EGOR DEMIN AND THE ART OF PASSING

article by Jaspaire

11, 7, 5 and 7 here are Egor Demin's assists this season in his first games. The Russian prospect impressed all the scouts despite the weak opposition. Currently 11th on ESPN's Big Board with Jonathan Givony (5th on SYMBIOSE BOARD), the Brigham Young University player is only moving up the respective boards. He is in the running to be the best playmaker in his draft alongside the likes of Dylan Harper, Nolan Traore and Kasparas Jakucionis.

Manipulating defenses, creativity, impossible angles, and extraordinary agility, Egor Demin has it all. Let's try and break down his passing game and why, in my opinion, he is perhaps the most advanced playmaker in his draft.

First of all, to be a master in the art of passing, you need to have a good squad with you. Egor Demin has therefore developed a good relationship with pivot Fousseyni Traore and Keba Keita, who set heavy screens, rolls hard and are typical rim runners/threats near the rim. He also plays with the likes of Kanon Catchings and Richie Saunders, who are high-volume shooters and offer plenty of spacing with their movement. The first thing we'll be looking at is the two-man pick-and-roll game he's developed with Keita.

PICK & ROLL

To be a professional in the PnR, Demin often operates on axial pick-and-rolls with the Center setting the screen high enough to give Demin as much space as possible and putting him in front of the basket to get the best peripheral vision of the court.

One of the most effective passes in the two-man game is the pocket pass. This is Chris Paul's speciality; a pass with a rebound to avoid defenders being able to block the ball with their arms.

Demin has already grasped the concept of this pass, because he often makes this pass in traffic, so it's for utility and not for the beauty of the game. But above all because he often makes this pass on the short roll. This allows the Center not to lose his speed when he rolls close to the rim (the pivot can attack the rim without dribbling) but Keita can also punish a push-shot from mid-distance or redistribute the ball once he reaches the short roll.

Thanks to his good height (6'7 / 2m04), the Moscow native can make passes from complicated angles and also has better vision than some playmakers. Demin's science is also changing speeds on his drives, all within the same (and good) roll timing, in order to adapt the shift created by the roll and his drive at the same time.

His ability to react is extremely fast and he often finds the roll as soon as there's a Hedge, Trap or Ice in the PnR defense coverage. Very often these passes are high enough to prevent the big man from having to pick himself up (and dribble, for example, or bend down to loose his speed) and stay in his roll motion.

A VERSATILE PLAYMAKER

Like Josh Giddey, Demin is very comfortable with two-handed passes over the head. As mentioned above, his height gives him a good view of the court, and this kind of pass enables him to start higher up and have a good trajectory while retaining a good sense of power.

He's so advanced in Offensive IQ that sometimes he anticipates moves where there aren't any (or that haven't happened yet). Here, he had foreseen that the guard would tag the roll and that the 45 angle would open up because his shooting guard would shift to get an open shot.

But what makes Demin a super playmaker is also, and above all, his ability to make several types of passes.

Hockey pass, live dribble pass.. Egor Demin is as comfortable with two hands as he is with one. Demin is always able to find his team-mate with all kinds of different passes depending on the situation.

CREATIVITY AND ANGLES

Now that we know that BYU's Russian prospect is capable of all types of passing and that with his size and vision he can see everyone on the pitch. But let's see how he always manages to find the open teammate with the right timing.

But above all, what sets Egor apart is his ability to find passes from obtuse or almost invisible angles, in the manner of Doncic (all things considered). This type of pass comes from a kick-out when attacking the rim. We all know the importance of paint touches, and Egor's ability to drive without necessarily scoring, and even better without losing the ball, is a great quality. To find his angles, you need the instinct of a playmaker and the creativity to find angles that only he can see. Thanks to his good dribbling skills, he's always fairly loose in his movements, which allows him to stay upright and use his height to the full. To find his angles, Demin always stays in control, whether it's on the drive with his speed changes, or the change of angle that allows him to control the defense himself.

To explain that Egor Demin is an advanced playmaker, we need to talk about manipulating the defense. Adept at blind passes, often with passes down the wing, Demin is very good at making the defense believe that he hasn't seen the gap he's created. He's also very good at not giving the defense any information when he makes blind passes, so as to give the opposing defense as little reaction time as possible.

Although Demin has not yet played against great adversity, BYU's young forward has shown great abilities in a very short time which is quite promising and which allows us to be quite optimistic about his future. In addition, the BYU squad is well built for him and around him; a big men who roll hard and many shooters. In order to have a pick and roll partner but also pick and pop sequences and finally spacing with non stationary shooters on the wings. Personally I'm still pretty dubious about his future as a primary ball handler but his elite connector ability and versatility of passes combined with his advanced playmaking make him a prospect to follow and that could soon end up in the top5 of most NBA boards.