Doctor MJ wrote:I would disagree.
Hali clearly is probably more known for jump passes than anyone since Nash, and when you do that you're making use of a) creative angles and b) super-fast mental processing of the court.
Re: low risk, throwing the ball ahead. I would call that a contradiction in terms. The reason why teams were so averse to really taking advantage of the fast break in Stockton's era is because it takes a great amount of skill to run transition without high turnovers, and so most of Stockton's focus was in getting the ball into the front court, and then giving the ball to Malone so Malone could make something happen.
I wouldn't jump passing flashy.
Flashy is Magic Johnson going 100 miles per hour of the rebound, splitting 2 defenders and then whipping it behind his head for an layup.
It's Steve Nash going around the baseline, keeping his dribble alive until the last moment and then throwing a bounce pass between the defender's legs for a dunk.
Haliburton is doing no look passes on a 3 on 2 break with his man wide open.
He's only passing ahead when his guy open.
He's making safe plays but putting sauce on it for entertainment value. The sauce has no function other than it looks cool. If your guy is open streaking the down court, you don't have to no look it.
Compare someone like Ja Morant, who makes the occasional flashy pass. He's in the teeth of a defense, collapsed paint, surrounded by 3 guys and he finds an odd angle by whipping it behind his back to a corner shooter.
There's only one way to get that pass off. That's a flashy pass for a purpose.
Haliburton is a smart and entertaining player that processes the game well and his guys running at all times to take advantage of that but his flash doesn't have utility. He could make the same passes 85 percent of the time without all of the extra.
When I think of flashy passers like Jokic or Magic or Bird, those passes cannot be made without flash. It's how the hell did you see that.
