Dante Exum Ranked Worst Point Guard In NBA

Mar 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) throws up the ball for a basket and foul against Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

It took several weeks for anyone else to catch on, but it’s a drum we began banging long ago: Dante Exum doesn’t like to venture into the paint on offense. Some flat-out refused to speak of it at all when asked, while others become emotionally invested in his defense, often citing Exum’s defense as the reason he makes up for it. While a good defender, that latter is overstated some. There is light at the end of the tunnel, though.

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"Never has a guard in the history of the NBA playing 1,700 minutes in a season — Exum is currently on pace to play 1,733 minutes — made fewer trips to the free throw line than Dante Exum will in 2014-15. And it’s not even close.–The J Notes, March 23, 2015"

Whether from a mental block or a fear of being humiliated or injured, Exum has shown an irrational fear of venturing into the restricted area at a startling rate — not a trait desirable in a point guard.

ESPN’s braintrust of analysts ranked every starting NBA point guard, and the results weren’t kind to the fresh-faced Aussie who has now started 33 games, logging 1,583 NBA minutes along the way.

"US sports giant ESPN released its rankings on Monday, giving grades to 30 point guards in four categories: leadership; defence; shooting/scoring; and passing/playmaking.Exum came in 30th, with ESPN giving him the lowest rating for leadership, second poorest for playmaking and third from the bottom in scoring.He tied for 23rd in defence.–News.com.au, Dante Exum ranked worst starting point guard in NBA"

Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder recently said both Dante Exum and Trey Burke do certain things well, indicating that if he could somehow combine the pair he’d have an ideal NBA point guard.

His assists percentage over the last six games has fallen off precipitately from an already low 17% to a paltry 8.6%

"The Jazz don’t need a gold medalist, an Olympian, an All-NBA member, or even an All-Star. Expecting that type of production in today’s point guard heavy NBA is a lot to ask from even the most optimistic Jazz fan, but the Jazz need a legit starter to fill the role.Having drafted point guards with back-to-back lottery picks over the past two summers, while ignoring adding proven NBA veterans in free agency, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey had to be thinking one of two things: either Trey Burke or Dante Exum was ready to step in and fill the starting role immediately, or the supporting cast around these point guards was farther from competing than they’ve proven this year.Either way, he was wrong, as neither Burke nor Exum has placed a stranglehold on the position, while Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert appear ready to compete for a playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference.–Ben Anderson, KSL.com"

In the six games since we last checked on Exum he’s still taking two-thirds of his shots from three, making only 21% of the attempts. The kid’s legs are clearly gone at this point. There’s a good chance he’s played as much basketball in this one season as he had for the previous five years combined.

Dante Exum’s shot chart from March 21-30, a span of his last six games

Dante Exum was recently ranked as the worst starting point guard in the NBA at ESPN. By quite a lot

See the full list from ESPN here

However, it’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to Dante Exum. Despite the certain fatigue he must be feeling, he’s still making an effort to rectify the facets of his game that have been found wanting.

The vast majority of the time, Dante Exum acts nothing like point guard, bringing the ball across the time line then immediately passing it off and strolling to one corner or the other where he waits for a kick-out three attempt that doesn’t often fall.

His assists percentage over the last six games has fallen off precipitately from an already low 17% to a paltry 8.6% in that span of games. Nevertheless, he’s made a few efforts that give promise that he can crack that shell at some point.

Watching film of Dante Exum from his last six games, I found 12 instances where he ventured into the paint with the ball, one of which was a fast-break bucket, the other 11 times in the half-court. That’s more than he was doing before, previously taking a wide arc a good ten feet from the rim at the closest.

Exum still shows a reluctance to go to the hoop — I did find two instances we’ll cover in a moment — opting to most often drive in to just below the free throw line, then either:

The vast majority of the time, Dante Exum acts nothing like point guard, bringing the ball across the time line then immediately passing it off

• Dribble back out and pass off

• Curl in with the dribble from east to west, continuing through to the other side, then look for a big man screen to get behind

• Take a 7-8 foot floating flip-shot in the general direction of the iron (three times, none dropped)

Dante Exum does show a good awareness of the shot clock, either making himself available for a three or long two when he sees the clock running out, or just as often dribbling behind the nearest teammate screen and getting a long shot off before the buzzer sounds. Neither of these are very efficient, high percentage shots, but it does avoid a shot clock violation and give the NBA’s best offensive rebounding team in the Jazz a chance at an extended possession.

When Dante Exum gets anywhere near traffic with the ball in his hands he tends to panic. On this play he had Kiwi Steven Adams beat off the dribble and made a dash for the rim.

Dante Exum takes Steven Adams off the dribble

Using that speed we keep hearing about, Exum had everyone beat by two steps.

Dante Exum beats everyone to the paint

Sadly, as is often the case when he’s near the paint with the rock, Dante Exum panicked and tossed up a premature flipper that clanked off the bottom of the iron. You had everyone beat, take that up strong, kiddo!

@1tobeamup @Clintonite33 Some will come but the natural instinct to score is lacking. That worries me b/c it'll limit his ability to create.
— Peacock (@PeacockJazz) March 31, 2015

There was a little light at the end of the tunnel against the Portland Trail Blazers with what may be Exum’s strongest drive of the season. Teams sag off the Aussie by quite a lot, knowing he’s little threat to score or create.

This time, “X” would fool them all.

With a chance for a wide open three-pointer, Exum pump-faked.

Dante Exum had a choice to make on this possession

A wide open lane opened up, and this time Exum turned on the burners for once, collapsing the defense.

A rare occasion, Dante Exum spotted a wide open lane and made a break for the paint

THIS is what you wanna see from Dante Exum. He went all the way to the restricted area with the rock and — GASP — wasn’t killed, maimed, injured or humiliated.

Dante Exum penetrates the paint for an assist to Derrick Favors

Derrick Favors would take the dish-off from Exum and put that baby gently to bed in the twine. We need to see this from Dante Exum six times a game rather than one time in six games.

An offseason of training at P3 should do wonders for his frame and physical confidence. Hopefully that will give him what he needs to realize he could go turbo to the paint at will.