Victor Oladipo prides himself in taking control of things late in games for the Indiana Pacers, but what do the stats say about the result?
Victor Oladipo isn’t just the Indiana Pacers star player or just the mayor of Indianapolis. He is who the Pacers turn to when they need to score. He’s the guy they expect to win them games.
Oladipo knows this and has no problem taking the good and the bad that comes with that role. He loves it. He embraces it.
In an extensive interview with J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star, Oladipo stated he no longer plays a conservative game compared to his stops before Indiana and loves taking the clutch shots for the Pacers.
"“I push the envelope. I play nothing safe now,” Oladipo says. “I’m the guy if we’re down two, I’m pulling up for three. I work too hard to not push the envelope. I used to be conservative but that really didn’t get me anywhere.”"
That isn’t hypothetical, either. There were a handful of these moments of glorious domination this season and those were two of the three moments where Oladipo did take a three when the Pacers were down by two with under a minute left.
We remember the game-winners against the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, but he had one more of those ‘down two, take a three’ shots that didn’t go down when the Pacers played the Denver Nuggets. Thankfully, a few moments later Thaddeus Young would tie the game, leading to an overtime win.
While these particular clutch moments are rare in the NBA — only 92 shots last season out of 1230 games — Oladipo had the second-best percentage in the league (minimum three attempts) at 66.7 percent.
Though he certainly lives up to the spirit of his quote, he was 3 of 8 when the Pacers were down by two late in games, meaning he took four two-point baskets in those particular situations. Maybe Indiana is better off when Oladipo is pulling up for 3-pointers instead of working for regular-old two-pointers.
Even if you pull back to a more conservative estimate of what clutch is — on NBA.com, the threshold starts at within five points with five minutes left — in the fourth. Oladipo had the 6th most attempts and made 43.8 percent of his shots and 31.1 percent from deep. Only LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan took more and made more in those close, late-game situations.
If you take that time frame down with the final minute, Oladipo’s field goal percentage drops to 30 percent, but even LeBron only makes 41 percent of his attempts in those situations.
Those lower percentages are just a reminder of how hard it is to make shots in those clutch moments. It’s even harder when you’re playing from behind.
But Oladipo isn’t afraid of those moments. He doesn’t back down from them. If the Pacers are down two, Oladipo takes the 3-pointer