Evaluating Bennedict Mathurin in the present future

On what's changed and still needs changing for Indiana's rookie as a starter

By Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper 

With just under three minutes to play and the score becoming more and more lopsided in favor of the Milwaukee Bucks, who had amassed a 147-130 edge, Bennedict Mathurin caught the ball inside the arc for a 1-on-1 match-up at the wing. After turning to look his defender, Wesley Matthews, straight in the eyes, the 20-year-old rookie proceeded to play with a rhythm, as he so often does, baiting a reaction with a jab fake to his right, before ultimately stepping back to his left and canning the 19-foot jump shot. Less than a minute later, he was in process of repeating nearly the same formula, rolling back the film against Pat Connaughton, when Rick Carlisle signaled for a timeout, cutting short what was about to become an errant shot from along the baseline after taking a few dribbles to the left. Following the stoppage in play, it was almost like play had never stopped, with the only difference being that Mathurin was on the opposite side of the floor, misfiring from 17 feet in the wake of what, this time, was an opportunity to attack with his right, ending with a step-back two against MarJon Beauchamp.

In many ways, those 40 seconds, featuring three touches for Mathurin to feel out his defender as though he was attempting to solve an escape room, should be seen as a microcosm of what this season has become for the Pacers, wherein the score is ancillary to the overall fact-finding mission -- particularly as it pertains to the team's newest fixture in the starting lineup. 

Through the first 67 games of the season, Mathurin started as many times as he has over the last 11 days (6), when he emerged from his ankle injury as part of the first unit, doing so, initially, alongside Buddy Hield before swapping places with and, eventually, standing in for the ill-stricken, six-year veteran in the rotation. As such, with there now being a string of starts to evaluate his future in the present, here's what can be learned from the way in which he's learning. 

He's getting reps to manufacture his own shot as the purpose of offense rather than the product 

Prior to the last few weeks, the circumstances by which Bennedict Mathurin would attack without a screen typically stemmed from a broken play or a decision by the opposition to switch while trailing him around a maze of picks. For example, such was the case here, when Klay Thompson crisscrossed around the stagger, darting over the first screen and ducking under the second, with the Warriors then switching the re-screen. In response, as is Mathurin's usual mode of operation, he advances the ball with the intention of getting it back to hoist from deep. 

Just to emphasize, the endgame of that possession, being to manufacture a shot separate from the offense, wasn't the original aim, which was designed for a downhill catch flowing out of the offense. Now, with the season taking on a different character, look at how what was then a product of the coverage stalling the action has become the action of choice for attacking the coverage. 

Confused? Just look at what the Pacers ran coming out of a timeout during his first game back against the Hornets. First though, make note of T.J. McConnell's reaction to the timeout being called. He seems less than thrilled, right? 

Well, rather than playing with the pace gained by the defensive rebound, here's what happened. Following the huddle, Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard subbed in to closeout the game, with a stagger away entry -- not unlike that which was deployed against the Warriors, kick-starting the offense. Only, this time, look at who is rounding the curve of the screens. 

Why, yes, that's Jordan Nwora and, very notably, not Bennedict Mathurin. In fact, Mathurin isn't even visible in that frame, because he's hanging out below the break on the same side as the ball, presumably to hold space for whatever is about to happen. Except, plot twist! In reality, everything else, from the off-ball screens to the way in which Nwora keeps on the potential pass-back to Nembhard, is actually designed to provide spacing around Mathurin, who gets a chance to get a shot.

And that wasn't just a one-off. They ran that same play in Boston, with Grant Williams stonewalling him into a pass. 

Likewise, the action also made a cameo after halftime against Dallas, as he lost the ball off his foot while being defended by Reggie Bullock.  

Overall, in combination with some of the more static entries to that same spot on the floor that occurred in bulk down the stretch versus the Bucks, what all of those possessions go to show is a tendency to rely on stepping away, while being limited in moving forward, when left to his own devices. For that reason, given the emphasis to diversify the type and location of his touches, with him recording usage out of nearly every catalogued play-type on Wednesday, it would seem as though gauging how he handles handling without a screen is a clear priority -- as it should be, even if the immediate results are trial-by-fire. 

He doesn't always take help from the screen help

Of course, for a player who spent most of the season attacking out of second-side actions or into an already tilted defense, some of what shows up when he doesn't have screen help, also shows up, at times, when he does. 

For frame of reference, consider this tweak to one of the team's most common actions. When a guard comes up out of the corner to screen, the normal progression of the offense is for the ball to get reversed through the trailing big, who then runs a hand-off with a screen in the middle for the player in the opposite corner. It looks like this, albeit with other reads and scoring opportunities available. 

On Wednesday, the Pacers broke from that pattern, with the big instead tossing the ball back to the original handler before diving into a pindown for the guard who set the touch screen in a three-man action. From there, in this case, George Hill proceeds to play empty-side pick-and-roll with Jalen Smith, who pings the ball to the opposite corner against the late-switch. 

Now, watch Mathurin in the same role. Right off the top, the biggest difference is who is guarding him. As a starter, he is drawing tougher assignments more often, especially with Haliburton out of the lineup. When the team was in Toronto, the Raptors took a chance on Will Barton guarding Andrew Nembhard (which ... uh ... turned out to be a risky gamble), so that O.G. Anunoby could turn the water off on Buddy Hield, with Fred VanVleet starting out against Mathurin. Granted, those match-ups got changed after the first quarter, but they were telling as to Nick Nurse's priorities. Along those same lines, Holiday logged more possessions against Mathurin than any other player on the roster. In that regard, Mathurin started out with a higher degree of difficulty than what was the case for Hill. 

Even so, notice how after briefly losing Holiday with a misdirection cut, he not only turns down the initial shot, he foregoes the option to segue into empty side pick-and-roll and, instead, misses everything with yet another step-back. 

His first instinct remains to catch-and-drive 

In some respects, that particular possession encapsulates the duality of how he is wired, moving away from the coverage when attempting to score as a creator, while also being quick to drive when spotting up or maneuvering around off-ball screens.

To be fair, the latter isn't often to his detriment. After all, he still typically manages to get the most of his gravity, even when he has time and space to shoot.

But, what about when -- or if -- he doesn't? On the year, he's shot 30 percent on 2.3 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts per game; and yet, even with his preference for driving, he's mostly still seeing hard closeouts to this point. 

Whether that will continue next season, remains to be seen, but it seems as though there will be an incentive to stop short. 

In that regard, eliminating some of the double-clutching that occurs once he relents to shoot might arguably be key not only to improving his conversion rate with a more natural transfer of energy, but also as it pertains to faking it until he makes it.

He's making the easy pass

With that being said, although he isn't likely to rack up any games with 15 assists like Nembhard did against the Bucks, he has started to reign in his shot-selection.

Think back to the game against Miami on February 8, when he only played 13 minutes, marking a season low. Before he subbed out for good with 1:47 to play in the third quarter, this was his final possession of the game. After zooming around the stagger and regrouping to weave around the ball screen, he never gave a thought to making a pass -- even with Tyler Herro helping off the ball-side corner.

By comparison, with Pat Connaughton sliding over to plug his drive, it was refreshing to see him taking joy in recognizing the best shot for the team, punctuating the make from Nembhard with a celebratory fist pump, even if that which was surrendered by the Bucks was the shortest and easiest pass. 

This, though, with both corners filled, was not the shortest and easiest pass, as he was required to read the tagger on the back-side in order to lead Jalen to the rim.

Those flashes, admittedly, are not all that frequent, especially when delivered from a live-dribble with one hand; however, when they do occur, they are generally more likely to spring forth when his defender is trailing.

His screen navigation is still less navigation and more being screened

Speaking of trailing … that aspect of his defense can't always even be described as trailing, as he will all too often get snagged and remained snagged. Think back to the game against Toronto, for example, when he was assigned to Fred VanVleet with Oshae Brissett starting in place of Aaron Nesmith. This is what happened early on. 

Tellingly, during the fourth quarter, the Pacers swapped match-ups, with Nesmith taking on Jakob Poeltl from Turner, so they could start switching ball screens. In defending each of Siakam, VanVleet, and Poeltl on the same possession while also communicating the off-ball scram switch, Nembhard shined in that context, but Mathurin also did well -- or, at least, comparably better -- to trade assignments, protecting against the cut down from Siakam.  

Still, even when the team switches with him at the point of the attack as opposed to chasing over, he can be indecisive in determining when to disconnect from the ball, losing track of the screener. 

Just for point of reference, that same trouble with impacting passes to the roll-man after switching was also visible in some of his spot starts earlier this season. 

If nothing changes on that end of the floor, whenever the next time is that the Pacers are in the playoffs, they are going to have to exhibit a lot of ingenuity to achieve masking those flaws while also protecting Haliburton from being targeted, seeing as how opponents undoubtedly have the added motivation of draining his energy from advancing the ball in transition.

All of which is to say that, from feeding Mathurin reps that require either fending for himself or making more advanced reads of back-side help-defenders to putting more of an emphasis on actually shooting when he's open and taking on top defensive assignments, there's still plenty of meaning to be found in the present future, including that which needs to become past tense.