Why the 2016 Playoffs have been a wakeup call for Cory Joseph
The regular season was an unquestionable success for Cory Joseph. He set career highs in almost every major statistical category, but that was almost assumed given his new role and new contract. But it was the team’s effectiveness, and the way they relied on lineups with Joseph on the court that really made the season such a win for the Canadian point guard. Only Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan saw more court time for the Raptors, and only Patrick Patterson and Lowry had a better on-court plus/minus.
As the playoffs have gotten off to a bumpy start for the Raptors, their two stars — Lowry and DeRozan — are facing most of the criticism from fans and the media. However, a bit of a deep dive into the numbers suggests Joseph is struggling just as much as his teammates in the backcourt.
In Game 4, Joseph had the first 0-point, 0-assist game in his Raptor career. It was the first blatantly poor game of the series for him, but his decent shooting numbers in the first three games have overshadowed fundamental flaws in his play.
Consider the playmaking: His assists have dropped 19% to 2.5 per game, while his turnovers have bumped up 38% to 1.8.
Consider the plus/minus: During the regular season, the Raptors outscored the opposition by 6.8 points per 100 possessions with Joseph on the court, and 2.6 with him on the bench, to give a net rating of 4.2. So far this series, they’ve been outscored by 1.7 points with him on the court, compared to a +2.0 with him on the bench, to give a net rating of -3.7. So, the switch from regular season to playoffs has resulted in nearly an eight point swing in Joseph’s net rating.
Now consider this: Maybe more than anything else, Lowry and DeRozan get criticized for slowing down Toronto’s offence, for making the ball stick, going iso-heavy, etc… and the SportVU numbers that NBA.com tracks seem to back up this theory. But those same numbers paint an ugly picture for Joseph. He is holding the ball nearly six seconds per touch in the playoffs and dribbling 7.45 times per touch. Those numbers are 20% and 30% higher than his regular season averages, respectively, and the dribbling average is the highest mark in the NBA by a significant margin:
MOST DRIBBLES PER TOUCH — 2016 NBA PLAYOFFS
- Cory Joseph (TOR) 7.45
- Kemba Walker (CHA) 5.89
- Reggie Jackson (DET) 5.86
- Russell Westbrook (OKC) 5.85
- Tony Parker (SA) 5.64
One thing about this list: The other players are all much more dangerous scorers than Joseph, so they almost have more of a “pass” for pounding the rock as often as they do.
So, while Lowry and DeRozan definitely deserve a good chunk of criticism for their play so far in this series against the Pacers, they aren’t the only Toronto guard that’s struggled to find success in the postseason.
