Steve Blake, An Ascending Player

3.  Steve Blake is a product of the system, and this system works best for him.  He has never really been comfortable creating shots from midrange, but he does attack the hoop and spot up behind the 3-point line very effectively.  His shot chart is remarkably above average along four of the five corners of the 3-point line.  (The shot chart is available through Steve Blake’s nba.com page.)  How effective has he been?  He’s shooting between 50% to 61.5% behind the arc at four of those five spots.  His weak spot is the right corner baseline, where he’s 0-7, but overall, he’s shooting 46.4% behind the line.  Of his 103 total shot attempts, he has taken 11 right at the basket.  He converts at a 55% clip, which is right at average for an NBA player.  More importantly, Blake doesn’t take too many shots outside of the context of his game.  Of those 11 lay up attempts, he has taken 11 or more attempts at 3 of the 5 corners behind the arc.  He is sticking to what works for him as a shooter and understands the importance of creating spacing within a set, but also taking shots within rhythm.

Steve Blake is on a roll right now.  With Steve Nash having health issues, the time is critical for both Blake and Farmar to step up and provide solidarity to the team.  It’s unfortunate to see Steve Nash sidelined, but it’s clear that his leadership and mentorship is being reflected to Steve Blake’s play, and that’s something to smile about.