Partizan Belgrade and Bayern Munich are two very different teams. Partizan play at a slow pace and have the third-worst offense in Euroleague. Bayern play at an above average pace and have the third-best offense in the competition. Partizan have the youngest roster in Euroleague. Bayern’s average player is near his prime years. Bayern have money to spend. Partizan need money to survive.

However, when these teams met at the Audi Dome last week, it became apparent that they share one common trait: they rely on power forwards who can’t spread the floor with their shooting. Joffrey Lauvergne, Djordje Gagic, Deon Thompson and Chevon Troutman practically invite opponents to help off them when they step outside the paint. As it has already been discussed, this deficiency tends to hurt pick and roll execution. However, the power forward is not the only frontline position which can contribute to spacing. Bayern look to John Bryant, their starting center, for help in this area:

The German team scored its first two baskets in this game by going to Thompson on the low block. Bryant was the one feeding him both times, after setting a ball screen and popping out on the perimeter. Nikola Milutinov (number eleven for Partizan) has to honour Bryant’s jumper and can’t help inside on Thompson who battles for position with Lauvergne. The French forward can’t afford to let his man catch the ball deep in the paint, so he tries to front him. The problem is that Milutinov doesn’t have his back. Bryant, an elite passer among Euroleague big men, finds Thompson with a textbook bounce pass. Layup.

Bryant’s passing can also be a valuable asset in transition. No one is going to mistake the American center for the modern day athletic big man who provides his team with an extra option in fast breaks. However, his passing skills serve him well when he trails his running teammates:

Partizan have gotten back in time to prevent a primary transition opportunity, but are forced to give up a mismatch inside, as Lauvergne jumps out to pick up Bryce Taylor at the wing, leaving Bogdan Bogdanovic to deal with Thompson in the paint. Once again, Bryant draws Milutinov away from the basket and makes sure that Thompson capitalizes on his size advantage with another assist.

Finally, Bryant’s perimeter skill set was also useful against Partizan’s 1-3-1 zone:

With three Partizan defenders clogging the middle of the floor, from the top of the key all the way to the baseline, Bayern needed an extra man on the soft spots of the zone, i.e. the wings. Bryant was that man and he found Robin Benzing for an open three at the far left corner. The shot missed, but this play indicates that a center who can pass should not be contained in his traditional role as a post up threat against zone schemes.

Perhaps none of these screenshots says anything new. High-low actions are hardly innovative stuff. The flex offense has required centers to pass the ball from beyond the arc since the 1970s. However, centers acting as playmakers outside the paint raise some interesting question about shot locations and efficiency.

Most of Bryant’s assists come from areas of the floor that are not associated with his position. Most of those assists lead to efficient shots – close-range attempts, three pointers and free throws. The problem is that he also does a lot of bad shooting from these areas – three out of his seven field goal attempts per game are either threes or twos outside the paint. His percentage in both categories is below 30%.However, if Bryant stopped taking those bad shots, a lot of Bayern’s possessions with Thompson on the floor would look like this:

On this Partizan possession Bryant defends the right way, according to advanced stats. He risks an open mid-range jumper by Milutinov and helps take away the interior, high-percentage threat posed by Lauvergne. Milutinov made that shot, but that’s not important. The main takeaway from this screenshot is that if Bryant’s man did not have to worry about his jumper, then the scoring opportunities inside for Thompson would be minimized and the risk of an errant pass in the crowded paint would increase (Bryant turns the ball over at a high rate as it is). At the same time, Thompson would have less room to do what he excels at – going after the offensive rebound:

Again, Lauvergne is forced to front Thompson. Again, no Partizan defender has his back. The high-low pass is not available and Bryant’s jumper misses, as numbers say it would. But Thompson has the opportunity to seal off his man and grab the offensive rebound. Had Milutinov rotated inside after the initial pick and pop action, instead of trying to get back to Bryant and losing his balance, the Bayern forward would have found it harder to attack the glass.

Therefore, Bryant should continue to play in the perimeter when paired with Thompson. Bayern coach Svetislav Pesic will have to take the good (assisted field goals and offensive rebounds inside, along with the occasional made jumper) with the bad (errant passes, missed jumpers). However, Bayern’s opponents should take a page out of Dragan Milosavljevic’s book and try to make the bad happen more often:

Whether he did it instinctively or by design, the Partizan forward defended like a proper stat geek on this play. Once Bryant received the pass on the pick and pop, Milosavljevic rotated halfway toward him, without fully committing to closing out on his jumper. When Bryant looked to pass to Taylor in the corner, Milosavljevic was able to cover the distance. It was enough to throw off the Bayern center and give Milutinov enough time to get back after helping on the ball screen. Eventually Bryant faked a shot and put the ball on the floor since he didn’t have a passing option. Bogdanovic picked up his dribble, leading to a transition opportunity for Partizan.

It’s enough to make you wonder whether Milutinov should not have respected Bryant’s jumper so much on these previous plays. Bayern’s frontline combinations force them to look for points and assists in low percentage areas of the floor. Bayern’s opponents should take advantage by turning Bryant into a volume perimeter shooter – at least until he makes enough of those.