Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a ball hog?

[Statlanta]

He seems to avoid a lot of the heliocentric criticisms that Westbrook, Doncic and Harden have gotten over the years.

He only averages 6 assists despite going to the rim 25 times a game.


Does he get his teammates involved enough?

[LukaMagic]

No way bro, he should play more selfish at times imo. He is the engine of that team.

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[ChipotleWest]

Mavs defense build a wall around the lane, and he is the only one good enough to consistently penetrate it. The offense has turned into either him driving or kick it out for a 3 and that's about it. If they were to have a good 3 point shooting night they'd win but here is their percentages this series.

45.7%
33.3%
33.3%
25.9%
25%

If you take away Game 1 it's pretty awful, and they were the best 3 point shooting team in the NBA this season at 38.9%. Game 4 was such an outlier Mavs lead the entire way they shot 25.9% but won it at the end. The great equalizer though was Mavs shooting 52% free throws.

I would say he's definitely not being a ball hog in this series, he should probably shoot it more. Because they have very little else.

[AussieCeltic]

I’m shocked his usage is only 31.6… probably goes higher after today’s game. Seemed like he had control every possession which in my opinion, is not conducive to winning basketball in the long term.

Even the Mavs best basketball is when Luka is around the 30-32 usage mark compared to 35 in recent seasons.

[SweaterBae]

He's a lead guard. The days of the pure PG are over, for now, and for good reason. Three of the top five in assists this regular season were Luka, Joker and LBJ. Domas was 6th.

[DLoMor]

Westbrook is not a ball hog either then.

[Astaluego]

Typical terrible thread after a loss...first of all he only had those assists because his teammates were throwing bricks the whole game, not because he's selfish, (I'm a Mavs fan and I hate him a little (During the game) because of the whistle he receives) but the guy is a superstar, he reminded me a little of KLeonard, he is a robot, a hammer... the poor performance of his teammates/coach should be the issue here

[Dadouv47]

No way bro, he should play more selfish at times imo. He is the engine of that team.

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pretty much this. He messed up passing the ball to much to Dort & co yesterday instead of going solo

[DonaldSanders]

pretty much this. He messed up passing the ball to much to Dort & co yesterday instead of going solo

Yeah he was incredible and if anything they needed him to take over more. I can't believe this is a real thread.

[Ein Sof]

There is something to it, he's #2 in secs/touch in the PO (except for guys like Jett Howard who've played like 10 mins total)

[madskillz8]

There is something to it, he's #2 in secs/touch in the PO (except for guys like Jett Howard who've played like 10 mins total)

Yes, that's also what I am thinking about him. Sometimes he's hiding at the offense. You can find many possessions he never touch the ball, especially with Giddey & J. Williams are both in. When he gets the ball though, he immediately starts dribbling thinking about score, score, score, and then make teammates involved even though he has so much gravity inside the arc. That's why I would say he has a tunnel vision instead of being a ball hog.

To sum up, without seeing the data, my eye test suggests he might not be on the top of possession time per game list, but when he gets the ball he's keeping it in his hands longer than any other player. Same for dribbles. Maybe as much as Brunson, even though he's the main ball handler 45 mins per game.

I know he is very hard to stop when he decides to score, and it seems like it is the coach's plan to play ISO heavy my-turn-others'-turn offense but I still think they can have a better offensive scheme than this.

Edit:

SGA is 17th in number of touches per game
2nd in avg. seconds per touch
3rd in avg. dribbling per touch
1st in ISO plays per game

[MMyhre]

There is something to it, he's #2 in secs/touch in the PO (except for guys like Jett Howard who've played like 10 mins total)

Yes, that's also what I am thinking about him. Sometimes he's hiding at the offense. You can find many possessions he never touch the ball, especially with Giddey & J. Williams are both in. When he gets the ball though, he immediately starts dribbling thinking about score, score, score, and then make teammates involved even though he has so much gravity inside the arc. That's why I would say he has a tunnel vision instead of being a ball hog.

To sum up, without seeing the data, my eye test suggests he might not be on the top of possession time per game list, but when he gets the ball he's keeping it in his hands longer than any other player. Same for dribbles. Maybe as much as Brunson, even though he's the main ball handler 45 mins per game.

I know he is very hard to stop when he decides to score, and it seems like it is the coach's offensive plan to ISO heavy my turn your turn offense but I still think they can have a better offensive scheme than this.

Probably the truth. Been a lot of low shot games for J-Dub and Chet this season, so there needs to be a better balance of offensive opportunities and consistent attempts for their rhythm as offensive players in the future. As it is right now, Shai just needs to let it fly more though, as the offense just isn't fluid enough.

[Apz]

Wont hear it from the media since he is their darling atm.

My opinion is that guys like shai, luka and so on need to be what media calls ballhogs because it makes their team perform their best. It just opens up so many options for the rest of the guys that simply shouldnt try to be creative by themselves. If they didnt hold the ball the amount of time they do their gravity would be a lot less which hurts the teams overall performance. And media will ofc berate them if they do whatd best for the team, while also berate them if they dont get their 30 10 10.

[Jabroni Lames]

Who's he supposed to pass it to?

[God Squad]

Who's he supposed to pass it to?

This is what I'm also wondering. The only other player out there capable of creating would be Jdub, and he's hasn't been playing great.
Dort is a great defender, but extremely limited in other areas. Chet still has flashes, but he's struggling to score points. Giddey's utterly useless to this Thunder team, can't defend, can't shoot.

[ThunderBolt]

Never fail, general board.

[SparksAC]

With the teammates he has right now, I would want him shooting 30 to 40 shots every playoff game. Chet is still too young to be a secondary scorer.

[Wagonband]

Maybe it feels like that sometimes. But that middy is killer. It's Kawhi level. I feel like it goes in every time even the defender is draped all over him.

SGA is not the problem with OKC. I think experience is the main issue for them. But the future is so bright it hurts to look at. They probably have enough assets to trade for 2 top 20 NBA players if they want to to add to SGA, and still keep most of their core. Scary stuff

[Apz]

Who's he supposed to pass it to?

This is what I'm also wondering. The only other player out there capable of creating would be Jdub, and he's hasn't been playing great.
Dort is a great defender, but extremely limited in other areas. Chet still has flashes, but he's struggling to score points. Giddey's utterly useless to this Thunder team, can't defend, can't shoot.

Ye but media is media. Like they been complaining on luka being involved in most offense stuff for years, but what he been playing with has been a lot worse then what sga is playing with atm, so from mwdia standards thats not an excuse.

[HotelVitale]

He's a lead guard. The days of the pure PG are over, for now, and for good reason. Three of the top five in assists this regular season were Luka, Joker and LBJ. Domas was 6th.

This seems a little off here. All those guys are really great passers and play the role of passing initiator, and SGA doesn't. He's mostly looking for his own scoring and breaks down his own guy like an old-school wing, though he has also learned to pass well if he gets doubled (I'm pretty impressed by his ability to do the kickouts from the paint when the defense collapses on him).

There may be no need for pure PGs but the spread floor also allows for a huge role for passing ball-handlers who see the whole floor and can penetrate (like Luka or Jokic), and SGA is just doing something different.