So often in the NBA, stars are highlighted for their top skills. No one is shocked by Steph Curry's show of shooting anymore, nor do people doubt Giannis Antetokounmpo's ability to get to the rim, or LeBron James' basketball IQ.
However, within that conversation, we lose track of the supplementary skills that make players so much more than just the sum of their parts. In this series, we will take a deeper look at those secondary talents that certain Indiana Pacers leverage to maximize themselves.
The first player in that series is Ivica Zubac.
Ivica Zubac is many things. He is a throwback burly center, intent on bullying players in the paint, rejecting the slimming down of big men across the league to better command space in the lateral lanes of the court.
His size and the will to impose it are the core of his play. He exists to open up driving lanes for his teammate off of the screens he sets and to simultaneously allow his comrades time to recover on defense by being a massive impediment due to his mass alone.
However, even that description fails to describe the skill that his 7'0 frame carries. Hidden behind the bruising and bashing is a player with the inside touch to both pass and score from the block or on the short roll.
There's a reason the Pacers were so willing to swing a massive trade with the LA Clippers to bring him in, but maybe his above average skill in every aspect has led to certain parts of his play being underrated.
Maybe it's fitting that within the most underappreciated skill – rebounding – Zubac is among the most skilled. That surface-level understanding puts no value on his excellence, but the Pacers certainly do.
That's not to say that Zubac's rebounding alone is not worthy of praise, but simply that people think "of course the seven footer is going to be a good rebounder" instead of understanding how he does it.
Box out, run out, win out
Boxing out is one of the easiest things in basketball, so much so that it is accepted that middle schoolers can be told to do so without much other guidance and at least get close enough to pulling it off.
Everyone who has played organized basketball, though, knows that it is the first skill that goes out the window when players value numbers and aesthetics over winning.
Boxing out, much like screen setting, carries no statistical moneymaker. It carries all of the difficulty and irritation of establishing positions in the post without the opportunity for an isolation possession. In that way, it is the sign of someone willing to win games, even if it looks ugly.
Zubac uses his arms and hips to create a door that once allowed the Clippers and now allows the Pacers to finish defensive possessions without second chances.
This skill's apex was once reserved for Steven Adams, who helped Russell Westbrook get a rebounding bump that pushed him from maybe the best point guard rebounder ever to reaching a triple-double average.
Sometimes Zubac gets the board himself. Sometimes he just clears the space of any opposition.
Either way, the Pacers get the board and are ready to race in transition. That may be the skill that helps Indiana get to who they want to be, even with the pace problems that Zubac's play speed can bring.
Value lies in the little things, and Zubac may be the biggest player to be obsessed with things so tiny.
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