Note: Off the dribble, as referenced in the title, refers to attempts off 3+ dribbles, i.e. attempts off 3-6 dribbles and 7+ dribbles, which are the two buckets tracked by the NBA, combined. And as noted in the title, his 53 FG% was highest among players on the roster who had a minimum of 50 unassisted FGAs, ie the min. 50 FGAs doesn’t mean 50 FGAs overall but rather, specifically unassisted FGAs.
Something that I think got lost in Moody's aggregated averages this season, most especially for those that didn't watch a lot of the games and just looked at his numbers, was the impact of the quality of touches he got when he did play (which in and of itself didn't do any favors for a guy who is a heavily rhythm based shooter, much like Klay and Wiggs). A significant number of his touches and FGAs came in the form of catch-and-shoots, and a not small portion of those were grenades at the end of the shot clock with little time to get off a good look. The other factor that impacted the quality of looks he had was the spacing and the opportunities, or lack thereof, it created as a result (he wasn't the only one impacted by this, to be clear, it was a team wide issue). In turn, he had averaged 34.4% on catch-and-shoots with those being a bulk of his FGAs, which ultimately brought his averages down quite a bit. Altogether, it resulted in a less than appealing season average FG% overall.
When you break apart his aggregated season average though and look at shot types, you get, in my opinion, a much more interesting and encouraging picture. I found both the makeup of his shot profile outside of catch-and-shoots and his efficiency on self-created shots to be both an intriguing and encouraging sign of his ability to self-create, despite him being frequently viewed as a poor ball handler and/or a guy unable to create for himself.
- Pull-ups – 47.1% (54.5% on pull-up 3s)
- Stepback jumpers – 50% (44.4% on stepback 3s)
- Fadeaways – 45.5%
- Driving layups – 56.6% (for reference, Steph avg. 50% this season and 54.3% last season)
As far as how his overall self-creation this season has compared to his first two seasons, using unassisted 2s pts and unassisted 3s pts generated per 100 poss. (instead of raw totals given total playing time wasn't equal across seasons; raw totals are provided in parentheses below, however) as the barometer:
Unassisted 2s Pts per 100 poss.
– 21-22 – 1.93 pts (56 pts)
– 22-23 – 2.09 pts (82 pts)
– 23-24 – 4.29 pts (142 pts)
Unassisted 3s Pts per 100 poss.
– 21-22 – 0 pts
– 22-23 – .17 pts (3 pts)
– 23-24 – .88 pts (21 pts)
One last thing statistically, and which is tangentially related to a player’s ability to self-create, re: the perception fans have of him as a poor ball handler: he had the lowest turnover percentage on drives out of anyone on the team this season, with a TO% of just 2.5%. He drove 160 times this season, which included 64 passes out of drives, and turned it over just 4 times. Next lowest TO% on drives was CP's 3.3%.
Often times, I feel like a lot of fans confuse a player's team-requested/assigned role, as determined by need and fit, as the decisive word on a player's capabilities. That is to say, they think if a player isn't doing or showing a certain skillset in a game, it's because he can't/doesn't possess that skill, when instead, it's could simply be because it's not his role and not what the team needs for him to do. For example, Moody has been tasked with being predominantly a spot up shooter and occasional driving threat if/when he's not on with JK (with JK on, driving from Moody isn't as necessary), which means we rarely see him self-creating and that's because due to his role, the ball isn't in his hands much, and that necessarily prevents him from doing much self-creating. That doesn't mean he can't self-create though nor that he doesn’t have a lot of as of yet untapped potential as a secondary or tertiary self-creator, as his efficiency on self-created looks this season and his overall growth in this area from season-to-season shows.
by taygads
18 Comments
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I never looked the numbers. But I said in here recently that I believe Moody has untapped potential as a shot creator/maker. With his role being so up and down it’s hard for most people to really see it. But I trust my eye test on this one. I believe Moody has more potential in this area than most people see.
Yes and no. I really like Moody and think he can take on a bigger role. However, being asked to be a shot creator with other teams scouting and games planning for you is a whole different level. That’s what happened to JK after his run of 20 points games, he became someone teams planned for.
Moody is smart. He’s taking advantage of opportunities and mismatches when available. That is different than facing an opposing team’s top 3 defender and regularly creating a shot for himself and others. There’s very few who can do that against top nba defensive talent.
That said, Moody can do more. His high percentage tells me he could be more aggressive and expand his game, however I think he knows that he’d be pulled out if he goes too wild, hence why he picks his attempts carefully.
You are waving off a terrible catch and shoot % BIGTIME – which is what his primary role was, 3 and d floor spacer. The grenades statement is specious – he missed a ton of open looks. I watched every game last season, he just needs to be far better than that on catch and shoot threes on our team.
He drives hard and that is lovely. He finishes and gets fouled, but he’s not creating much as a passer. He stops the ball too much. I think he’ll get better, but we’re heading into year 4…
I hope he leaps next year but this is small sample size theatre – and it includes a decent amount of garbage time production in those %s
I was at the play in game in Sac and it was clear that Moody was the player who needed (and going forward, needs) to be on the floor
Not really related, but does it not bother you that he refuses to finish with his offhand
Don’t resign klay. Kerr will play him 30 min.
he very right hand dominant.
And one of Kerr’s criticisms is that Moody holds the ball too long and needs to make quicker decisions on the offensive end. I disagree. But I guess that’s why he’s a multi-million dollar earning head coach and I’m just a guy that wishes he could afford to attend a game in person.
So obviously he got more minutes than Podz right?? Right???
I want to see Moody get the green light on offense. Dude deserves minutes. Feel like he’s like a Derrick White sort who on the right team and let loose can be a key starter.
Moody was a bucket last season. How many box scores did he finish 9 pts in 9 min. Or 20 for 20?! Lean on young legs in 2025.
I GENUINELY Think we’re a playoff team if we move on from Wiggins have Kuminga start at the 3 and make Moody the starting 2 but Kerr because he’s stubborn as shit refuses to do this(IDK if that’d do ANYTHING)
Kerr isn’t doing moody any justice. He played BP and TJD more minutes as rookies than any year of moody’s career. They were given chances even during mistakes and able to develop throughout the season.
He’s pretty dang good at getting to the rim. Particularly against bench units. Not sure how effective he’d be against the better defenders in the league but there’s only one way to find out.
Our bench next year should be Podz, Klay, Moody, Trayce.
Moody needs to let it fly. He plays too passive. He’s skilled but plays like he’s the 13th man
It’s clear to me that he doesn’t have, or doesn’t think he has, the green light. If he pressures the rim more and takes some pull-up middies not only will he score more but he’ll open up our perimeter shooters for easier 3s. I’d love to see his game get unlocked like that. I also think he won’t be reckless and force shots – he’s mentally really mature as a basketball player.
I don’t think he’ll ever be a great shot creator. He has to really work on his handles. I’ve come to realize why he’s hard to play. First his numbers are worse than podz. That’s not good. I’d rather have moody play over podz but then there’s the second problem. He’s the size of a 2 but plays like a 3. Corner 3s. 50/50 ball. Perimeter d, boards, etc. An undersized 3 in a team in need or length.
He has work to do this off season to move to a 2. But that’s a larger jump for him. He might just have to be an undersized 3.