Welcome to The Passing Game, where we simply take the time to glorify the dimes being thrown all around us.
Here were some of my favorite dimes from over the weekend…
Emmanuel Mudiay has next level awareness as a passer. On this play he drew the defense down to the base line with a drive and made a diagonal kick-out to Danilo Gallinari for an open three. Mudiay is gifted in knowing where every one is on the floor.
A beautiful design by Michigan State from the tip. Not enough teams look to do this. The ball touches four hands including Matt Costello who wins the jump and tips it right to Javon Bess. Lourawls Nairn Jr. is immediately streaking on the wing for a touch pass from Bess, while Denzel Valentine runs the other wing and sneaks behind for an alley-oop. The ball never touched the ground and Binghamton couldn’t do anything to stop this passing game.
Rondo’s mastery in the passing game is next level and plays like these remind people who tend to forget. Not only does Rondo gather the offensive rebound off of a Rudy Gay miss, his kick-out to Marco Belinelli is a behind-the-back pass under the basket and in traffic. At the time it was the quickest way to get the ball out, but this kind of passing instinct is why Rondo is leading the league in assists (10.9 per game).