Biyombo getting hands-on experience
His defence is never a worry, but offence isn’t natural
Bismack Biyombo stood on the Toronto Raptors’ practice court Tuesday, working on post moves with an assistant, painting a tantalizing picture.
The 23-year-old is a sculpted six-foot-nine and 245 pounds, with what little body fat he might have rendered an oxymoron. He’d catch the ball, dribble hard and back his way toward the basket, power in every move, his invisible defender helpless to the smooth pivot and up-fake that followed. In one smooth motion, Biyombo would swoop to the basket, finishing some plays with a pretty finger roll, others with an authoritative dunk.
You watch and you think about what could be, of what a masterpiece that balance of finesse and power is when it blends.
Set up on the low block, a bounce pass rose to Biyombo’s waist and his right hand extended to grab it. Except this time there was a disagreement between ball and hand and suddenly the ball was travelling twice as fast toward Biyombo’s left. The big man swiped at it and the ball ricocheted back to the right and he couldn’t corral it. It all happened in less than a second and he shouted in frustration as it rolled away from him.
If you’ve watched Biyombo play this season, you’ve seen a different balance. He’s a blessing on defence. His work ethic matches his sculpted body. He’ll dive for a loose ball and he’s a fearless protector of the basket, regardless of whatever freight train player is roaring down the tracks at him. He’ll battle and battle and battle for rebounds (he had a season-high 16 in Saturday’s win over Washington, with zero points), then chase down a point guard and send what looks like an open layup to the second row.
What he’s doing on defence is winning him fans and solidifying him a place in coach Dwane Casey’s lineup after Jonas Valanciunas’ hand-break. It’s just that things start to balance out when the ball makes its way to the other end of the floor.
Entry passes ping-pong between hands, off knees and shins and out of bounds. A Kyle Lowry behind-theback dish hits fingertips, a chest and pops up, a gift for opponents who scout well.
“The thing is the unexpected,” the personable centre from the Congo explained after his workout.
“Sometimes they find the last second to give me the ball when you expect the man to shoot the ball so you can get the offensive rebound.”
Truthfully, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri didn’t bring Biyombo here for offence. DeMarre Carroll is the face of this team’s defensive rebrand this season, but Biyombo is showing that he’s a key part of what Ujiri and Casey were after this summer, when their offensively-driven team flamed out in the playoffs.
Still, if Biyombo could turn half of those bobbled passes into buckets, or even get fouled on the play — he’s shooting a career-best 68.4 per cent from the line and focused on improving — those are points for a team that’s still finding its way on offence.
Dikembe Mutombo arches his back and laughs when Biyombo’s hands are brought up.
“You know, I’m his big brother,” Mutombo, also Congolese-born, said while in town in mid-November.
“He’s going to be good. He didn’t get a chance to play college, he went straight to the NBA (after playing three seasons in Spain). I think we should give him a chance to develop and he will get there.”
Biyombo isn’t the first big man to have these issues. The question is, can you improve a player’s hands? Is there a way for a team to take two slabs of concrete and craft them into something softer?
“When I started playing the game I was not as good as I am today,” said Mutombo, who averaged 9.8 points per game in an 18-year career.
“I think Bismack is . . . I saw him blocking shots, I saw him rebounding. Those are the good things I want to see from him. Everything else will come.”
“I think you can improve hands,” Raptors forward Luis Scola said. “But a lot of it, you have to have it, you have to have it naturally.”
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” said Jamaal Magloire, who works with Biyombo in Raptors’ practices. “Defensively it’s more of a natural thing. Offensively he has to take that split second to think and react. He’s made tremendous strides and he continues to get better every day.
“I think once he starts to react right away as opposed to having to think he’ll be fine.”
Biyombo wants to improve, but knows he’s succeeding where he has to right now. After four seasons in Charlotte, he’s having fun in his role with the Raptors.
“I’ve beat teams I’ve never beat in my past four years,” he said. “I never beat LeBron and did that for the first time (a week ago).”
He had a season-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting that night, along with 12 rebounds. He also met James at the rim late in the fourth quarter and altered his shot; a key moment in a big Raptors win.
“Honestly speaking it was more of a difference how many stops I got, how many shots I changed,” he said of that game.