'21 Season E1P Review: James Wiseman's baby steps

Very very large baby steps

A list of all Explain One Play articles and videos is at The new Explain One Play index. Plus visit the 2020-21 Season Reviews Guide.

To get us in the mood for next season, I’m going to run some Explain One Play highlights of 2020-21. Many of these previously were subs-only articles, but are now free as a present to our faithful off-season readers.

Now, four videos from two January games. James Wiseman was showing he was very raw, but also he was learning very fast. His cursed season left him with almost no practice time, but he showed a lot of progress in a short time. And a lot of room for growth… good thing we hired all those development geniuses, right?

Explain One Play - James Wiseman Stops Drop, Shows on Defense

Remember the good old days, back when the Warriors had at least one human who played the center position?

This video is from the early days of the season, back when the Warriors got blown out by the Blazers trying a drop scheme on defense. Young James Wiseman came through with a new no-jumping show scheme to slow the Blazers and help the Warriors unleash a revenge blowout in the rematch 2021.01.03 POR-GSW game.

Explain One Play - James Wiseman's Double Double Offense

A short tour of how James Wiseman got his double double points, along with descriptions of enjoyable local scenery like Draymond Green trying to use butt power to set a snowplow screen and Andrew Wiggins helping Jusef Nurkic sample the local hardwood.

From the 2021.1.3 POR-GSW game.

Explain One Play - James Wiseman Dunks The Spurs Many Times

This is a video analysis of how James Wiseman got so many dunks in his breakout game, SAS-GSW on 2021.01.20. Co-starring Stephen Curry as the general and dirty work doer, Draymond Green as the lob master, Kelly Oubre as the driver and kicker, Andrew Wiggins as the gentle disher, and a supporting cast of Spurs who don’t seem happy with each other.

Explain One Play - James Wiseman's Personal Record Four Assists

James Wiseman caught attention in his breakout game, SAS-GSW on 2021.01.20, for his big dunks, but my eye was caught by his unheralded personal record four assists. This is a video dive into how he got his assists, and whether he’s really improving as a playmaker. Co-starring Stephen Curry as the big screen setter and unrequited lover, Draymond Green as a backdoor cutter, Andrew Wiggins as a tough shot maker, and Jordan Poole as enhancer of garbage time.

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