Scoring from midrange remains crucial for Pascal Siakam

On the latest episode of "Strictly Hoops", C.J. Miles and Amit Mann explain why Pascal Siakam's scoring outside the paint is pivotal if he wants to be a consistently elite scorer. Full episode is on the "Raptors Over Everything" podcast feed.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: I love hearing Pascal Siakam yell Yessir.

C.J. MILES: Yeah.

AMIT MANN: Right? When you can hear it in the away gym things are going really well. He was terrific yesterday

C.J. MILES: Man, third quarter was special.

AMIT MANN: Oh man. There was someone who asked Fred he's like, Pascal didn't have his best game, and then Fred looked at him was like, i don't know. 26, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks. It's not too bad. And so I'm happy that he actually informed him. That's not a bad game even though Pascal didn't shoot above 50%, which he normally does but that game is becoming like a staple for Pascal. 26, 7 and 11. And he had some crazy blocks last night.

I love that he-- yesterday, he was working outside in almost.

C.J. MILES: Mm-hmm.

AMIT MANN: Right? And typically it's the other way and that's what you encourage star players to do. But for him, because of how walled off the paint is, it's like he's slowly accepting that if I get the outside game going the inside is going to get-- is going to become that much easier.

C.J. MILES: I think-- to me, I think his greatest weapon is his mid-range now. Like, I think that's where it's-- I guess that counts as outside too. He's not shooting a bunch of 3's so-- but I think that's just what pops into my head. Like you watch that third quarter, he creates so much space in that 15 to 7 foot-- 17 foot area and even the little fade-away he's developed when he's backing smaller guys in right almost to the dots in the paint and he's just kind of-- this little fade in the middle of the paint where he ISOs at that, which is crazy. That he ISOs in the middle of the floor and he finds space to do what he's doing. It's not like we're getting people out of the way or anything, he's right smack dab in the middle of the floor. Which is I don't understand how defenses-- I'm not going to speak it into existence but anyway.

But his mid-range has become so special. He shoots it so well. His release has become so much higher. He can fade, he can spin, his feet are so good. I think that is just allowing him to find angles to get to the basket because when he creates the space his handles become so much better, he can change directions and get to where he wants to be. He picks his spots so well now.

AMIT MANN: You can go to a point when he's shooting them I can tell when they're going to go in, just from like the broadcast angle. And it's right when-- like, his arms are very long. So when it's extended and he's got that arc and it starts, his follow through starts around his nose or eyes and then he just gets that nice rotation, that nice arc and it's just money. And it's not touching.-- it's not touching--

C.J. MILES: Not touching anything. He's found his shot pocket. You can tell he's drilled it and drilled it and drilled it, the ball doesn't get behind his head where it becomes like a slingshot, it gets flat. It doesn't-- It's not prematurely release where he's shooting it straight up into the sky. He's just found a nice space that allows him to have the strength to be able to shoot it whichever way he wants.