuses-dwayne-wade-of-cheating/
Posted on December 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
FRI. Dec.5th,2008 will be the day Clippers begin to rise. Longest winning streak will start from this day in Memphis.
This team will unleash its fury against the team with tons of pride & prejudice. But Clippers will make them worry for their reputation.
You heard Houston fans screaming for D-E-F-E-N-C-E unusually early in the game. You are going to hear the same everywhere they go.
They are already better than Phoenix. They are getting on par with Houston & Dallas. That’s the first indication of good days in store for Clippers.
We are not just Clippers. We are leathal & loud. And we are coming!
Posted on December 5th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Oh clipper fans… so enthusiastic.
we’re a feisty bunch
Posted on December 5th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
with baron davis ‘guarding’ him, oj mayo should at least 50 pts tonight. if you observe carefully, baron davis is so lazy and plays NO defense at all.
Posted on December 5th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
This has become an absolute joke. I cannot believe what i am watching. This team is now 3-16 with every starter either a former all-star or potential all-star in the making. How could they possibly be 3-16. How can Dunleavy keep his job. Everything is a disaster. They do everything wrong in the 4th quarter every game. Horrible half-court offense tops it all. Dunleavy has no clue how to coach. Let him be the GM and hire a new coach please. He is absolutely awful. I don’t understand why they just don’t run. Dunleavy has completely mis-managed this team. Think about it. Baron Davis has run an up tempo offense with great results the last 5 or 6 years. Marcus Camby did it in Denver for the last 5 or 6 years and Randolph had great numbers doing it in New York even though it was a short time, and we all know Thornton and Eric Gordon would love it as well. You have to let Baron go. That is when he is at his best. The fans deserve something exciting. Dunleavy is a dictator and will completely screw this up because he won’t change his ways. I have no idea why Sterling likes him so much. He has never done anything. I really don’t want to bash him but this is mostly his fault and it needs to stop. Also you can either keep Kaman or trade him for Jason Richardson and then your starting 5 would be Baron-1,J Rich-2,Thornton-3,Randolph-4,Camby-5. How fun would it be to see that team get out and run and score 120 a night. If you add J Rich you would now have a deadly shooter in that high octane offense with Gordon,R.Davis,P.Davis,Taylor,Jordan,Collins and Skinner off the bench. God that would be awesome.
Posted on December 6th, 2008 at 2:02 am
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