The NBA’s Most Misunderstood Offensive Genius

The NBA’s Most Misunderstood Offensive Genius

Two long weeks ago, Tyrese Hallebertton was voted the most overrated player in the NBA by a group of players surveyed by The Athletic. And since then, he has been on a mission to make every single one of them look foolish. And he is succeeding. For the second straight year, Hallebertton has led the Pacers to post a top two playoff. and he has them in excellent position to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals after a run last year that so many people tried to write off. Not only has Hallebertton been the overall catalyst of this impressive run, he’s already had some iconic moments, closing out the Bucks with a historic comeback as he scored 14 points in the final six minutes of the game, dragging his team back from a seven-point deficit with a minute to go in regulation, then notching the gamewinner in overtime against Giannis to Dispatch of Milwaukee in five games. Then he led an equally improbable comeback in game two against the Cavaliers, erasing another seven-point deficit in the final minute and scoring eight points in the last 90 seconds, including another gamewinner. This one even more remarkable than the last. So within one week, Harley led the Pacers to pull off more upsets under those circumstances than we had seen the rest of the league pull off in the playoffs in the last 20 years. This is just adding to the outstanding clutch resume Hallebertton has put together this season as he’s knocked down 10 of 11 gamety or go-ahead shots in the final two minutes. A stat so crazy it almost doesn’t seem real, but it is. And that big-time clutch shotmaking is a testament to a major reason that Hallebertton has been wildly underrated and misunderstood by a huge portion of the NBA world. Many NBA fans are obsessed with raw scoring numbers, and How’s 18 to 21 points per game won’t necessarily wow you, but he is an excellent scorer. This is reflected by his elite efficiency and his ability to take over as a bucket getter when needed, as we’ve seen him do in the clutch in these playoffs. So Harley is a very underrated and highly skilled scorer, but the thing is he doesn’t always have to score a ton to be an extremely impactful offensive player because he is the most selfless player in the league when it comes to leveraging his scoring threat into playmaking to create great offense for others, which he does at an elite level time and again. If you put the ball in his hands, he is going to get your team great shots consistently. And we see that first and foremost out of pick and roll. Howie produced 94th percentile efficiency pick and roll offense this season. And he has torched every pick and roll coverage that he’s seen in these playoffs. In the first round against the Bucks, Milwaukee initially tried their default drop coverage to counter the Halley pick and roll attack. given that their slow-footed center, Brook Lopez, really lacks the versatility to play other coverages. But how punished them relentlessly for playing drop. First off, he is one of the best pull-up three-point shooters in the NBA, having made better than 37% of his six pull-up threes per game this regular season. So, even though he was a bit off as a three-point shooter in the first round, the Bucks could not live with him walking into wideopen looks like this, as can happen out of drop if defender gets caught on the screen. But even more problematic was ability to get downhill to engage Lopez’s the drop defender, only to then find an excellent jump shooting big, Miles Turner, wide open off the pop. and Halley will make the right read and find him every single time. But he’s not just making the passes because one of the best floaters in the game, having shot 56% in the paint outside the restricted area this season, the second best number of any guard to attempt at least two such shots per game. Lopez has to respect that scoring threat and step up to challenge that shot once gets going downhill, which means he has to leave the big. So, it’s truly a pick your poison situation. Drop coverage was automatically going to concede a good shot to Indiana’s pick attack almost every time down. So the Bucks then turned to a much more switch-heavy scheme. But Lopez was unable to execute that at a remotely passable level as Hallebertton torched him over and over, consistently weaponizing the threat of his step back three to hesitate and then blow by Lopez. So Milwaukee went away from Lopez, their best center, entirely, playing him just 13 and a half minutes on average over the last four games of the series, less than half of the 32 minutes per game he played in the regular season. And instead, they turned to Bobby Portoris at center, given that he could switch and guard in space more capably. That was an improved strategy for Milwaukee. But overall, Hallebertton has been lethal attacking switches in these playoffs, generating a whopping 1.26 points per isolation in the postseason. That would be a 100th percentile number if he sustained it for a full year. Even when his target off the switch was Giannis, a freak athlete, Hallebertton was able to set him up, deceptively threatening the step back three, then quickly shifting gears to blow by him for two massive buckets to close out that series. Against the Cavs, his target off switches has been Jared Allen, a very capable big guarding in space. But Hallebertton has consistently been able to dance against him and either hesitate then drive past him or fame the drive to get Allen retreating to create plenty of space for his step back three, which is a weapon. Hi shot better than 37% on step back threes this year. He’s also an excellent mid-range shooter, having converted better than 48% of his attempts this season, so he can stop on a dime and hunt that look off a switch as well. I understand if people aren’t always wowed by the aesthetics, but Harley is extremely crafty, very shifty, and is an elite shotmaker with great positional size. So, he is very difficult for anybody to guard on an island, especially a big off a switch. So, his scoring arsenal is impressive and his efficiency is excellent from everywhere on the floor and out of basically all play types. But again, greatest asset is his passing and his ability to weaponize his scoring threat to create excellent shots for his teammates. This is why blitzing him out of pick and roll or bringing two up to the level in any way is essentially not even an option. He’ll use his elite size to see over top and fire a pinpoint accurate skip pass or he’ll float a pass to the roll man. If you put two on the ball, somebody is open somewhere and how is going to find him. You will never make him uncomfortable because he processes the game like a supercomput. And you will never force him into a mistake because he doesn’t make them. This man is averaging 10.7 assists and 1.7 turnovers in the playoffs. We’ve never seen a player post an assist number that high with a turnover number that low in a playoff run lasting at least seven games. And this is after he posted a 9.2 to 1.6 assist to turnover ratio this regular season. I’ve consistently called Hallebertton the best decision maker in the league because of his ability to maximize every advantage he creates while minimizing his mistakes more so than any other creator in basketball. And this doesn’t always look flashy, but it’s always impactful. Take this play. Hallebertton is isolating Tai Jerome, which is a very favorable matchup for him. So both Wade and Strus are shifted into helping positions, which means without even having to attack downhill, Harley has already slanted the defense towards him. So he whips a dead accurate no look pass to a wideopen TJ McConnell in the corner. This is part of his playmaking genius. He is as good as it gets at manipulating the defense with his eyes to open up or keep open the teammate he wants to find. Like here, he fakes the pass to Turner off the roll, so Trent rushes to tag him, which leaves Nesmith wide open. So, he may not always put up massive raw scoring numbers, but Hi is consistently treated like a star scorer by defenses, which means the opportunity is there for him to dominate as a playmaker. He’ll always take what the defense gives him, as he should. For example, Halley is always extremely efficient at the rim. He shot 72% in the restricted area this regular season and is shooting 77% there in the playoffs. Those are extraordinary numbers for a guard. But the reason for that elite efficiency is not because a dominant finisher. Although he does have great touch, great size and length for a point guard and underrated body control. It’s because he never forces a finish. If he gets past his man and the low man stays home and gives him a lane all the way to the cup, he will score. But if he gets past his man and draws help, he will make the kickout pass to find the open man every time. If you dare him to beat you as a scorer, he’ll do it. But if you give him chances to pick you apart as a passer, well, he’s even better at that. That is why he’s always so hyper efficient individually and why he leads to such consistent elite team offense when he’s on the floor. And Hallebertton isn’t just leading the playoffs in assists by far. He’s also second in hockey assists, which is when you make the pass that leads to an assist. And he ranked top three in both categories in the regular season. Honestly, I’m shocked he didn’t lead the league in hockey assists because so often Hallebertton creates an initial advantage, makes the initial read to find an open player and put the defense in rotation, and then the Pacers collective ability to make the extra pass takes care of business from there. But it’s Hallebertton who set things into motion. So, it’s important to understand that advantage creation is often very underrated. He is creating so many great shots, but he is also the perfect pure point guard, meaning he’s unrivaled in the NBA today in his ability to identify advantages and get the ball where it needs to go in the offense. Here, Turner briefly occupies two off the roll. So, Hallebertton skips this pass to Nemhard, who was only going to be open for a brief moment before Hunter recovered. But Harley gets the Pacers an easy three points by locating him instantly. His court vision and processing speed are extraordinary. So, if there is ever a defensive lapse off ball or if a teammate of his has a mismatch, Halley will find him more reliably than any other player in the NBA. Also, crucially, nobody is as good at pushing pace as Hallebertton. He is constantly looking to make hit ahead passes to create a chance for a teammate to quickly attack with an advantage. And the ability to diagnose and capitalize on those opportunities for early offense is extremely valuable because transition offense is the most efficient in basketball. Nobody gets you more of those chances than Harley. And while he’s pushing the tempo, he can still masterfully manipulate defenses. Here he stares down Seakkum to keep Merryill low so he can swing this pass to a now wideopen Andrew Nemhard. So much of Hall’s brilliance exists in these subtleties, the little things he does to make sure his team gets the best shot they can every possession. And this ability to diagnose easy opportunities so frequently really sets him apart because it is a rare and valuable trait. So many great guards are still stuck rigidly to playing the game their way to slowing down the pace, dominating the ball, spamming pick and roll, and perhaps forcing it as a scorer every so often. But uniquely, Harley remains in complete control while letting the game come to him. He plays fast, reads the game with exceptional speed, lets things flow, and is always ready to improvise at a brilliant level. He will never miss a chance at a freebie. And in the playoffs, where games are routinely decided by one to two possessions, his ability to consistently ensure you cash in on those few easy chances, can often be the difference. Another brilliant aspect of game, which also reflects his selflessness, is his offball play, where he’s one of the best guards in basketball. He’s brilliant and extremely efficient as an onball creator, but he’s also killer coming off of offball screens and is an elite spot-up player. He shoots over 43% on catch and shoot threes and is also very effective quickly attacking off the catch where he can get a step to get downhill and of course will find the open man if he collapses the defense. He’s also excellent at making the extra pass himself and is one of the best stars at relocating after giving the ball up initially to remain an active part of the offensive possession. His willingness to play off the ball and his ability to still provide elite impact there makes Hallebertton a more multi-dimensional and versatile offensive player than basically all of his guard peers. And it allows him to thrive alongside other ball handling guards like Andrew Nemhard or TJ McConnell, which is huge for the Pacers because they want to be able to get all those guys out there on the floor as much as they can and Harley enables that. So Hallebertton is extremely involved in the Pacers offense. He ranks second in touches per game, but his average time of possession per game ranks just 15th in the NBA. The ball never sticks to him as he makes the quickest and best decisions in the NBA to enhance the whole team offense to elite heights and enhance the offense he has. After leading the playoffs in offensive rating last year, the Pacers ranked second in these playoffs. And the difference in their performance when Hi is on the court compared to off it is massive. With him on the court, their offensive rating is about 124, which would be a historically great unit. When he sits, their offensive rating is about 110, which is a well below average playoff offense. The sample size there is small, but Hallebertton’s offensive onoff swing was also huge in the regular season when Indiana posted an elite 119 offensive rating with Hallebertton and a below average 111 offensive rating without him. So, if you’re paying attention, it is very apparent that this is one of the most impactful offensive players on the planet who night after night and year after year turns out some of the most reliably elite and prettiest by the way offense in basketball. Harley would also be one of my top choices to build any offense around because of his elite ceiling raising traits and ability to complement a wide variety of offensive archetypes you could put alongside him. So, here we are and after an Eastern Conference Finals run last year that many wanted to diminish as flukeish or even downplay Hallebertton’s role in, he and the Pacers are back making noise again. Indiana’s depth is great and the whole team deserves their credit for another impressive playoff showing. But Harley is the engine that makes it all go. And if you don’t like him for whatever reason, it doesn’t change the fact that he is an offensive genius. And right now, he’s giving everybody no choice but to acknowledge it or look stupid. You can choose.

Tyrese Haliburton has led the Indiana Pacers, once again, to produce an elite offense and an impressive playoff run as he has dazzled the NBA world with clutch performances. But for so long, he has been disrespected and misunderstood — so let’s explore why his brilliance is so impactful, regardless of the narratives.

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