ORLANDO – The evolution of the stretch four has put a premium on players who can do more than knock down shots from the 3-point arc. Defenses have already figured out those guys, switching smaller defenders on to them without fear they’ll be exploited by a bigger player who seizes on his size advantage to carry the play to the rim.
Stan Van Gundy sees in Henry Ellenson a player who fits that next generation of power forwards.
“You see the stretch fours who are basically just pick-and-pop guys. Not so much guys who can get their own shot and play off the dribble,” Van Gundy said Tuesday after watching Ellenson show flashes of an exciting offensive arsenal. “His shooting’s got to improve to be able to really stretch the floor, but what he has is that element of being able to put the ball on the floor and get a shot. He can face up in the mid-post area and jab step and create shots. He’s got a lot of really good things to work with.”
The Pistons will have the luxury of patience with Ellenson after augmenting their roster through free agency. They aren’t leaning on the 19-year-old who came to them unexpectedly with the 18th pick after an eye-opening freshman season at Marquette, where he averaged 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game.
Ellenson handles the ball confidently with either hand on the perimeter, facilitating dribble handoffs or maneuvering easily into pick-and-roll situations. He’s displayed a facility for drawing fouls, owing to his ability to put the ball on the floor and get defenders unaccustomed to guarding bigger players on the move of their feet. Through three games, Ellenson leads the Pistons in free-throw attempts with 17.
In Tuesday’s win over Indiana, the moment Ellenson provided Van Gundy with the most enticing view of his future came in the fourth quarter of a one-point game. With the shot clock winding down, Ellenson received the ball about 18 feet out on the right wing, dribbled and stepped back to launch a one-foot jump shot that eerily called to mind Dirk Nowitzki – especially as it swished cleanly through the net.
“Huge,” Van Gundy said. “That’s exactly what it was – Dirk-like step-back. Now, Dirk shoots a high percentage on that. So it’s one thing to be able to get the shot off; it’s another to knock it down on a consistent basis. We need some tweaks, nothing major, but some tweaks to his shooting mechanics and I think he can get there. But I’m really happy with his offensive approach and where I think he can get to.”
Ellenson has worked very briefly with Pistons shooting coach Dave Hopla, but will become intimately familiar with him in the weeks ahead.
“Have more balance – I think that’s probably a huge thing for me,” Ellenson said of the work ahead of him. “I fall back a little bit too much, but I think I have clean mechanics otherwise. Just sticking with my shot and not rushing anything will be huge for me.”
Those things, Van Gundy expects, will be relatively easy for Ellenson to learn over time. What comes naturally to him would be much more difficult for him to absorb.
“The stuff he does really well – creating shots on that step-back, both with his footwork and the dribble – that’s touch to teach. He can already do that. It’s just a matter of him really working on the consistency of that shooting stroke.”
Ellenson has shot 29 percent overall and 26 percent from the 3-point arc over his three games, many of the shots coming up short. That’s the norm for Summer League. The Pistons have played three games and held seven practices and three game-day shootarounds in the past eight days in compiling a 3-0 record. For Ellenson, that intense burst of activity came on the heels of the grinding process of draft workouts and travel from one NBA city to another.
On top of that, there’s the adjustment to the speed of the NBA game, the challenge of playing against more physically mature men in Summer League and the greater distance of the NBA 3-point line.
“It’s a combination. It’s the length closing out on you, it’s how quick you’ve got to get your shot off and not rushing it because it is your shot and you’ve got to take it at your speed and get your legs underneath each one,” Ellenson said. “I’ve got confidence in my shot. I’m going to hit it.”
Van Gundy wasn’t thoroughly familiar with Ellenson until draft night because he never expected the Pistons would get the chance to take him. It hasn’t taken him long to become enamored of Ellenson’s potential and impressed by his confidence and passion for improvement.
“I don’t think Henry has any problem being sure of himself. I really don’t,” Van Gundy said. “One of the things I’ve been really impressed with, I think he plays the game with great offensive confidence. He thinks he can score on anybody.
“He can do some things to get shots. He’s got a real high release, which allows him to get it off. He’s got a great follow through. The rotation on his shot is not real good and we’ll get that figured out and get him working on it. And he’s a total gym rat, so I don’t think it’ll take a lot of time.”
That’s one thing – one among many things – Henry Ellenson and the Pistons have on their side.