Making Sense Of Spurs' Forward Jeremy Sochan
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At first glance, Jeremy Sochan's rookie season looks fairly pedestrian: 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 24.1 minutes. Casual observers will note it's "fine", and be on their merry way.
However, Sochan has never been a guy who can judged by numbers. Even going back to college at Baylor, Sochan was never a box score stuffer, putting up modest numbers of 9.2 points, and 6.4 rebounds, scoring just 277 points on 211 shot attempts.
What we all need to understand about Sochan is that he's never going to be a featured offensive player, because he's more of a connector. He'll set screens, pass out of short rolls, handle the ball, defend the opposition's best player, switch effectively, box out, and pretty much do everything that doesn't show up in the raw stat sheet.
You'd be excused if you roll your eyes at that old trope. We've all heard before how coaches gush about players who don't put up big numbers, often praising their work ethic, their IQ, how they read the game, and all the ways you can talk around the fact that certain players aren't that productive.
However, in this case, that's actually true.
In the case of Sochan, it's almost like he decided at an early age to fully embody those tropes. He's basically embraced being Mr. Anti-Stat, and he's absolutely fine with it.
(The rookie also wears a Spurs #10 jersey and colors his hair like former Spur and overall wild guy Dennis Rodman, further proving how he wants to viewed differently.)
On the court, Sochan models his game after Draymond Green, a player we all know can walk away with a line of just 5-5-5, but still leave a huge imprint on the game.
At 19, Sochan is already showing traits of that effect, even if he's got some ways to go to reach the level of Green, who has perfected his skills over a career that spans more than a decade.
All that said, Sochan has some offensive upside that I would strongly encourage him to lean into. There's nothing wrong with being a Draymond Green clone, but what if you could offer all those intangibles, while also be a reliable offensive option, who can give your team around 15 points per game?
Sochan's nose for being in the right spot at the right time works at both ends of the court. Over 60% of his shots come from within 10 feet, and he's currently converting 80% of his attempts within three feet of the basket. 16 of his 45 made shots on the season have been dunks, and his spry athleticism should afford him to unlock his game as rim-runner, keeping defenses on their toes.
If there was ever one thing you could point at Green for not doing, it was asserting himself consistently offensively off screen and rolls. Defenses knew he'd more than likely use any type of short roll action to collapse the defense, and pass out of it. It worked, but prime Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson aren't on the Spurs.
Sochan can do that AND get to the rim himself to force defenses to guess what his intentions are. With both Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson developing into steady high-volume scorers, it's crucial for Sochan to feed off of that to develop his own offensive rhythm.
Yes, he'll always be better on defense than offense. No, he'll never put up enough numbers to become a ROY favorite (I mean, just look). And finally, no he'll never be a devastating scorer who puts up 20 per night. But all of that is fine as long as he recognizes he needn't pigeonhole himself as a Rodman or a Green.
Sochan should fully lean into his rather tremendous basketball IQ, and play entirely off of that, letting that dictate his future potential and just ride that wave. If that IQ gets him to a place where he's routinely one of the best defenders in the league, and a consistent offensive performer, that would seemingly exceed his own current goals and expectations.
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