Quick watch of Moses Moody in college & open thread

Re-watch of two big games late in the season

This was written after the Draft and before Summer League, which basically confirmed my impressions.

Moody Quick-scout

I decided to watch a couple of Moses Moody’s college games (embedded below). First was one of his hottest shooting games, second was one of his worst shooting games, both in playoffs.

You can look at his game line… Game 1 is the 2021.03.13 game and Game 2 is the 2021.03.27 game.

Game 1

Watching through one of Moody’s games (SEC semis), it’s striking how little of the offense got run through him. He got off to a super hot start (6-7, 17 PTS in first 6 minutes) and then for large stretches of the game, the team (and notably Notae the PG) wouldn’t get him even a touch. He ended with 28 PTS on 8-16. The last two minutes of the game, they actually repeatedly call a set that involves Moody (a basic flare) to ensure the ball goes to him.

(“They actually repeatedly call a set” means the coach called the play to make sure Moody got a touch or had gravity, as opposed to the long stretches of seemingly free form play.)

There were stretches where I couldn’t recognize what O was run by Arkansas beyond “hey let’s iso and dribble by my man”.

Moody definitely suffered from Arkansas’s limited shot creation, and he might really benefit from a system where he gets to move off-ball with purpose and where the ball finds him when open.

On D, Moody was solid. LSU almost always ran the action away from Moody. Then mid game, Ark started trapping with Moody leaving the corner and sneaking up to the ball up high, so the coach was counting on him to find the right moment to leave his man and to recover. He did quite well I thought.

Goofus: Since they were going away from him, did he look proficient at weak side help?

Eric Apricot: Not bad, but his man usually went to the far weak corner. The proficiency I saw was in his awareness of when and when not to double and how to disguise it.

Game 2

Watched another Moody game. This was the Sweet 16 ARK v Oral Roberts, one of Moody’s worst shooting games. Yes, he stunk it up shooting (14 PTS on 4-20, it would have been an easy win if he’d had a merely bad shooting day), but he still made lots of contributions, particularly on D. He was the head of the snake on the Ark trapping again, until Oral specifically adjusted, so Ark had to send someone else to double. Generally good rotations, though he got beat backdoor once.

Moody got more assertive on O when Ark needed a comeback, and actually drove most of the comeback with his (rare that day) points. Some big steals on D and hustle too, with one memorable play down the stretch, stripping from behind and flying to the floor. Good to see him making an impact despite the dreadful shooting.

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