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When you think about the player who runs the most in a game, you probably think of Steph Curry. And you wouldn’t be wrong for that. I mean, look at all of this movement. This is how I opened a video that I made 2 seasons ago, to really illustrate my point.
But he wasn’t number 1 then, and he’s not at the top this season either.
Stick around and I promise you’ll be surprised by some of the names on this list.
What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
At number 10 we got Jamal Murray, who although got injured towards the end of the season, when he was healthy, he was all over the floor in that dynamic Denver Nuggets system.
You can see him running from one side to the other, and getting those handoffs from Jokic on the perimeter which is one of the staples in their offense.
Number 9 and 8 we got a pair of teammates for the Charlotte Hornets. They were one of the surprising teams of the season and even tho Hayward got injured as well midway through the season, we’ll include him here.
The thing about having these 2 guys in the top 10 is probably the fact that Hornets as a team play fast, attractive basketball, and run up and down the floor, so this may have more to do with the style of play for this team. I love what they do and I’m looking forward to seeing this young team develop next season as well.
Funny thing is that next up we got another pair of teammates. And a big surprise to me seeing this player in the top 10.
This is a shocker to me, Julius Randle- as a big guy at number 7 on this list. But when you think that he was the primary, and at times the only offensive solution for the Knicks this year, that should explain it a bit. Balling out throughout the entire season is how Julius won the most improved player award as well. And with that he earned himself a new 4 year 117 million dollar contract from the Knicks. So the front office, and myself as a Knicks fan will be expecting the same type of commitment.
And at number 6 I can definitely understand seeing R.J. Barret high up on this list since his whole game is based on effort. He runs in transition, attacks the basket, cuts when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, and most importantly, R.J. is often assigned to guard some of the best players on opposing teams. So while he has a long way to go in terms of justifying the expectations and his high draft position, I always enjoy his energy, and effort that he brings to the team.
At number 5 we got Pascal Siakam. And similarly to R.J. We already know about Spicy P and his motor. Siakam was in the top 10 last season as well, that’s just the way he plays. Although he didn’t show us the same progression in his overall game, his heart and his passion have always been there and the Nick Nurse system is such that it involves a lot of movement so I don’t wanna spoil anything but we might see another Raptor here.
Next up is another big man. Domantas Sabonis. And as unconventional as it is seeing a big man on this list, let alone so high up, I did make a video about him earlier in the season and I talked about how he has a great handle and often runs the break for Indiana going coast to coast transforming defense into offense.
And talking about progression, look at the year to year improvement for Domantas, literally every single one, ultimately getting to 20.3/12.0 and 6.3 for this season. Absolutely amazing, and you definitely don’t do that without hard work. That’s how we got him here as well.
Zach Lavine has been in the top 5 on this list for the last 3 years. His superhuman athleticism allows him to be everywhere on the court and he uses that. Combined with the fact that the Bulls have gone only as far as he took them and relied solely on his production is pretty much how he’s constantly on here. So let’s see how much that changes now with the new additions and a beefed up roster.
At number 2, Another guy that- as Jalen Rose would say his success is more because of his will, rather than his skill. Harrison Barnes is pretty much always guarding the best opposing player so there’s a lot of battling and he’s got the highest mileage defensively. Understandably so. The physicality and determination is part of his game both offensively as well as on defense. And you could definitely see that on these clips. So that’s how we got him at number 2
And finally, at number 1, Fred Van Vleet with just a few feet more than Barnes, takes the crown as the player who ran the most last season.
This is pretty much in Van Vleet’s DNA, this is exactly how he got his 4 year, 85 million dollar contract. By playing super hard, every single possession, and yeah hitting some big shots as well of course.
As I mentioned, part of the reason could also be the system of Nick Nurse and both offensive and defensive schemes that require discipline, effort and quickness.
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