Dub Nation HQ

Share this post

Explain One Play: Jonathan Kuminga, the defensive stopper

dubnationhq.com

Explain One Play: Jonathan Kuminga, the defensive stopper

a Labor Day present: video deep dive into one of JFK's G-League games

Eric Apricot
Sep 6, 2021
16
29
Share this post

Explain One Play: Jonathan Kuminga, the defensive stopper

dubnationhq.com

A list of all Explain One Play articles and videos is at The new Explain One Play index.

Jonathan Kuminga was scouted as being lazy defensively. I did a close watch of one of his Ignite games and found this was not at all the case. Confusion and messing up on switches on first glance looks a lot like lazy indifference. But I think those are really different.

This video looks at Kuminga trying to lead an inexperienced defense to defend difficult plays like the Spain stack pick and roll, in the 2021.02.27 Ignite-Stars game.

I saw a good defender, who was even a leader on the court directing traffic. They had Kuminga guarding little point guards for half the game, and he did really well. They had him guarding small ball 5s for part of the game, so he had to play different roles on D in a way that Jalen Green did not and really no one else had to.

He guarded ball on pick and roll, he guarded screeners. He guarded rollers on stagger screens. He carried a heavier defensive load than any other Igniter did. He contested well and recovered pretty smoothly. He hustled throughout the game.

The big defensive issue I saw was communication on switches. Kuminga consistently had mix ups with #20 and #4 (Jalen Green) on who would cover whom. But I saw that from the whole Ignite squad. I don’t know how much prep time they had, but they definitely played like a team that hadn’t gelled on defense.

Short Version (free)

It’s 13 minutes long, so there’s plenty here for everyone. This video focuses on Kuminga’s trying to organize switches against the Spain stack pick and roll.

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and like and comment on the video… it helps us a lot and it’s free to do. Thank you.

Full Version (subs only)

This 31 minute epic covers Kuminga’s defense against the Spain stack PNR but also stagger screen pick and roll, and the fake handoff. In all cases, Kuminga showed coverage improvement from play to play.

If there’s demand, I’ll also assemble a movie on Kuminga’s offense in the G-League.

To watch this, you’ll need the subscriber password (click to get it).

Raw Game Footage

This is the actual video I watched of the game. You can enjoy it in all its raw splendor.


Give a gift subscription

29
Share this post

Explain One Play: Jonathan Kuminga, the defensive stopper

dubnationhq.com
29 Comments
Backpack23
Sep 8, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

Thanks Eric, a nice breakdown and easy watch. Looking forward to a follow up after a few games in the regular season...hell maybe even after game 1. Really hoping JK gets some time guarding LBJ in the season opener!

Expand full comment
Reply
BKisforSF
Sep 8, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

Love it. Thanks Apricot. If nothing else, Kuminga will be fun to watch. And genuinely what interests me most about Kuminga’s game is his defensive potential, which is stratospheric. I mean, you can always project Kawhi level shot improvement on any prospect, but that doesn’t make it likely. What this gives more confidence in is his floor. Honestly never felt better about this pick than I do after watching this vid, and that’s mostly because the more I see of this guy, the more I realize how truly competitive he is. That bodes very well. Go dubs!

Expand full comment
Reply
1 reply
27 more comments…
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Let's Go Dubs, LLC
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing