Elfrid Payton’s continued confidence driving success
Elfrid Payton has been repeatedly dared to shoot it, but his continued efforts in stepping up to take those shots shows confidence in his game that is making the difference for the Magic.
There is something to be said for persistence, in just about every facet of every endeavor. Shooting a basketball is absolutely no different. And Elfrid Payton is showing that he is not going to let defenses consistently dare him to shoot either.
Payton did not start off on fire in the Orlando Magic’s 103-98 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. He badly bricked his first shot, and he air-balled his second look.
But when the game had ended, he had knocked down seven field goals in his 14 subsequent attempts. That portfolio included three jumpers, one of which was a 17-footer from the wing in the fourth quarter to pull the Magic within two and was part of a 12-2 run as the Magic crept out to a lead it would not relinquish.
Payton began to demonstrate an array of moves in the paint and confidence in releasing the ball despite his struggles which ultimately triumphed over a mediocre shot.
It lacks fluidity and often seems choppy, but he has done his best to turn as many drives as possible into a surprisingly effective tear drop in his arsenal.
Continuing to look for his shot will force defenses to take him seriously and apply on-ball pressure, which will only make it that much easier for him to knife into the paint.
Payton did a little of all of it in the win over the Celtics, dishing out seven assists, many of which were drop offs to teammates following his breaking down the defense off the dribble.
Dewayne Dedmon can find buckets just by keeping his eyes open and his hands up. The same applies to any Magic that can finish at the bucket, but the benefits of having a shot-creating point guard is seen when Dedmon can find himself getting the ball in great position for easy flushes. It is not a coincidence that offensively limited bigs can thrive when there is a great distributor on the court. DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul are a shining example elsewhere.
Payton’s multi-dimensionality is what can make him special.
Teams have to respect a guard as a triple-threat player — a guy who can shoot, pass or dribble to create offense. Victor Oladipo has taken that step this season in developing a dangerous three-point shot that teams have to respect.
As a result, Oladipo’s game has come that much easier in his sophomore season as teams find it very difficult to choose between daring him to knock down another triple or break down the ‘D’ off the dribble. Oladipo reaped the benefits in dishing out 10 assists in the victory over the Sacramento Kings, while also scoring 32 points.
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To be clear, Payton is a very different player than Oladipo, but the similarities between their early deficiency —shooting — is the common thread. Payton right now uses his skills in such a way as to minimize his deficiencies, but once he is comfortable taking the 15 footer, he will find defenses even easier to break down.
A simple head fake or hesitation dribble will be bit by a defender right now that is giving him the three feet needed to comfortably launch the shot.
Payton took it into three Celtics defenders at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter, and after having knocked down a couple shots he found them collapsing on him. He made a fantastic “roundhouse” ball fake that lost all three defenders as he flipped it up into the hole.
Single moves like that show brilliance, an almost divine ability to create offense out of a complete void. An average player in that situation turns it over or gets his shot blocked most times, but Payton lost three defenders in one motion and scored.
That transcends his seven field goals but shows a level of play that is one notch above an NBA defense.
In the Sacramento contest, Payton split two Kings perimeter defenders and acrobatically shifted his body around DeMarcus Cousins to draw a three-point play, instantly blowing the game open and giving the Magic a five-point lead.
Friday marked his fifth career double-double (10 points, 12 assists), and would be followed by yet another in Sunday night’s affair, falling just three assists shy of a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds to go with the seven dimes.
While Payton may not yet possess a great jump shot, he has the talent to make incredible basketball plays and lose defenders just trying to stay between Elfrid and the basket.
Adding a jump shot is going to make him very difficult to defend, much like his teammate Oladipo.
For a backcourt that has been hailed as a defensive project, if both Payton and Oladipo end up possessing great jumpers the joke is on the old scouting reports.
Players add jumpers all the time, and the list includes a number of very good shooters like Jason Kidd, who came in shooting as poor as Payton (38.5 percent field goal and 27.2 percent threes as a rookie) but finished his career No. 5 in all-time made three-point field goals with two seasons shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc.
Payton can become a shooter, and he is already a true point guard, a true basketball player and one of the guys who possesses the supreme court vision to make difficult plays.
It is the creative aspect that renders Payton dangerous, and his talents to get into traffic and find pockets and holes is not seen elsewhere on Orlando’s roster, Oladipo included.
Payton is a playmaker that has been rivaled by precious few guards in Magic history, and the prospect of having him lead a highly talented and athletic offense should be an exciting prospect. He and Oladipo were among two Magic players getting to the line against the Celtics, making 11 of 12 as a tandem and 20 of 30 as a team.
The Magic are solving some of the final issues, and Payton’s shooting is a lynchpin in solving a number of other problems. With his shot posing a legitimate threat, he can take substantially more time with the ball in his hands rather than give the defense a chance to sag and attempt to put pressure on passing options.
Great teams are not often constructed around poor shooting point guards. And though Rajon Rondo won a title his rookie year with three Hall of Famers, it stands to reason of course that the task would have been easier still if teams were not daring No. 9 to launch the rock.
As it is, teams have been doing so to Payton, and it seems he is finally ready to make them pay. Over his past 10 games, he has hit 43.8 percent from the floor — respectable.
If he does not earn teams’ respect, it will not be because he has been shy. He has taken 11, 10 and 16 shots in the last three games (14 of which came within 10 feet), while also having dished out 29 assists in that span.
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In other words, the old dictum that “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” has to be taken seriously on some level, because Payton can score. The Magic can score.
This is a team that plays its best basketball when guys are playing uninhibited basketball and given Payton’s 42 minutes of high-energy basketball there is no reason to put these guys on short chains.
The Magic put up 119 points on the Suns and 103 on the Celtics, and with the defensive talents and speed this team possesses, it makes sense to let the horses get out and ride.