David West doesn’t really mess around.
The Pacers locker room is pretty loose. While a few guys are with the training staff getting taped up for the game, the rest of the team is casually stretching out in front of the television, eyes glued to the matchup between Cleveland and Oklahoma City. Several guys groan when LeBron argues a call; it’s clear that old wounds from postseasons past have not yet fully healed. Everyone seems pretty jovial before what seems to be a pretty meaningless mid-January game in Orlando.
Everyone, that is, except for West.
It’s clear that West has other things on his mind. Maybe the Pacers’ seven-game losing streak has him in a sour mood. Maybe he’s just tired, relieved to be finishing up a long and grueling road trip.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Or perhaps, he’s just focused; David West is a professional, and the Pacers have a job to do.
West would eventually lead the Pacers to a tough-fought win over the Magic, coming back from 9 points down in what would eventually become known as “The Damo Rudez Game.” While Rudez and George Hill (who returned to the lineup from injury and lifted the team with a ferocious tomahawk late in the game) received most of the postgame credit, the 17-Foot Assassin finished with 20 points while hitting 8-of-15 field-goal attempts. In the crucial fourth quarter, he took it upon himself to modify the Pacers’ defensive strategy against the pick-and-roll and helped to create two big-time turnovers that helped to flip the outcome.
The post-game locker room was full of joy and happiness, but off in the corner, West had a different look — a look of relief and satisfaction.
“There’s a certain way you need to conduct and carry yourself and be, and you don’t compromise on that,” said West after the win. “You don’t compromise your integrity and you don’t compromise who you are. Things you’ve built in terms of the legacy you want to believe. You walk around excuse free, and rather than trying to find excuses, you try to find solutions and be accountable.”
David West’s Season
Digging through all the noise of this Indiana Pacers season is difficult. Nearly every player not named Solomon Hill has been hit with some injury this season, including David West, who missed the first 15 games with a sprained ankle. Traditional numbers only tell a fraction of the real story.
While many around the league seem to feel that David West is slipping, for the most part, West’s numbers look pretty similar to what he’s done for the past three seasons in Indiana. After an early-season mini slump, his field-goal percentage has mostly returned to normal and his rebounding is nearly identical to what it was last year.
Per NBA.com, West is shooting 49% from midrange and 46% on catch-and-shoot jumpers, good for fifth best in the league among guys that take more than 5 such shots per game. Coming into the season, Kirk Goldsberry proclaimed that West was the 12th best shooter in the entire league, right behind Klay Thompson. While many of the names on this list would probably swap spots right now (Kyle Korver only fourth?!?), West has remained one of the elite shooters in all of basketball.
But a more detailed look shows a few troubling signs. Even though West has excelled on the perimeter, he’s only taken 34.9% of his shots within 10 feet from the basket, down from 49.5% last year, according to Basketball-Reference.
As recently as two years ago, David West could lower his left shoulder and come away with points seemingly any time he wanted. In fact, this was Indiana’s go-to play when trying to close out games.
This year’s version of David West has simply not done that as much.
Not only has West been less able to create for himself off the dribble, but he’s also been less effective in getting to the free-throw line. West is averaging 2.6 free-throw attempts per-36 minutes this year, and that number has continued to fall during his tenure in Indiana (down from 3.7 last year and 4.7 the season before).
“You don’t compromise your integrity and you don’t compromise who you are … You walk around excuse free, and rather than trying to find excuses, you try to find solutions and be accountable.” – David West
Fortunately for West, he has been able to improve his accuracy both at the rim and at the free-throw line, making the quality of a David West drive still quite good. But the quantity just hasn’t been there this season. West, himself, admitted that he’s mostly been trying to do the same things this year as last, but as he gets older, he hasn’t been able to do as much off the bounce.
Instead, West has often found himself floating around the perimeter.
In this potential game-winning play from last month, watch as West never even enters the lane, despite being defended by Ryan Kelly. Roy Hibbert took the brunt of the post-game blame, but West’s inability to create anything going towards the basket was just as much of a concern.
Next: Continued - David West: Present and Future
What David West Now Brings to the Table
Things are not all bad for the aging star.
As David West’s ability to get to the rim has declined, West has begun to evolve as an offensive player, especially as a passer. West is assisting at a considerably higher rate than he ever has in his entire career, both on a per-game and per-36 minute basis.
He has increasingly shown a nifty little high-low post entry pass in his arsenal, and the Pacers still prefer to work through David West at the top of the key during crunch time. The Pacers have implemented several different high-low sets featuring him as the focal point playmaker, and the results generally have been positive.
West showcased his improved passing in his 6-assist performance three weeks ago against Golden State.
While some of these passes could be described as “basic entry pass” in variety, it’s important to note that the Pacers have lacked anyone to make these basic entry passes for quite some time. For the past three postseasons, Indiana has struggled to get the ball inside, especially against pressure-heavy teams like the old Miami Heat.
Golden State plays a more conservative defense than those Heat of yesteryear, but notice specifically how quickly David West is recognizing the play.
These are the types of plays that emphasize West’s growth and evolution. Outside of Blake Griffin, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, and a few others, there just aren’t that many bigs in the league that consistently make these passes. “Peak West” was prone to hold the ball too long at the top of the key while he methodically surveyed his options. This year, he has moved away from his ball-stopping tendencies.
The majority of his shots have always been of the catch-and-shoot variety, but this year, he’s taking even more of these “hot potato jumpers” then ever before. In 2013-14, nearly one-third (30%) of West’s shots came directly via the pass, per NBA.com. That number has spiked to almost half of his shots (47%) in 2014-15. Moreover, two-thirds (66%) of West’s field-goal attempts this year have come within two seconds of him touching the ball, up from 58% last season.
Of course, some of this can be traced directly back to his declining ability to beat his defender off the bounce, but West has been making a concerted effort to move the ball quicker in 2015.
“As you get older, you wanna do less off the bounce,” said West. “And you concede that you may not be able to get by guys the way you used to. But also, we can’t stop the ball. Guys want to sometimes catch and do all that [one-on-one] stuff, but you gotta make sure that you’re getting good shots by getting ball movement to get a quality look.”
“As you get older, you wanna do less off the bounce, and you concede that you may not be able to get by guys the way you used to.” – David West
West has dribbled less, posted up less, and gotten to the foul line less in 2014-15, but not all of this has been bad for the Pacers. By his own admission, he’s been leading by example with the ball in his hands, trying to help fix the often stagnant and cramped Pacers offense.
Incredibly, the power forward hasn’t played a single minute in 2014-15 with a repeated lineup from last year. Read that again. Not one time this season has David West ever been on the floor with four other guys and thought, “Oh, I remember that one time last year when the five of us played at the same time.” Further, he’s played less than 40 total minutes together with four other guys that were even on the team last year; this number is cut by more than half if you exclude Solomon Hill who spent more time in the D-League in 2013-14 than on an NBA court.
For a team built around consistency and chemistry, the results of such turnover can be catastrophic.
Indiana has performed worse with David West on the court this year than any other individual player, yet, his context is most unique of anyone’s. Unlike, say, Lavoy Allen, West has spent the majority of his floor time against other team’s starting lineups.
While this role is not much different from years past for West, the roles of his surrounding teammates have shifted dramatically. The Pacers have had one of the worst starting lineups in the league this season no matter who they have trotted out. Running a play through West at the high post while he’s flanked by Paul George, Lance Stephenson, and George Hill is far different from anything he’s had to do so far in 2014-15.
Sun Setting on the West?
There comes a point in every player’s career where he is inarguably on the decline, but David West doesn’t mess around. As West has aged, he has made a conscious effort to evolve his game in little ways that should enable him to remain a useful and valuable player for at least a few more years.
Remember, for West, no excuse is good enough.
West isn’t the same player he was in 2012, but he’s still a very good piece for the Indiana Pacers moving forward. It’s possible that his days as a go-to scorer in crunch time may be over. When the top-seeded Pacers were on the ropes against the feisty Atlanta Hawks last season, David West put the Pacers on his back and almost singlehandedly won Game 6 on the road. That player may not be coming back. But the current version is still pretty good, and the new-and-improved passer may actually better complement Paul George than before.
David West possesses a skill set that will enable him to contribute for several more years.
His basketball IQ is off the charts, it’s doubtful that he will ever become even a below-average shooter, and his “below the rim” game was never going to be doomed by losing a few inches on his vertical.
The ways he traditionally has affected the game may be changing, but people like David West rarely fade into the background without a fight.