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Monday on 1320, K-Fan Kevin O’Connor went out of his way to mention how good Paul Millsap looks after his off-season of work. It seems if anyone was concerned that Paul was going to stop working after his contract that concern was ill advised.
Millsap’s role this season is still undefined. Will he start with Al Jefferson at the beginning of the year with Memo Okur out? Will he come off the bench again and play with the second unit while finishing games?
None of those should impact how Millsap plays in the 2010-11 season. The Jazz are hoping the 25 year old former second round draft pick has another step up in his game. Last season, Paul productivity slipped a little as Boozer took a larger role with the team from his injury plagues season in 08-09.
Yet, when analyzing his per 36 minute numbers though his performance was much more in line with the year prior and the growth we saw from year 2 to year 3.
The most important area of growth for Millsap is that in the last two years he has become less foul prone. In his first two years in the league he averaged 5.8 fouls per 36 minutes. In the last two years, he has been at 4.5. a number that needs to still decrease but is headed in the correct direction.
The only area where Millsap’s game slipped last year was his rebounding. His rebounding rate (% of available rebounds you grab when on the floor) slipped to a career low. On the offensive glass Millsap had been garnering 13 to 15% of the rebounds and last year was at just 9.9%. On the defensive end he went from 20 to 21% down to 18.9%. His overall rebounding rate of just 14.5% down from 17% in the years past moved him out of the elite of the league.
It will curious to see how that changes playing with Al Jefferson rather than Carlos Boozer. Boozer is a considerably better defensive rebounder than Jefferson so Millsap will need to be more active on the defensive glass.
One of the reason Millsap rebounding numbers may have been down is his game moved a bit more to the perimeter last year with a new confidence in his midrange foot jumper. Last year Millsap took 145 shots from 15 to 23 feet (according to nba hot spots) hitting an impressive 47%. This is a good number for a big man. The year prior he shot 40 for 104 for 38%.
That type of improvement t is rare in the NBA and a sign of hard work. More impressively in the playoffs last year Millsap buried 12 of 21 shots from 15 to 23 feet.
If Paul continues that level of improvement with a low post based front court mate in Al Jefferson rather than the high post game of Carlos Boozer, Paul could have a terrific year.
Last season, Boozer took 210 shots from 15 to 23 feet in contrast to Al Jefferson taking just 106. In contrast, Jefferson took nearly a 1,000 shots (992) from 15 feet and in whereas Boozer took just 888. Playing with Jefferson is going to clog the paint but open up the 15 foot to 23 foot range for Millsap.
Offensively, the Jazz will need Millsap to help pick up a portion of the 14 pts a game that Okur was producing while still doing his part which was 12 points a game. No, that doesn’t mean that Millsap has to average 26 points a game, don’t be silly, but Paul needs to move toward 15 to 18 points a night with consistent night in and night performances. Nothing in his resume says that should be too much for him to handle.
As a starter in 08-09, Millsap averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds a game.
Defensively the Jazz have been dramatically better the last few seasons when Millsap has been on the floor. This season with Millsap minute’s likely back over 30 a night the Jazz will need him to maintain that defensive influence. Millsap is one of the better on ball post defenders in the league despite being just 6’8.
With Jefferson’s increased length and the defensive presence of Raja Bell on the perimeter the Jazz are hoping to be an improved defensive team and Millsap will need to be at the core of that improvement.
Millsap’s role this season is still undefined. Will he start with Al Jefferson at the beginning of the year with Memo Okur out? Will he come off the bench again and play with the second unit while finishing games?
None of those should impact how Millsap plays in the 2010-11 season. The Jazz are hoping the 25 year old former second round draft pick has another step up in his game. Last season, Paul productivity slipped a little as Boozer took a larger role with the team from his injury plagues season in 08-09.
Yet, when analyzing his per 36 minute numbers though his performance was much more in line with the year prior and the growth we saw from year 2 to year 3.
The most important area of growth for Millsap is that in the last two years he has become less foul prone. In his first two years in the league he averaged 5.8 fouls per 36 minutes. In the last two years, he has been at 4.5. a number that needs to still decrease but is headed in the correct direction.
The only area where Millsap’s game slipped last year was his rebounding. His rebounding rate (% of available rebounds you grab when on the floor) slipped to a career low. On the offensive glass Millsap had been garnering 13 to 15% of the rebounds and last year was at just 9.9%. On the defensive end he went from 20 to 21% down to 18.9%. His overall rebounding rate of just 14.5% down from 17% in the years past moved him out of the elite of the league.
It will curious to see how that changes playing with Al Jefferson rather than Carlos Boozer. Boozer is a considerably better defensive rebounder than Jefferson so Millsap will need to be more active on the defensive glass.
One of the reason Millsap rebounding numbers may have been down is his game moved a bit more to the perimeter last year with a new confidence in his midrange foot jumper. Last year Millsap took 145 shots from 15 to 23 feet (according to nba hot spots) hitting an impressive 47%. This is a good number for a big man. The year prior he shot 40 for 104 for 38%.
That type of improvement t is rare in the NBA and a sign of hard work. More impressively in the playoffs last year Millsap buried 12 of 21 shots from 15 to 23 feet.
If Paul continues that level of improvement with a low post based front court mate in Al Jefferson rather than the high post game of Carlos Boozer, Paul could have a terrific year.
Last season, Boozer took 210 shots from 15 to 23 feet in contrast to Al Jefferson taking just 106. In contrast, Jefferson took nearly a 1,000 shots (992) from 15 feet and in whereas Boozer took just 888. Playing with Jefferson is going to clog the paint but open up the 15 foot to 23 foot range for Millsap.
Offensively, the Jazz will need Millsap to help pick up a portion of the 14 pts a game that Okur was producing while still doing his part which was 12 points a game. No, that doesn’t mean that Millsap has to average 26 points a game, don’t be silly, but Paul needs to move toward 15 to 18 points a night with consistent night in and night performances. Nothing in his resume says that should be too much for him to handle.
As a starter in 08-09, Millsap averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds a game.
Defensively the Jazz have been dramatically better the last few seasons when Millsap has been on the floor. This season with Millsap minute’s likely back over 30 a night the Jazz will need him to maintain that defensive influence. Millsap is one of the better on ball post defenders in the league despite being just 6’8.
With Jefferson’s increased length and the defensive presence of Raja Bell on the perimeter the Jazz are hoping to be an improved defensive team and Millsap will need to be at the core of that improvement.
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