Mailbag: Arron Afflalo more dynamic than Wesley Matthews?
By David MacKay
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Arron Afflalo plays more aggressively than Wesley Matthews does in certain situations, but I don’t think I would necessarily call him more dynamic because of this. Afflalo puts the ball on the floor more because he is pretty comfortable with a mid-range jumpshot, but is unaccustomed to the catch-and-shoot style of Portland’s offense. This is both a benefit and a detriment.
Consider the way Matthews plays the perimeter compared to Afflalo. Upon catching the ball, Matthews nearly instantaneously makes the decision to shoot or pass. He is quick enough on the release that most threes are still high percentage shots, even with a defender closing in. Yet, if he cannot get a good look, he swings the ball while the defense is still shifting. All of this works great within Portland’s system, so darting to the rim is generally unneeded.
Afflalo, on the other hand, prefers to take his defender off the dribble if he feels they are too close. Sure, he will take an open three if he has a clean look, but he will often stop to examine his other scoring options by throwing a jab step and seeing how his defender responds. Sometimes it allows him to get closer to the hoop, and sometimes it creates a step-back opportunity, but sometimes the shot isn’t there and he passes back to reset the offense.
While Afflalo’s more aggressive approach to scoring is incredible when it works, it gives the defense a lot of time to get in position when it doesn’t. Thus, he seems to play more dynamically as an individual, but can have a static effect on the offense as a whole, and, unfortunately, sticky fingers also eat clock. This is not to label Afflalo a selfish player, because he isn’t one. He just has a different approach to scoring that has served him well in other systems. And, as you suggested, it often serves him well here.
As far as the playoffs go, the Trail Blazers probably aren’t any more dangerous with Afflalo in the starting lineup than they were with Matthews. Afflalo is a carbon copy of Matthews on the block, which is nice, but he is marginally less adept at shooting and defending. Being more of a penetration threat doesn’t quite make up for these deficits.
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However; Afflalo’s style does lend itself well to getting to the free throw line more often. In the playoffs, the ability to score with a dead clock can make or break a comeback effort, so this could end up being the primary advantage of his aggressive play. He also shoots 84.0 percent from the line compared to Matthews’ 75.2 percent. We saw how valuable that is as recently as Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets.
Ultimately, Afflalo won’t make the Trail Blazers more dangerous than Matthews would have, but it is hard to argue that he will make them measurably worse. Some aspects of his game hold situational value while others mirror Matthews’ enough that he fits in most regular circumstances anyway. The differences are not enough to call him more dynamic come playoffs, but he will be equally important to the Trail Blazers’ success.