Giving flowers often comes at the end of a player’s career. Or late on a Friday evening when you’re naming random athletes with your friends, and someone gives a shout-out to Shane Larkin. To which you respond, “He was tough.”
Basketball coverage moves fast, and at times, it seems to favor controversy and negativity. As a result, we miss out on opportunities to appreciate the greatness this game has to offer. I simply won’t have that! In this series, we’re going to pull out the microscope and dive into the intricacies that fueled a Celtics championship. Let’s hand out some bouquets.
Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images
There’s no better place to start than with Mr. Finals MVP, Jaylen Brown. Few elite players have faced the level of scrutiny that Jaylen has over the last few seasons. Between the trade discussions, overblown narratives about his left hand, and the supposed overpay, there hasn’t been nearly enough atonement.
Simply put, Brown was a force during the NBA Finals, and the playoffs as a whole. He has a unique blend of gracefulness and power as an athlete that makes him lethal at all three levels. When Jaylen pairs physicality as a driver with pull-up shotmaking, defending him 1-on-1 is hardly a reliable option.
He has a deep bag that opens up even more with room to cook in the mid-range. One move in particular started to show up more frequently this year, and that was the step-through. When executed properly, 9 out of 10 times the defender is going to get caught looking silly.
There are several factors at play with the success of this move, but everything falls apart if the defense isn’t phased by the prospect of a mid-range jumper. Brown doesn’t have this problem. He’s very comfortable pulling up just outside of the paint and has great lift on his shot.
It works best when the defense is set up to fall for the move. That can happen in the same game, or even a previous matchup. Take this clip for example, and then rewatch the first one.
It’s not necessarily something Jaylen actively thought of in the moment, but the consistency of his movement and footwork from one play to the other is enough to make a difference. These games were just two days apart. After watching helplessly from the corner as Brown put Cole Anthony in the dirt, Gary Harris thought he knew what was coming the next time around. He was bamboozled, and Jaylen steps right around him for an easy two.
Whether Harris truly recalled that play from the game before or not, we can’t say for certain. However, Jaylen set the precedent that he’s a pull-up threat and his fakes have to be taken seriously. Even if they aren’t, I suppose he still has the talent to make it work.
In the ECF vs. the Indiana Pacers, Jaylen leaned on the step-through more than we’ve ever seen from him. It was a tool that allowed him to capitalize on the previously mentioned pull-up threat, especially when matched up with the Pacers bigs. Myles Turner fell victim to this move on several occasions. To better understand why, I think it’s helpful to look back at a previous meeting again.
This possession starts with Jaylen receiving the ball while curling off of a screen from Horford. As he moves towards the paint, Turner signals that he’s going to switch. Brown doesn’t waste any time and gets right into his jumper, but with Turner a bit too close, he opts for the pump fake instead. Jaylen does get him out of position, but settles for a difficult shot in what seems like an attempt to draw the foul.
Flash forward to May, and Brown finds Turner in the exact same position. Pump fake, nothing. Second fake… got him. Brown knows that if Turner bites even slightly, he has enough of a quickness advantage to step around.
Three quarters later, the story remains the same:
Brown spots Turner, and a lot of room to operate. He sets him up with a stepback this time, and Turner soars through the air powerless as he watches Jaylen walk right by. His claims of travel, while animated, go unheard by each of the nearby referees.
Turner would not be the only Pacer to fall victim to the step-through.
In the clutch moments of an eventual closeout Game 4, the Celtics are down by two with seven seconds on the shot clock. Brown is matched up with Obi Toppin–who does not look like he wants to be on that island–and takes him right to the free throw line. He replicates his natural shooting motion with the fake, and Toppin is lost. Rick Carlisle gives him an emphatic “STAY DOWN!” as he speeds off with his head held low.
Pulling this move out in the closing minutes of the Eastern Conference Finals is bold, but if there’s one thing that makes a player a more complex cover, it’s unpredictability. If Jaylen used this move every single possession, it would lose its viability.
Brown knew exactly when to break it out though, saving one more step-through for the Finals:
The aggression of not only the drive, but the pump fake as well, lets you know what type of mode he was in this series. There was purpose behind everything he did, with little wasted movement.
Brown’s brilliance as a driver opens up pockets for his in-between game to shine. The step-through was an effective option to capitalize on that. Whether it’s a staple of his game next season or not, it feels like another sign of how advanced his game has become. It’s also worth taking a moment to appreciate the beauty in the details.
Feel free to collect your flowers on Ring Night, Jaylen.
