Indiana Pacers Player Reviews: Shooting Guards

Breaking down the seasons of Bennedict Mathurin and Ben Sheppard 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Aside from their names, Bennedict Mathurin and Ben Sheppard don't have much in common. One is a slashing wing, perhaps with star-caliber potential, and the other, while not yet proficient, projects as a spot-up shooting guard who could potentially multiply the advantages created by the stars around him. Right now, when Mathurin doesn't stay on the floor, it's generally because of his defense. By comparison, Sheppard found his way on the floor, largely because of his defense. As of now, neither of them are starters at the two-guard position. After his standout performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, that spot should arguably be earmarked for Andrew Nembhard. That said, as he demonstrated in Games 3 and 4 of that series, Nembhard is capable of starting at the wing and also initiating offense as a playmaking ball-handler. For that reason, he's being held for a later episode, with the focus here instead going to Mathurin and Sheppard as the other young and still-developing options at the position.

Per usual, the format for this collaborative player review series with Tony East over at Locked on Pacers is to select one play, one number, and one over/under that best summarizes each player's season while looking forward as well as backward.

To make it easier to follow along, the clips, numbers, and lines are included below, albeit with some spoilers for those who may prefer having something to read while they watch. Enjoy!

Bennedict Mathurin

One Play: Random Offense

It didn't come with as much fanfare as the threes that saw him rise up over multiple defenders, but when Bennedict Mathurin scored 34 points on 11-of-15 shooting against the Toronto Raptors at the end of February, he also made some standout plays by not standing out when the Pacers weren't running plays. For the most part, the strides that Mathurin made this season with regard to reads typically came with him playing out of sets as part of the bench. In those groupings, he had more leeway to play out of second-side actions, surveying the floor with the ball in his hands for scripted options rather than automatically reversing the decision-making power back to the team's All-Star guard. Still, while he's certainly capable of bringing the ruckus to organized patterns when needed, the Pacers typically prefer to play random offense at breakneck speed, which means he also needs to be able to seamlessly intermingle with un-patterned organization.

Just look at the difference between the two possessions in the clip package. In Philadelphia, toward the beginning of the season, he fans out to the corner and immediately goes to his jab-and-go to attack the full closeout from Tyrese Maxey. The only problem is, he doesn't quite dribble tight enough around Myles Turner to shake Maxey in rearview pursuit. Plus, in his determination to get to the rim no matter what, he missed several kick-out avenues along the way, bypassing the extra pass to Bruce Brown at the wing while also driving into the help with Obi Toppin left on standby in the corner.

On the season, Mathurin got to the rim with nearly the same frequency as when he was a rookie, but his field-goal percent around the basket was worse, falling from 59.6 percent to 53.6 percent, and he got to the line less often, posting a free throw attempt rate of 32.8 percent compared to 47.7 percent a year ago. In addition to overcomplicating some of his finishes, a big part of the reason for the drop-off was the incentive to load up on his rim attacks. According to Second Spectrum, a help defender was present on 86.7 percent of Mathurin's drives. Granted, the second-year guard made more of an effort to make the "right" play even if he wasn't always correct in what play he made, but he still only passed on 24.5 percent of his drives -- a mark which ranked 131st among the 137 players who averaged at least five drives per game. Needless to say, until he consistently broadens his scope of visual awareness, teams are likely going to continue to hone in on his focal point -- daring him to beat the help.

That's why the multiple passes he made in a single possession from that clip against the Raptors is just as, if not more, notable than his incredible shot-making was on that night. After all, that isn't a set action. He's bringing the ball up the floor in semi-transition and intentionally leaps with a no-look jump pass to manipulate the defense, cracking open a window to throw the ball to Jalen Smith as the higher-percentage option under the basket. Once Smith's defender realizes that rushing at T.J. McConnell isn't necessary, Mathurin slashes to the basket as a release valve and, once again, keeps the ball moving rather than forcing up a shot. Then, after all five players had touched the ball, he worked the dunker's spot, spacing himself where he could score on the other side of the rim. In a game that saw him perform like a star when the team needed him to manufacture a shot, it's those types of plays, while eradicating some of what he gave up with his lack of awareness at the other end, which show how, in searching for the best shot for the team, he can still standout even when he purposes himself to make the reads necessary to fit in.

One Number: -2.41 - points per 100 possessions that the Pacers got outscored by in the 698 minutes that Mathurin played with Haliburton

One Over/Under: 19.5 - games started next season

Ben Sheppard

One Play: Point-of-attack defense

As a quick heads up, Sheppard was Tony's assignment for this episode. I'm still going to offer some commentary in this space even though I didn't select the clips. Ok, here's my blurb:

It is both an oversell and an undersell to say that Ben Sheppard stays skinny fighting over screens. Don't get it twisted. As is shown in the first clip against Brooklyn, he's capable of crawling into the space of the ball-handler and cutting off driving angles, but that isn't his only defensive skill as an on-ball defender. Just look at the subsequent clips. Even though he ducks under against Tyler Herro, he still manages to surge out with a cleanly, weak-hand contest. Jalen Brunson rejects screens more frequently than any guard in the NBA; and yet, there is Sheppard, weaponizing his footspeed to outrace the staccato maestro to his spot. Or, how about in Boston, when he veered into the legs of the screener, late-switching in tandem with the ball breaking the free throw line, while not just running the seam but actually boxing out for the rebound.

That's another area where Mathurin and Sheppard are very different. Sheppard isn't going to put his head down and steamroll to the rim or manufacture his own shot, but Mathurin's defense at the point-of-attack is generally a lot more "getting screened" than it is "navigation." Rather than chasing over and veering at the trigger point of the free throw line or waiting for the cue from the big, Mathurin will routinely late-switch too early, forcing the screener defender to come out of their drop when they should be absorbing the ball. As can be seen from how Myles Turner is demonstratively gesturing for Mathurin to steer the ball toward him, this was a recurrent issue during the team's home game against the Mavericks, when he was pressed into guarding either Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving with Aaron Nesmith sidelined due to injury.

By comparison, that's the opposite of what bore out in the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals, as Sheppard's presence in the starting lineup allowed Andrew Nembhard and Nesmith to guard up against Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Granted, it should probably raise an eyebrow that Pascal Siakam wasn't the primary assignment against either All-Star wing, but the fact that Sheppard was defending opposite of Derrick White meant that he was applying pressure on ball in a way that few others on the roster can without being exposed to the bully ball of Jrue Holiday.

To his credit, Mathurin had some standout possessions holding his ground and knocking the ball away from top scorers, whereas Sheppard, try as he might, repeatedly gave up length with his two-hand contests when targeted by Tatum, but that's also sort of the point. Sheppard plays with a high motor and can cover ground in a blink of an eye as a team defender, but he arguably provides his most utility at the point of attack -- which can be difficult to finagle in bench lineups that would displace T.J. McConnell onto bigger guards.

Of course, the flip side of this is that between Nembhard, Sheppard, and McConnell, Mathurin shouldn't have to fight through screens as the on-ball defender as much, although his off-ball defense can also be extremely hit-or-miss. For point of reference, the Pacers allowed a stingy 0.837 points per chance on the 58 picks that were defended by Sheppard and Turner, compared to 1.121 points when Turner was partnered with Mathurin.

Like the results of his shot, Sheppard's coverages weren't always flawless in his first season, but he could rarely be faulted for not melding to the team concept at either end of the floor -- at times, almost to a fault, as the discrepancy wasn't that wide between the number of passes he made out of the corners (76) and the number of passes he shot on from the corners (118). In that regard, for all that can be said about Mathurin occasionally trying to score no matter what, there are moments when Sheppard is so intent on making the extra pass that he doesn't even glace at the rim, appearing as though he would rather do anything but score. At their extremes, there are obviously downsides to both approaches; however, while they may be alike in name only, if they could each take something from the other's playstyle, the middle way between them would arguably provide the Pacers with two more balanced, yet still very different and, perhaps, complementary, options -- especially if they continue to come off the bench.

One Number:  5.9 - turnover rate as a rookie

One Over/Under: 2.0 - average number of drives per game