Don’t Drive By Jalen Suggs

Analysis
November 27, 2024
dont-drive-by-jalen-suggs

Tracking every block from behind, forced turnover, and (missed) shot contest for Jalen Suggs 18 games into 2024-25 Season

If you’ve tuned into an Orlando Magic game recently, noticed Jalen Suggs make a chasedown block, and started to wonder, “wow, it feels like Suggs blocks a shot from behind every time I watch the Magic,” it’s because he has.

Is the game slowing down for Suggs so much that he’s channeling his inner LeBron, using his athleticism, shot-tracking, and defensive instincts to let his man drive past him, giving the opponent an ounce of hope that he beat Suggs off the dribble, just to suddenly surge forward and block the driver’s shot from behind?

Let’s investigate.

Finding a Role Update: The Defense


Last year, Jalen Suggs was the king of the Pick Six, a Backcourt Ballhawk forcing turnovers and scoring breakaways on what felt like every play.

This year, Suggs leads all guards in Blocks Per Game (1.2) and Total Blocks (21), narrowly edging out Derrick White.

Tracking every block from behind, forced turnover, and (missed) shot contest for Jalen through 18 games this season reveals that Suggs has in fact averaged one chasedown block per game, 19 to be exact.

Sometimes, it looks like Suggs has been beaten, almost as if he’s given up on a play, just to creep up behind the driver, quickly accelerate and explode into a smackdown from behind.

Often, Jalen’s even able to keep the ball inbounds, somehow swatting the shot hard enough to deny the force of the opponent’s attack, yet soft enough to recover the loose ball before it becomes a lost possession, making multiple winning plays at once.

Don’t drive by Jalen Suggs or you might just feel the wind up and follow through of his shot-swatter arm bopping off your skull.


Suggs, of course, doesn’t just block shots; he’s a ball of energy one-man wrecking crew who doesn’t run out of gas.

His motor never turns off.

His screen navigation is as clean as any defender in the world.

His versatile switchability is as strong and agile as a guard can be.

On top of his 19 chase-down blocks, Suggs has swatted a shot, stolen the rock, or forced a turnover 33 more times, while the Magic have scored points or drawn fouls directly off turnovers forced by Suggs on 15 possessions.

Have you heard that Jalen Suggs used to be a defensive back in football? Pick-Six Suggs is alive and well.


Orlando ranks as the third-best defense in the league, primarily because they force the second-most turnovers (17.4 TOV%), grab the second-most defensive rebounds (25.4% DREB%), and hold opponents to the seventh-lowest shooting percentage (53.1% eFG%), via Cleaning the Glass.

Suggs’ rotations have been timely, his shot contests have stayed active, his second and third effort always shows up.

Jalen has personally contested 71 shots that opponents missed.

Sometimes he’ll rotate so well he contests multiple shots in the same possession, or gets his active hands on the ball for a deflection without recovering the loose ball and still make it out to the perimeter to close out on an open shooter.


Jalen Suggs Contesting Missed Shots – Part 1


Jalen Suggs Contesting Missed Shots – Part 2

Finding a Role Update: The Offense

While Suggs’ All-Defense level impact has been as dominant as ever, the full-time point guard experiment has been inconclusive at best or average at worst.

Even though Orlando’s elite defense has been spearheaded by Suggs’ willpower and tenacity for four years running, after Paolo went down, the Magic’s offense took off once they put the ball in Franz’ hands as primary initiator.

Letting a career-high volume of 3PA fly, launching just under 7 threes per game, Jalen’s efficiency from downtown has regressed after a hot start, down to 31% 3P%.

Perhaps losing Paolo has changed Jalen’s shot volume from more open secondary closeout-attacks and off-ball spot ups, where Suggs is hitting 38% 3P% on 93 Catch-and-Shoot 3PA, to more on-ball usage contested jumpers and pull-up threes, where Jalen’s converting just 10% 3P% on 30 pull-up triple attempts.

The skillsets to watch before the season were his Floor General primary initiation, his P&R decision-making, and his Pull-Up 3 effectiveness, where there’s still much to be desired for consistency in all three.

According to Synergy, Jalen’s rated average in most playtypes (P&R Ball-Handler, Spot Ups, Transition, Handoffs).

Suggs rates excellent in ISO efficiency, scoring 1.22 PPP on 23 possessions.

What Suggs has proven thus far is his connective floor-spacing, making team-first reads on both ends, knocking down a high volume of catch-and-shoot threes on good efficiency.

Even taking on more usage, his energy levels are never depleted. Time will tell if Suggs can find consistency as more of a primary creator for the team, but no one can question his will to compete at every opportunity.

Stats as of 11.27.24

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