ראיון עם דאג מקדרמוט (באנגלית) ל-'אינסיידר'

Data Dialogue: 'Dougie McBuckets'

Sitting down with the Bulls rookie for an inside look behind his own statistics

 

A simple, fundamental thing about sports statistics that gets overlooked in today's avalanche of numbers — advanced or otherwise — is that they actually represent things that happen as the game is played. Numbers drive our dialogue, our graphics and our arguments. They do not, however, drive the chatter in the locker room. Players care about numbers, of course, because that's what gets them paid. But nuanced discussions about how numbers come to represent specific skills or which metrics are insightful — it's just not a typical part of the exchange between athlete and athlete, or athlete and journalist.

What we've decided to do is to try to tie the numbers that drive our analysis with the skill sets of the players we cover by going directly to the source. The questions are driven by statistical analysis, although we're not just throwing a bunch of math at unsuspecting players. We are, however, hoping that by analyzing their own skill sets, players can reveal the mindsets that result in the numbers that tell their story.

We continue our set of dialogues today with Chicago Bulls rookie forward Doug McDermott.

 

 

 

 

1: Per Synergy Sports, McDermott ranked third in points per post-up (1.026) among players with at least 180 post plays.

 

 

Kevin Pelton: Have you watched much video on Synergy?

Doug McDermott: I watch a lot of Synergy. I don't watch Synergy on myself. I like to look at other players who I look up to. I think Synergy is so nice for guys if they want to reflect on what they're doing well, what they're doing wrong, but I don't watch myself a lot.

KP: Do you think your reputation as a "shooter" undersells your ability to score in different ways, especially in the post?

 

DM: I think so. I think being known as a shooter, guys tend to look at me as I can only spot up and shoot 3s. But I think the people who know are the people who watch Synergy, watched a lot of my games. I can score a lot of different ways and not just spot up.

 

 

 

 

2: McDermott used 36.2 percent of Creighton's plays, the nation's third-highest usage rate.

 

 

KP: So the way Synergy evaluates play types, you rated as "excellent" last season in everything but spot-up opportunities and isolation plays, where you were only "very good." What went wrong with those?

DM: I don't know, man. Good defense, I guess. I think guys were all over me in college. I didn't get a lot of good looks because people were focusing on me a lot more. In the NBA, everyone's really good, so you've got to be ready to adjust.

KP: Do you sense a difference already in the NBA?

DM: Definitely. Here it's only two games, but we've got a lot of guys who can score the ball, and the spacing's a lot wider, so there's more space out there to operate.

 

 

 

 

3: Averaging 5.2 assists per 40 minutes in the NBA summer league, as compared to 1.9 as a senior at Creighton.

 

 

KP: Before the draft, you compared yourself to Wally Szczerbiak. Did you intentionally choose a small forward knowing you were going to play on the wing as a pro after playing the post in college?

DM: I think Wally is a good comparison because he played a lot of 4 in college. Even Kyle Korver played a lot of 4 at Creighton. He guarded 4s, he played stretch 4, and made that adjustment in the NBA. Size-wise, a lot of the 4s in the NBA are a lot bigger than me, so I've got to be able to play the 3 and some 2 at times. It's something I have to adjust to, but I'm definitely aware of it and ready for it.

KP: How does the position change affect your game?

DM: I've got to get a lot better at my ballhandling, because I'm going to be asked to be put in some pick-and-roll situations. I've got to get ready to adjust to that as well.

 

 

 

 

4: Allowed opponents to shoot just 20.4 percent in spot-up situations, ranking him in the 96th percentile nationally per Synergy.

 

 

KP: How about defensively? How is that different on the wing?

DM: Like I said earlier, there's a lot more space out there, so there's more room to guard. You're put in tough closeout situations. Everyone's good. You're going to get scored on. You've just got to move to the next play.

 

 

 

 

5: Had eight steals in 1,181 minutes last season, one of the nation's lowest rates.

 

 

Insider goes to Summer Scho

 

KP: Your steal and block rates were low in college. Was that by design as part of the system you played?

DM: Yeah. I wasn't asked to guard a lot of their top guys. I was guarding primarily guys who weren't scoring as much, so I was asked to be a really good helper. I didn't want to get in foul trouble, so I rarely went for blocks or I didn't take many chances going into passing lanes — we didn't really do that anyway; we played a gap-type defense. My numbers are really low. It's kind of funny looking back, but it worked for us.

 

 

 

 

6: Fouled out of just one game in his NCAA career, a 2013 NCAA tournament loss to Duke where he was on the court for 35 minutes.

 

 

KP: So you were conscious of trying to avoid foul trouble?

DM: I knew. I had a couple meetings with my dad, who coached me. I got a couple cheap fouls my junior year and I was out for 18 minutes of the first half because I couldn't play with two fouls. After that, I was just aware I can't be dumb, I can't be taking risks. I need to be out on the floor.

מנחם לס

מנהל הופס. הזקן והוותיק מכולם בצוות. מנסה לכתוב יומית - כל זמן שאוכל!

לפוסט הזה יש 20 תגובות

  1. איגור

    21 יול 2014 08:55:21

    קונספט מאוד מעניין של ראיון.
    שחקן שנראה כמודע ליכולתיו, מעניין איך הוא יסתגל למעבר מאופציה ראשונה בהתקפה, לאופציה 4-5.
    בכל מקרה, מצפה לראות אותו משחק.

  6. יניב

    21 יול 2014 15:47:21

    אוף הלברון הזה אפילו מוסיקה הוא הורס לי,היה עכשיו ברדיו את השיר ill coming home וכל מה שאני חושב עליו זה על לברון 🙁

    2. אשך טמיר המקורי

      21 יול 2014 16:36:08

      אפילו גרוע מכך, הוא הרס לי את כל חווית הצפייה בפורנו.
      בכל פעם שהסצנה מגיעה לשיא והכוכבת מתחילה לצעוק "i'm coming!"
      אני נזכר בו וכל הרגע אובד… 🙁

      2. ז

        21 יול 2014 18:15:38

        אשך יקר,
        אתה אולי מחשיב אותי כאויבת, אך לטעמי יש בינינו הרבה מן המשותף.
        גם אני צופה בפורנו להנאתי (וכמוך אינני מתביישת להצהיר על כך, בניגוד לסטריאוטיפ החברתי ולסטיגמות על פורנו, נשים, ועלמות בשם ז), ותאמין או לא – אף אני חושבת על לברון הנסיך האחד אהובי תוך כדי אקט הצפייה
        :*-)

        שלך בידידות,
        ז

כתיבת תגובה

סגירת תפריט