mafra
Legend
With player-tracking data courtesy of Second Spectrum, we know the height of every nearest defender on every shot taken leaguewide. Porzingis' considerable amount of time spent playing the 4, coupled with the switch-happy nature of today's downsizing league, creates mismatches on a scale that nobody else comes close to replicating. So far this season, he has taken nearly 300 more shots with a 6-inch height advantage over his nearest defender than Dirk Nowitzki, who has taken the second-most such attempts.
Simply by stepping on the floor and running basic actions, Porzingis spends more time being guarded by players a half-foot shorter than him than any other player. Clearly, this gives the Knicks' offense opportunities. And yet, as Chris Herring recently outlined for FiveThirtyEight, it hasn't translated into the types of high-quality shots you might expect.
This becomes particularly alarming when considering the pattern of Porzingis' shots after manufacturing significant mismatches. It all boils down to a single presiding factor: location, location, location, as shown here using Second Spectrum data.
Look at every one of Porzingis' shots in which he held an advantage of at least 6 inches over a defender within 3 feet, and nearly 60 percent of them have come on either midrange or long 2s outside of 10 feet -- a shot he has connected on just 42 percent of the time, according to Second Spectrum. That equates to about 0.85 points per possession, which is a return on investment that would be significantly worse than the worst offenses in league history.
Simply by stepping on the floor and running basic actions, Porzingis spends more time being guarded by players a half-foot shorter than him than any other player. Clearly, this gives the Knicks' offense opportunities. And yet, as Chris Herring recently outlined for FiveThirtyEight, it hasn't translated into the types of high-quality shots you might expect.
This becomes particularly alarming when considering the pattern of Porzingis' shots after manufacturing significant mismatches. It all boils down to a single presiding factor: location, location, location, as shown here using Second Spectrum data.
Look at every one of Porzingis' shots in which he held an advantage of at least 6 inches over a defender within 3 feet, and nearly 60 percent of them have come on either midrange or long 2s outside of 10 feet -- a shot he has connected on just 42 percent of the time, according to Second Spectrum. That equates to about 0.85 points per possession, which is a return on investment that would be significantly worse than the worst offenses in league history.