Blazers’ Covington Seeking to Add To His Repertoire Ahead of 2021-22

Prior to Robert Covington finding his groove midway through the season with thePortland Trail Blazers, things had a tendency to get rocky. Never mind the failing to score in double figures in 15 of his first 17 games after perennially being a double-digit scorer in each of the previous six seasons; never mind the struggling to crack 30 percent shooting from the field over that said stretch. It merely appeared Covington didn’t appear at ease as he once had.

One play in particular from his first road trip as a Blazer sort of encapsulates that most effectively: Covington found himself quarterbacking a 3-on-1 fast break, a godsend of an opportunity to score an efficient bucket in what had been a tough shooting stretch to that point.

The problem: he somehow managed todouble dribble,travel, and携带all in the same five-second sequence.

That situation didn’t come to define Covington’s 2020-21 season; with time, he pieced together a case for the team’s third most influential player last season. But he could’ve been slightly forgiven for forgetting how to dribble, particularly when you consider how seldom-used that aspect of his game was last season. Which introduces a new thought:

在过去的一周中，视频浮出水面突出了卡温顿的活力和专注于创建侵犯。It’s a portion of his game that he showcased in spurts early on before shifting towards becoming more of a catch-and-shoot specialist. In Chauncey Billups’ new system, just how much of a luxury can it be?

However you slice it, having Covington diversify as more of an off-the-dribble offensive threat in 2021-22 would certainly be a change of vibe in Portland’s offense. Last season, Covington ranked dead last on the Trail Blazers in average seconds per touch (1.54)和dribbles per touch (0.42), interesting only in that a player such as, say, Enes Kanter, was so effective at simple second-chance putback scores.

Among forwards that logged at least 1,000 minutes, that number placed at the No. 118 spot among 136 players. We’re talking rarified air in terms of him all of a sudden adding a couple of dribbles to his offensive moves.

卡温顿（Covington）展示了在小小的冲刺中这样做的能力，但是在大多数情况下，他在半场环境中的脱水比赛通常一直在惩罚过度雄心勃勃的近距离外观，或者踏上中距离外观，或者与防守者过度承诺在指甲的地方，卡温顿可能会碰到右肩膀的淡出。例如：

他还举了一些例子，在这些例子中，他能够将欺骗性的速度用作拖车，获得蒸汽的头并利用大型。如果开拓者在与卡温顿（Covington）的那些超级小球阵容上扩展，那么他们在上个赛季清洁玻璃的时间里有18％的时间，这些机会将会出现。

本月初，比利普斯提到开拓者将努力抵制下来的冲动jack 3-pointers unconsciously，这需要在弧内进行有效评分的需求。Midrange shots are essentially sacred ground for non-star players — of the NBA’s 32 most frequent users of said shot, 25 were a past or present All-Star — but if Covington can put the pressure on the defense when slightly more frequently, it’s not difficult to imagine the positives that come out of it.

In looking at Covington’s shot profile, pull-ups made up only 11.6 of that selection, but volume be darned, his numbers were actually better than on catch-and-shoot attempts. In each of his last five seasons, he’s taken at least 50 pull-ups, and he has three seasons with an eFG of higher than 50 percent.

当任务进行两个或更多的运球时，他还产生了一些静静的数字。上个赛季，他的投篮命中率只有85分（三分球命中率达到16杆的6中），需要2个以上的运球。但是在此之前的四个赛季中，他总共是354中的184个（51.9％）。其中很大一部分来自入侵传球车道，进入敞开的地板，然后闯入快速休息的机会。

但是也有半场的潜力。他从上述措施中获得51分之23，这是45.1个三分命中率。这是他的技能slightly more success with in Philadelphia, but, if fine tuned, could be an effective, sparingly-used counter to the Blazers’ offense.

It makes sense that Covington, in a contract season, would be seeking to broaden or re-broaden the scope of his skillset. Personally, it appears to be a hidden positive that he, along with fellow star Jusuf Nurkic, will in essence have even more motivation to enter 2021-22 with a heightened sense of urgency.

In whichever case, it makes sense to trust Covington given his work ethic. Recall that at the start of his career, coaches challenged him to become abetter defender为了留在联盟。一年内,首先他是一个团队All-Defensive Teamer. He’s also never had a negative on-off swing at any point in his career, signifying his feel for what betters the teams he’s a part of.

如果上个赛季有一个无懈可击的外卖，那就是每一个为达米安·利拉德（Damian Lillard）提供休息机会的进攻来源是一个受欢迎的景象。他的队友有机会将球投入球场并改善。希望这次他们不会走出界限，双手，旅行或继续前进。