Originally published at pickandroll.com.au

Todd Blanchfield’s frustration was abundantly clear last season. The Illawarra Hawks put together a miserable five-win campaign. The 28 year old was the only rostered player who could be considered to be in the prime of his career. For someone of his talent level and age bracket, it could certainly be viewed as a wasted year.

“We come in and work way too damn hard every day to not reward ourselves with a win,” reflected Blanchfield after a game in January. “I’m sick of people saying to us, you guys are playing really well, you’re fighting really hard. It’s not good enough. We’ve got to start converting that to wins.”

Illawarra failed to register another victory after this particular moment but Blanchfield’s comments were nothing new. The disappointment and frustration associated with losing came through in his voice in both prior and subsequent media appearances. Blanchfield was fed up with losing, and who could blame him?

A fascinating career arc

Blanchfield’s career has been an intriguing one to follow. Starting in Townsville as a development player, he progressed all the way through to All-NBL team level, winning selection at the age of just 23. The Crocs would finish in only sixth place in his breakout season, however.

Up next was a move to the big market of Melbourne in pursuit of a fresh challenge and to play for a title contender. Blanchfield would lead the league in corner three-point attempts in both seasons as he sacrificed to play more of a strict ‘3-and-D’ role. United failed to win a post-season game and even finished year two outside of the playoffs.

Sydney was his third destination and it proved even more underwhelming. Oddly, he was often asked to play out of position at power forward. The Kings finished seventh and Blanchfield requested a release from his contract. “It might not have been the role I wanted, but I was thankful for the opportunity to play in both Melbourne and Sydney,” commented Blanchfield at the time. “Whether you like your role or not, sometimes you just have to suck it up and be able to deal with it.”

Rob Beveridge then lured Blanchfield to Illawarra where he would empower him to get back to his strengths and develop again as a scorer in his natural position. It paid dividends as he recaptured form that was close to an All-NBL level. In what was a similar narrative though, the Hawks would fail to make the playoffs during his two-season tenure.

“I’m only 28, so every day I’m looking to get better and improve in some way, and ultimately push for that championship,” said Blanchfield after departing the Hawks.

Perth is now his new home, and the Wildcats have never missed the playoffs in Blanchfield’s lifetime. Trevor Gleeson’s offence is an attractive pairing with his skillset, and there is a clear need for a Terrico White replacement.

Fitting inside Perth’s offence

At times, Blanchfield has drifted between an ultra-aggressive mode and one that is less confident or involved, but his best overall attribute remains his strong scoring ability. His outside shooting, dangerous in-between game, and off-ball movement can all be weapons.

Perth ranked first for offensive efficiency last season, thanks to Trevor Gleeson’s flex system which generated the highest frequency of plays that finished in either a cut or with a player coming off of a screen. Dribble handoffs were also used with some regularity and these three types of plays will help make Blanchfield a seamless fit.

Here’s an example of the standard spacing on the floor that Perth look to start with in the half court. You can watch more of their film here.

To begin, we see the shooting guard and small forward on the wings, a big in the post, and the point guard at the top with the other big. Jesse Wagstaff screens, Clint Steindl executes the flex cut, and then Bryce Cotton passes to Nick Kay before screening the screener’s man. This is a typical starting point to the offence with the Wildcats playing off of this in a variety of ways depending on how the defence reacts.

“Our home base is always into our flex offence with four out and one at the rim,” explained Gleeson to Chris Oliver on The Basketball Podcast. “They’ve got to defend multiple cuts, down screens, or ball reversals. When we can maintain our spacing, the guys have a green light to play what’s in front of them. We want to get the ball moving. We want people to get touches of the ball. It’s my job to get our best players shots on the ball and when that’s taken away, we’ve got to have a counter. When you do that, that’s when players start to believe in the offence.”

Opponents may know what the Wildcats are running but as Gleeson further mentions, Perth have over 50 different plays that they run out of flex, making the numerous counters difficult to defend. This type of offence can certainly fatigue the opposing defence.

So, with this all in mind, let’s reexamine Blanchfield’s fit. Last season he ranked fifth across the entire league for total plays coming off of a screen. His scoring efficiency of 1.11 points per play on these was comparable to Steindl and decidedly better than White. Blanchfield also ranked seventh in the NBL for plays that ended in hand offs and he scored at 1.14 PPP on them. Again, this was a much better conversion rate than White and an above-average mark overall.

These kinds of actions are where Blanchfield is at his aggressive best. He can stick the long-range jumper or attack towards the paint and finish with his trademark floater or ‘push shot’. He was lethal on those nifty looking shots last season.

Blanchfield also ranked top 30 in total plays ending in cuts last season, scoring at 1.30 PPP. Given the threat he poses in dribble hand offs, he can fake involvement and instead back cut his man to the rim for a cheap layup.

As Gleeson notes to Oliver, “You can’t just cruise through it and not be live on the cuts”. The angle, timing, and the speed of the cut matters. Cutting in the right spot is important to protecting the Wildcats spacing and creating opportunities for the offence.

One discernible difference between Blanchfield and White’s offensive game is their ability to create off the dribble. 36% of White’s offence last season finished with either a pick and roll, an isolation, or a post-up. For comparison, Blanchfield was at just 12%.

“[Pick and roll] is not something that we initiate straight on,” explained Gleeson. “Late clock we do. We will get into our loop series where we loop the wing around, and then the trailer comes into the on-ball. Last season we had a three man (White) that wants the pick and roll and can play out of it.”

Gleeson noted that the use of pick and roll or isolation plays was very much personnel based, and given Blanchfield’s skillset, we aren’t likely to see him being pushed into filling that aspect of White’s game.

Challenges

A staple of Perth’s success under Gleeson has been the team’s focus on and ability to offensive rebound. Blanchfield will be used as one of the regular players that is tasked with getting extra shots.

“We send three and a half [players] to the rim at all times,” Gleeson explained. “Traditionally the three man [Blanchfield’s position], the point guard, and our five man are ideally in there. Our four man is at the high post for the long rebounds.”

Blanchfield has been a strong rebounder at times throughout his career so you would expect that he would adapt well to this philosophy and attack the glass with success.

The defensive end will be where the greatest challenge presents itself. Blanchfield has shown that he can be capable, and he possesses some decent physical tools, but the level of engagement and impact has wavered at times. To contribute to a title level team, his urgency needs to be more consistent than what he showed last season.

In this first clip, you see Blanchfield go under a screen set for D.J. Newbill. Matt Flinn’s reaction on the sideline sums it up well. You have to anticipate that better and fight to go over for a shooter of his quality.

The next video sees the Hawks playing zone when defending Adelaide’s baseline out of bounds play. Daniel Johnson is the only player anywhere near Blanchfield’s area of the zone, yet there is absolutely zero resistance to him streaking to the rim for a layup.

The below play shows zero urgency from Blanchfield in navigating one simple screen. Anthony Drmic is allowed to just jog into position and given way too much room. It’s just lucky that he misses the shot, as that defensive effort is inexcusable.

These clips aren’t to highlight what Blanchfield is like on average. He defends well at times, but they also aren’t isolated plays either. His consistency of effort and attention to detail needs to improve; he needs to impact more plays. It goes without saying that standards will be high in Perth.

“I don’t believe he’s reached his full potential yet,” stated Gleeson at the time of the signing. “It’s our job as a coaching staff for the next two years to make sure he gets there. There’s big upside with Todd. He’s already a good player in the NBL, but we can turn him into an exceptional player.”

Gleeson has the system to highlight Blanchfield’s strengths as well as the environment to challenge him in other areas. The timing of this move is excellent for Blanchfield, and it has the potential to make him a more well-rounded player. Now 29, and having never won a playoff series, it’s honestly hard to think of a better landing spot.