Film Room: Emmanuel Mudiay’s CBA debut (second half)

McDonalds All-American | Emmanuel Mudiay

Emmanuel Mudiay’s debut with the Guangdong Southern Tigers didn’t get off to the best of starts. The point guard committed a couple of careless turnovers in the first half and forced a number of shots at the rim. While he was able to get to the basket several times, he was either out of control or failed to make the right play, many resulting in fast break opportunities for the Beijing Ducks.

In case you missed it, here’s an extensive breakdown of the first two quarters.

The second half was a different case, though. Mudiay was quick to settle into his role and began making the sort of plays you’d expect from a top-five pick. He got his teammates involved while reading the defense rather than simply putting his head down and barrelling through the lane. He also made some big plays down the stretch to keep the Tigers within striking distance.

While Stephon Marbury would have the last laugh, it was a promising development for Mudiay.

Game Stats

18 points, 6-19 FG, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers

Third Quarter

Mudiay makes his defender pay for pressing up on him with a slick spin move to get an edge, followed by a burst of speed to break free. Unfortunately for Mudiay, however, the same man who has already turned his shot away multiple times on the night is the one patrolling the paint.

Mudiay doesn’t look to pull-up for a jump shot or floater once he beats his defender. Instead, he attacks the paint and jumps into Randolph Morris in an attempt to draw contact. Randolph fakes as though he’s going to block the shot and moves out the way, leading to Mudiay blowing an easy opportunity.

Over a minute later, Mudiay gets redemption on the fast break — his bread and butter.

Mudiay grabs a defensive rebound and dribbles his way in between two defenders, creating a four-on-two fast break. He pushes the ball up the center of the court and picks up his dribble at the three-point line — important because it helps balance the floor — forcing the defense to make a split second decision with two of his teammates floating to the perimeter and one cutting down the lane.

The Eagles stack up in a line, and with Sun Yue being the last line of defense Mudiay lobs the ball to Yi Jianlian in perfect stride for an alley-oop.

Mudiay wastes no time setting up another one of his teammates for an easy basket.

Mudiay casually dribbles the ball up court and is met yet again by Yue at half court. Rather than dribbling around him or running a pick-and-roll, he lobs the ball over to Chris Daniels, who is sealing his man just inside the free throw line. His pass catches the defense off guard (they were likely expecting the Tigers to run a set play) and leads Daniels perfectly underneath the basket.

The big man pump fakes, gets Morris in the air, and converts on an easy two-pointer.

Mudiay finds himself guarding the ball more in the second half and it leads to better results. Once engaged, he’s able to stick to ball handlers and use his strength to bump them out of position. However, the same problems remain on help defense, as showcased on this play.

Marbury calls for a high screen at the top of the perimeter and is able to beat his man and the switch. Mudiay, camping out in the corner, has his eyes on his defender and the ball but fails to slide over in ample time and cut Marbury off.

With no big man in the paint, Marbury saunters his way to the rim for an uncontested layup.

Mudiay is already an astute pick-and-roll player, which bodes well for his future in the NBA.

Mudiay dribbles the ball up court and runs a pick-and-roll with Daniels on the left wring. He sets Yue up perfectly with a simple yet effective stutter step that gets him on his heels and out of his defensive stance. Mudiay, with Yue on his back, takes two large steps to get to the rim and attempts to float the ball over his outstretched hands.

While he misses the shot, it’s one Mudiay will knock down more often than not.

When Mudiay got into the paint in the first half, he didn’t look to make the extra pass out to the perimeter once the defense collapsed. In the second half, though, he does a much better job of reading and reacting.

Mudiay gets the ball on an out-of-bounds and uses a quick screen set by Daniels to shrug off Yue. He’s able to get Morris moving side-to-side on the switch with a smooth crossover once inside the three-point line. Although Mudiay is slightly off-balance and unable to get off a good look, he makes the right pass to Jianlian popping out to the baseline for a long two.

This play is a good example of why Mudiay doesn’t need to seek contact as often as he does when he gets into the paint.

Mudiay is picked up by Marbury in transition and blows by the former NBA All-Star with a quick first step. Zhe Ji is forced to switch onto him and instead of barreling into his chest, Mudiay uses his athleticism to float to the right of the basket, cradles the ball and kisses it off glass with some english.

Mudiay short-arms the layup but it’s another shot he will knock down as he gets acclimated to the pros.

Mudiay is comfortable attacking his man off the dribble, yet he’s also capable of creating space without putting the ball on the floor.

Isolated in the left corner, Mudiday uses a strong jab step to jolt Xiaochuan Zhai. In the process, he creates the space he needs for an open lane to the basket and begins to attack. When Zhe Ji helps off his man to protect the rim, Mudiay gets caught in the air trying to make a play.

Instead of forcing it over the 7-footer like he did in the first half, Mudiay swings the ball to the opposite baseline with a perfect chest pass, which leads to an open three-pointer by JunFei Ren.

Some scouts believe Mudiay is a jump shot away from being a future star in the NBA. While he has strides to make in that department, there’s no shortage of confidence.

The Eagles have been going over screens all game long and for good reason — it’s no secret that Mudiay wants to get to the rim and they’ve been able to slow him down by icing pick-and-rolls. However, with the clock winding down in the quarter, Mudiay is well aware that he doesn’t have the time to make a play at the basket. He calls for a high screen-and-roll and looks immediately for his shot.

Sure enough, with Songtao Zhang sagging off in anticipation of him turning the corner, Mudiay gets the space he needs and confidently knocks down a three-pointer to cut the deficit into single digits.

Fourth quarter

This is all you need to know about Mudiay in one play.

On the inbound, Mudiay sprints up court and looks to attack the defense while they are still back-pedalling. As he’s done before, he hits Yue with a stutter step and blows past him to get into the lane, only this time he doesn’t seek contact — he lets it come to him.

Mudiay jumps up in the air, uses his core strength to absorb contact and finishes strong.

Judging solely by his shot selection, it’s easy to see Mudiay is more settled by the time the fourth quarter rolls

Although Yue has a big height advantage, Mudiay goes away from the screen and puts his ball handling on display with a crossover, spin move and stutter step in a matter of seconds. With that succession of moves, Mudiay blows past Yue on the isolation and sees nothing but daylight as he turns the corner.

Once he picks the ball up in the paint with Yue closing out on him, Mudiay gathers his dribble, patiently shows him a pump fake before and gives him a friendly nudge to open up space.

Mudiay’s last basket in his debut comes on a veteran-like sequence.

Using a high pick-and-roll, Mudiay hugs the screen to get Yue on his back, robbing the former Laker of the opportunity to recover. After a brief pause to survey the scene, he attacks the lane and keeps Zhang guessing with a nifty euro-step. Although he’s unable to get right to the rim, he fades to his side and shoots a smooth floater over the center that kisses nothing but the net.