2016-17 numbers at a glance
With Roberson, there’s plenty to talk about. Let’s start with the bad.
Save for some kind of offensive renaissance this offseason, traditional statistics will never be kind to Roberson. A career 26 percent shooter from distance and 49 percent shooter from the charity stripe, Roberson’s offensive numbers leave a lot to be desired.
When 30 points vacated the offense before the start of the season, it was only natural Roberson would pick up a few more scraps and see a bump in his per-game scoring (he posted a career-high 6.6 points in 30 minutes a night), but his efficiency dropped off the cliff.
Despite playing nearly 1,000 minutes more than the previous campaign, Roberson accumulated fewer offensive win shares than in 2015-16. His true shooting percentage reached a career-low (51 percent) and of the 184 triples he attempted (a career-high), he connected on just 25 percent (a career-low if we throw out the 2-for-13 performance from his rookie season).
Related: Roberson vital to Thunder’s future success
On three-point looks classified as “wide open” – the closest defender is more than six feet away – Roberson shot 25 percent. Those wide open looks made up over four-fifths of his total three-point shots.
(If emojis could be used, there’d be an upside-down smiley face one right here.)
Playoff notes:
Still, the 2016-17 playoffs offered a sliver of hope for what might be coming in Roberson’s future. In five games against Houston, he posted an impressive line: 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 2.4 steals on 52 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from deep.
The free throw shooting (3-for-21) was unsightly but the offensive presence was a nice change of pace. Is he going to hit 40 percent of his threes over the course of a season, probably not, but Roberson showed he has the ability to knock down shots when it counts.
Statistical highlights:
Now let’s flip the floor and look at the good stuff.
Roberson nearly doubled his career-high for defensive win shares in a season (3.1 up from 1.6 last year). With Roberson on the floor last season, opposing teams posted a 106.3 offensive rating. That number skyrocketed to 110.9 when he sat.
Related: Roberson the Thunder Minute Man
Thanks to his combination of lateral movement and length, Roberson’s presence on the perimeter helped hold opponents’ effective field goal percentage nearly two percentage-points lower than when he sat.
Take the video below for example. In a Dec. 11 game against the Boston Celtics, Roberson sticks with Boston guard Avery Bradley and forces a miss at the rim.
Watch how quickly Roberson can pivot his feet and move his hips to keep Bradley in front of him. With Bradley looking to go left, Roberson keeps his right arm extended, and when Bradley reverses and goes to the middle, Roberson switches to his left to contest without fouling. The discipline, both in his lower and upper body, is what helps his defensive numbers stand out. It also helps against guys like James Harden, who lives off of defensive breakdowns.
Harden loves to create contact as he’s driving to the basket. On this play from Game 4 of the Thunder’s first round matchup with Houston, Roberson does a good job of keeping space between himself and Harden, up until Harden goes up for the actual shot. Roberson goes completely vertical with his body and uses his length to block the shot. Textbook kids.