The List: Gary Harris is getting to the rim

“The List” is a brand new series that serves as a companion piece for the “Notebook” episodes of the Locked on Nuggets podcast and the DNVR Nuggets podcast. In this edition, I share notes on the importance of Gary Harris getting all the way to the rim and how collapsing the defense at the rim is a key component of NBA basketball.

1. If there is one stat that defines Gary Harris’ season so far it is his attempt rate at the basket. Just 24% of his field goal attempts (FGAs) are coming in the restricted area, about 6% below his career average and more than 10% below his two-year peak from 2016-2018, according to basketball reference. Up are his floaters, his mid-range jumpers, and his long twos which means that Harris has replaced his most efficient shots with his least efficient shots.

That has changed a bit over the course of this 6-game winning streak. His shots in the restricted area are up from 2.7 per game to 4.2 while he’s shooting nearly 17% better on those attempts.

The clips below help highlight how taking that extra, aggressive step toward the basket forces the defense to collapse in ways that either opens up immediate opportunities on the drive or begins a chain reaction that generates open shots down the line.

Each of those examples leads to a different outcome but that is the ripple effect of having a player who is willing and capable of getting all the way to the basket. For most of Harris’career, he has excelled at this. Over the first two months of the season, he has not.

Harris dropped weight in the offseason, electing to come in at a lighter number and perhaps it has taken some time for him to adjust to his new, lighter body. Nonetheless, his willingness to attack the basket is a huge part of unlocking Denver’s offensive potential.

2. This is my favorite cut in basketball and Malik Beasley is one of the best at it thanks to his quick first step and explosive last step.

3. One of the constant battles that Jokic has to fight with himself is when to attack a mismatch quickly in the post and when to allow the defense to walk into a trap by doubling in a way that he can kick out of. It’s a delicate balance but Jokic makes the right decision far more often than the casual observer will give him credit for.

Still, there is a lot of value in Jokic making a quick, decisive move in the post before the help side can properly react and double team.

4. And here is an example of him having an opportunity to go quickly in the post but instead electing to read the court before kicking out. He probably would’ve done better to make a quick read here and either score or force the defense into an impossible bind.

5. There are principles form how players around the perimeter should react to a cutter. One way to think about it is to imagine that there is a wheel (or circle) around the basketball. In this case, Jokic has the ball in his hands and becomes the center of the wheel. Harris sees a cutting lane and cuts from the left corner but when Jokic doesn’t make the immediate pass, he continues on through as if he were following the path of a wheel around Jokic. The other three players also move along as the wheel rotates and it forces the defense to have to make complex rotations.