Let’s zoom in on one particular moment during the Boston Celtics’ victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Most observers would probably notice the absolutely clutch shot making of Stephen Curry in this situation. But Curry – who was phenomenal against the Celtics – would never have been placed in that situation if it wasn’t for Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Toscano-Anderson sold out his body on that play, sacrificed it for the greater good, and is currently paying the price. The reward for the entire team was a bucket that gave the Warriors a chance to win, but the possible long-term consequences could be very dire, especially with the Warriors pivoting toward a tough matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
“That play speaks to just who he is as a person and as a player,” Curry said after the game. “He fought today and gave us everything he got. He’s one of a kind, for sure.”
The hustle and intensity of Toscano-Anderson on that sequence were nothing surprising, considering his journey toward earning a spot on an NBA team, let alone a spot on his hometown team. Born and raised in East Oakland, it was quite a serendipitous occurrence for Toscano-Anderson to have landed on the Warriors.
What better story could there be than the hometown kid being picked up by the team he grew up watching? What could be more enthralling than everyone recognizing him for the NBA-caliber player that he is?
Most of all, what are the chances that the hometown kid isn’t just an NBA-caliber player – but in fact, he’s actually pretty darned good?
Toscano-Anderson isn’t going to be a star or superstar level player, to be quite clear. He’s not going to magically become the Warriors’ second scoring option in the mold of a Klay Thompson.
But Toscano-Anderson has been an amalgamation of the Warriors’ past “glue-guys” – those who have played their roles well and acted as cogs that made the team a well-oiled machine, both on and off the court.
Toscano-Anderson is a throwback to a recent dynastic past, one whose multiple stars dominated the headlines, but whose veterans and super role players were the underlying bedrock that made the Warriors’ “Strength in Numbers” philosophy mean more than just a catchy motto.
Solid playmaking and play ‘connecting’
When Toscano-Anderson enters a game, you can almost feel the tenor change, as if almost on a whim. It’s not the same kind of impact that a superstar like Curry generates when he’s on the floor, but it’s most certainly there, if you look hard enough and pay attention just a little bit more.
It starts with Toscano-Anderson possessing a skill that no one else on the team save for Draymond Green has: short-roll playmaking.
Take this possession against the Cleveland Cavaliers:
Normally, this would be Green setting the screen for Curry, or Kevon Looney. Sets like these are deadly, especially with an empty corner on the side, which eliminates help and unlocks the ability of the roll man to dive in space, pass to a cutter in the dunker spot, or finish at the rim.
Toscano-Anderson fulfills the role of the short-roller beautifully. He is unquestionably one of a few players on the team capable of making split-second decisions in real time. That is a testament to his high basketball IQ that has been a scarce commodity for this particular iteration of the Warriors.
Everything falls in place beautifully when Toscano-Anderson is there to act as the bridge between Curry and the rest of his teammates. No one else would’ve caught that nifty behind-the-back pass by Curry, save perhaps for Green. But Toscano-Anderson has a synergistic chemistry with Curry on short-rolls, and has the vision to see one play ahead. He’s already decided on what to do upon receiving the pass: dropping it off to the cutting Damion Lee.
Such quick-hitting decisions are what head coach Steve Kerr craves for in a system that needs players to be assured and confident in themselves. His offense has no room for hesitation – you need to hit fast, and hit hard. That requires players to know what is being asked of them, and Toscano-Anderson certainly knows his role on the team.
Toscano-Anderson is just what the Warriors needed – a play “connector.” Curry doesn’t always have a direct line to the rest of his teammates, not when defenses are blitzing him on doubles and traps that hamper his peripheral vision. Toscano-Anderson is needed nearby as a release valve, like on this possession, where he connects with Lee again on a short-roll drop pass for a layup:
Toscano-Anderson can make plays from anywhere on the floor. He can comfortably station himself at the dunker spot, where chances are he’ll be left all alone as a result of Curry’s gravitational pull:
Something as seemingly mundane as making the extra pass is highly valuable, and Toscano-Anderson certainly knows when to pass up a good look when he’s confident that a more capable teammate in a better spot can score.
Toscano-Anderson isn’t winning any statistical contests; he’s averaging just a tick above 4 assists per 36 minutes. But the quality of the Warriors offense – crisp ball movement, meaningful player movement, and consistent offensive flow and tempo – improves with Toscano-Anderson’s presence on the floor.
A scorer on the margins
Toscano-Anderson has often been compared to Green and Andre Iguodala in terms of being a playmaker – the passing and IQ are obvious tells. But there is an argument that Toscano-Anderson is a much better scorer than both Green and Iguodala.
Toscano-Anderson isn’t counted on to create scoring opportunities for himself, and that has been perfectly fine for the Warriors. It isn’t his primary role. He probably won’t be tasked to play a secondary-scorer role, either.
When he has to score, he does so mostly from created opportunities:
All but one of Toscano-Anderson’s 25 three-point makes this season have been assisted – a 96% assist rate, per PBP Stats.
Toscano-Anderson can punish defenses who aren’t quite worried about him as a shooter – the Cavs certainly weren’t worried when they collapsed inside on the Jordan Poole drive above – and Toscano-Anderson has, for the most part, made defenses pay for leaving him open.
Toscano-Anderson puts up only 1.5 three-point attempts per game, but makes them at a 43.1% clip. Disregarding the obvious volume discrepancy, that percentage beats out Curry’s (42.7%) as the best on the team.
That is one aspect where Toscano-Anderson has both Green and Iguodala handily beat. Defenses have been perfectly content with sagging off Green (shooting 26.3% on threes this season), and despite his penchant for making timely shots, defenses certainly weren’t worried about Iguodala (a career 33.2% three-point shooter) consistently punishing them on jumpers.
Defenses still might not have Toscano-Anderson perfectly scouted – or perhaps they are treating his shooting as an anomaly, something that will eventually regress to the mean. In the meantime, Toscano-Anderson will continue to drill open shots.
The lack of urgency from Taurean Prince above is palpable – he fails to pick up Toscano-Anderson in transition, and gets burned for it.
Three-point shooting is just one aspect of Toscano-Anderson’s ability to score on the margins. He is a beneficiary of Curry’s gravity – something as simple as setting a screen for Curry can get Toscano-Anderson into space for a layup:
There are possessions where Toscano-Anderson’s IQ and scoring intersect. This particular sideline out-of-bounds play is a doozy:
Toscano-Anderson, aware that the defense is playing up high, fakes the dribble hand-off to Wiggins. The defense, anticipating the hand-off, is left behind in the dust by Toscano-Anderson, who strolls to the rim for the dunk.
That is a brilliant piece of decision making – but at this point, no one should be surprised anymore at what Toscano-Anderson is capable of, nor should anyone question his ability to contribute on the offensive end.
Defensive hustle
Toscano-Anderson has been a natural fit in the Warriors’ switch-heavy defensive scheme. He is a prototypical wing defender who has the ability to guard positions 1-5.
Here he is surviving – and thriving! – against a bigger Kevin Love:
In a previous matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, Toscano-Anderson kept Kevin Durant at bay, which is pretty much the most you can ask from him, considering the kind of all-world scorer Durant is:
But most of Toscano-Anderson’s value on defense has been from his hustle. He does most of the proverbial dirty work on that end by being an irritant and a pest, in addition to being an opportunistic roamer who plays the passing lanes and looks for opportunities to pick off passes that are thrown without care.
Toscano-Anderson easily sniffs out the pass above. It’s lazily thrown, but Toscano-Anderson’s effort in fighting over the flare screen allows him to intercept the pass.
He is especially dangerous during full-court pressure situations. He jumps at inbounders, keeping his hands up for a possible deflection. When the ball is inbounded to someone who is prone to getting picked off, he jumps at the opportunity:
Toscano-Anderson’s value on the defensive end has somewhat been overshadowed by his offensive highlights. That’s understandable – passing, dunking, and shooting threes are eye candy compared to the acquired taste that is defense. But looking at the on/off numbers will tell you that his value on defense has actually been much greater compared to his offense.
Per PBP stats, the Warriors are a slight positive during Toscano-Anderson’s minutes on the floor, outscoring opponents by 2.4 points per 100 possessions. That value has mostly come from how much the Warriors improve defensively when he’s on the floor – they allow 4.5 points per 100 possessions fewer in such minutes.
There’s a lot of noise and sample size issues to sort out there, but the simple explanation is that the Warriors have been the equivalent of a top 5 defense during Toscano-Anderson’s minutes.
That kind of value is something the Warriors have had trouble finding beyond Curry and Green. There’s arguably no one else on the roster who has provided the kind of Swiss-Army-knife skill set that Toscano-Anderson possesses, not to mention the hustle and competitive edge he plays with whenever his number is called.
Nothing was more symbolic of Toscano-Anderson’s value to the Warriors than the play that sent him flying beyond the barrier and off the court. Beyond the numbers and the skills, his desire to win at any cost has been his most endearing trait, one that shouldn’t go unrecognized.
“That’s a competitor,” Kerr said of Toscano-Anderson. “Juan is a guy you want on your team.” – Rappler.com
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