Zach Edey is closer to a monstrous impact than you think
Tuesday's game against the Warriors shows how far Zach Edey has to go with his skillset in postseason basketball, but the magnitude of his impact could hit sooner rather than later.
The Memphis Grizzlies needed a bit more from the frontcourt in Tuesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Yes, All-NBA candidate Jaren Jackson Jr. is a part of the problem with his inconsistency inside the arc and lack of force on the glass. However, I want to talk about Zach Edey.
Edey finished his first postseason game with 14 points, 17 rebounds (7 offensive), and 5 fouls. Though not indicated through his 4-11 shooting performance and 4 turnovers, the Grizzlies won his minutes by 6 points, leading the team in plus/minus.
There were moments where Edey was exposed and struggled — the cross-matches with Jimmy Butler, doubles in the post, or not demolishing defenders in crowds. On the flip side, his shot alteration and rebounding shined as pathways for him to be a monstrous difference-maker in high-leverage basketball.
Defending in space — and yes, the Jimmy matchup
Everyone shouldn’t be surprised if Zach Edey struggled defending in space. After all, the only player that’s 7’2” or taller who doesn’t experience problems in space is Victor Wembanyama.
It was magnified in the matchup against the Warriors, because the Grizzlies had him roaming off Jimmy Butler and Gary Payton II — two players that are often reluctant shooters. It’s not an uncommon practice to roam the bigs off non-shooters. The difference here though is the non-shooters in most lineups are other big men, whereas the Warriors trend smaller with Green at the 5.
So, the why Jimmy question for Edey’s matchup…
When asked about it after the game, Tuomas Iisalo brought up Butler’s ineffectiveness shooting the ball, and he wanted to keep Jaren Jackson Jr. out of foul trouble with Jimmy’s ability to draw fouls.
I’d also like to point out that rolling with Jackson on Green gave the Grizzlies a more mobile option if they needed to switch in two-man actions.
The Warriors utilized Butler and Payton in space to attack Edey’s lack of lateral quickness.
In both of these actions, the Warriors used Gary Payton II as the screener. They had him short-roll near the slot to open up a driving lane that Edey couldn’t necessarily recover in. The speed differential is an advantage the Warriors exploited in space.
With Butler, his assertiveness makes the Edey matchup a non-factor for him. He’s going to touch the paint regardless of who’s in front of him. Granted, NBA matchup data isn’t perfect, but Butler was 3-8 from the field with Edey as the primary defender. It doesn’t tell the entire story, as two of those misses were 3’s and one of them resulted in a put-back immediately.
Edey had slightly rotated over to the Podziemski cut. When the ball kicked out to Butler, Edey stepped up just slightly, opening a pathway to attack the basket. Vince Williams Jr. has to rotate over to prevent the easy basket. And-one, just what Butler wanted.
Edey’s drive defense is rather good, even with Butler leveraging the slight shoulder bump to generate the separation for the shot. Edey should’ve processed the rebound, but Butler made an unbelievable second jump for the tip-in.
This play stood out the most — a product of two great processors in the frontcourt. Butler got the ball back to Green. Then, he cut to the basket with Curry hitting Edey with a rip screen to open up the paint for Butler.
Curry has hit opposing defenses with these plays for years. Green sets the off-ball screen for Curry, and either defender can’t recover in time to contest the jumper. And we all know, a made open Stephen Curry 3 is one of the biggest guarantees of life.
Zach Edey will have his problems in space with his size and immobility. The Warriors have exploited bigs of his archetype for years. It was highlighted significantly with Jimmy Butler’s performance. If the Grizzlies didn’t want Edey in two-man actions, they could’ve moved him over to Moses Moody — then Ja Morant over to Podziemski. Then that’d put Desmond Bane at risk of foul trouble, and he’s too vital offensively to test it. Leveraging Edey’s size against Butler’s methodical attack wasn’t a terrible idea. Butler found a rhythm with his paint touches, free throw attempts, and early three-pointers — and attacked like star veterans do.
Interior defense
Zach Edey’s size is a real deterrent on the inside. He ranked in the 94th percentile this season in block percentage (5.6), per dunksandthrees. Opponents also shot 6.2% worse at the rim than expected with Edey as the rim protector, per The B-Ball Index.
His presence as a rim protector is a pro of the aforementioned roaming technique. Even with the Warriors going 5-out, they could still leverage his size on a non-shooter to alter, deter, and block shots at the rim.
The Warriors tried to open up space for Butler with an empty corner. Because Butler found a groove from the outside, Santi Aldama had to respect the jumper. Butler attacked the closeout, but Edey rotated over to swat the shot.
Curry peeled the ghost screen action and turned on the jets to find the advantage downhill. Edey picked him up to alter his layup.
Zach Edey’s size is a force that deters shots at the rim. Granted, Curry might have looked for a mid-range jumper anyways. However, Edey cut off the paint — Moody was in the midst of loafing baseline, so the strong-side pass to the corner wasn’t there — and Curry settled for the mid-range jumper. It’s subtle, and it may be a part of the design. However, if the objective is to get to the rim, the deterrence can decrease the value of the subsequent shot.
On both of these Podziemski drives, Edey rotated over in time to alter his floaters. It’s not going to show up in the box score, but it’s an example of sound defense to alter high-value shots.
While Edey will have his struggles defending in space, his presence roaming around the paint is a real force that warp the floor with his size. People will critique the effectiveness of drop (or mainly in this instance, a “roam” or “center field” coverage) because of how it could be attacked in space. However, the benefits in paint defense are real, especially with bigs of Edey’s stature.
Offensive woes
Zach Edey didn’t have his best offensive game. He finished with 4 turnovers for the 4th time this season. He also shot 4-11 from the field, tied for the lowest amount of makes in games in which he had 10 or more field goals.
The Warriors were daring Zach Edey and Jaren Jackson Jr. to be playmaker — and it worked, as they combined for 7 turnovers. When Edey had post mismatches, they would send an extra man to blitz him. In the process, he was forced into hasty decisions. He has to learn to pre-read the doubles to either turn to a bucket or get off the ball quicker.
It’s the one area of his game he should polish. It will come with more time reading NBA defenses.
Edey had a great flash on this assist. He leveraged ball fakes to bait the defense into steals, before finding Bane for a quick opening for a 3.
The biggest thing from this game was the repercussions of bringing the ball down low. Edey had several instances where the Warriors blitzed him when he brought the ball down, and it’d lead to a turnover or missed shot.
Cleaning up this weakness is vital. Putting the ball down shrinks the value of the size advantage, exposing the ball to the hands of defenders. Contact when the ball is high is more likely to lead to free throw trips, whereas the opposite is more prone to turnovers and loose balls — depending on the whistle.
Finally, the most fixable part of his game is his finishing. His touch wavers, and he’s still learning how to leverage his physicality at the NBA level. It comes with reps, but also with the game slowing down with more experience.
These finishes stand out as opportunities where timing the ball off the basket better, or softer touch on the block, could lead to a higher chance of converting inside.
Improving his processing and touch are key areas of improvement offensively to clean up his turnovers and some of his misses inside, as teams will likely go all out to stop him near the rim.
Offensive advantages
Zach Edey’s advantages are clear as day and are translatable to high-leverage basketball.
It’s cliché, but every possession matters in the postseason. Already, Edey has proven to be elite on the offensive glass, ranking 4th in the league in offensive rebound percentage (17.7), per dunksandthrees. He’s virtually impossible to contain on the glass.
While some of these offensive rebounds were missed putback attempts, he ultimately created more possessions for the Grizzlies. And yeah, there are moments throughout the game to identify as critical ones that could have swung the game. If Edey could have timed two of those rebounds differently, the outcome is different.
Edey also generated 10 points off 5 screen assists. Even if a big man isn’t hoisting a bunch of 3’s, screening is a vital component of space creation, leading to open shots in the mid-range or in the paint.
Finally, his size makes him a reliable play-finisher — obviously when he doesn’t bring the ball down. If teams take away the driver’s ability to finish in the paint, he’s nearly impossible to contain vertically with his 9’7.5” standing reach.
While Edey isn’t a prolific floor-spacer, or can’t take people off the dribble from the perimeter, his strengths translate to winning basketball. The good teams always look for ways to gain the advantage in the possessions game, and to attack created space. Zach Edey does those things.
Sure, it wasn’t Zach Edey’s game. The Warriors’ quick, aggressive attack was evident on both sides of the ball. His mistakes were loud, and of course those lead to social media banter for engagement.
However, Edey is far from the reason the Grizzlies lost that game, because of the value he brought in the possessions game and with his rim protection.
His performance showed that he might be “so close, yet so far” from his ultimate impact in the playoff basketball, but it also may not take long.
Edey already has an elite skill with his offensive rebounding. He has two very good ones with his screening and rim protection, with the former being tapped into more in Tuomas Iisalo’s system. While he’s an effective play-finisher, he still has real issues to tweak that can be alleviated by keeping the ball high, improving his touch, and leveraging his size. The playmaking may never reach the levels of a Marc Gasol or Steven Adams, but can he develop two-man synergy with his guards in handoff actions or read out the post quicker? That’s more likely than exquisite dim-dropping.
And with defense in space, teams will exploit it with bigs of Edey’s size. Evenn multi-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert has his moments in space. It happens.
When it comes to playoff basketball, it’s about leveraging your advantages and exploiting the other teams’ weaknesses. Edey falls into the bucket of having a valuable advantage but also a fatal flaw in very matchups. If an opponent exploits the weakness to force you to take an advantage away, you’re playing into their hands. These reps are important to learn how to maximize Edey’s strengths and mitigate his weakness in high-leverage situations — for himself, the front office, and potentially Iisalo.
Ultimately, the Grizzlies will need Zach Edey to be a force as a NBA starting center. This postseason will likely serve as a crash test for his experience, with the duration of it determined with Friday’s outcome against a future Hall of Famer in Anthony Davis.
Yes, Zach Edey has flaws — and he can fix them sooner rather than later, given the trajectory of his development in his basketball journey. With that said, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Edey have a monstrous impact quicker than people realize.
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