James Harden, Trae Young, and a Celebration of the Flob
A unique and effective offensive weapon.
The NBA’s best rim protectors are comfortable operating in the in-between, eating up space and deterring shots while staying close enough to their original assignments not to give up easy looks by the basket. Different players achieve similar ends through varied approaches.
Rudy Gobert leverages his massive length to play the ball and his man in positions that most of his peers are simply physically incapable of replicating. Brook Lopez utilizes impeccable timing and short-distance quickness to wall off the rim without committing to doing so until he’s sure a shot is going up. Robert Williams the III leans on his insane vertical pop to wait until the very last moment to contest a shot, leaving very few avenues to get the ball to the man he’s covering.
Each players’ approach to protecting the paint requires an individualized response, but in all instances opponents attacking the basket can benefit from keeping would be rim deterents in a state of limbo for as long as possible.
The more opportunities they have to over commit to the ball or their man, the higher the likelihood of good things happening for the offense. There is one weapon that ballhandlers have developed over the years that is particularly effective at achieving such ends: the flob.
Consisting of the potentiality of two separate choices - the floater and the lob - the flob requires the decision-making prowess, passing acumen, familiarity with one’s teammates, and touch to wait until the very last second to decide whether or not to shoot a floater over a contesting help defender or toss an alley-oop.
To flob as effectively as possible a player must approach each attempt with consistency. Any tell that will indicate that the possession will end with either of the two possible outcomes ruins the point of the move.
James Harden leaned heavily on the flob in his tenure with the Rockets, using it in both pick-and-roll and isolation attacks, all while mixing in a healthy dose of foul drawing to add a third dimension to his stop-and-start forays to the basket. He’s kept it in his arsenal ever since.
Trae Young has adopted the move, and pushed it to the pinacle of the art form. Coincidentally, Clint Capela has made a living on the receiving end of flobs alongside both players.
(Note: I am sure there are plenty of players to use the flob throughout the history of the NBA, but I am noting the two most pertinent examples of the current era for two reasons: 1) we’re in the current era, and 2) my basketball memory doesn’t date back that far past the current era.)
Others will surely make the move their own, but turning to it frequently requires a special blend of skills. Flobbing is based on the threat of a credible floater, which is one of the games more difficult shots to master. A player like Marcus Smart, for example, may have the passing ability and timing to flob, but his lack of menace as a scorer in the floater range makes choosing how to defend him more straightforward.
He’ll flob on occassion, but not as a central component of a team’s offense. That responsibility is reserved for the truly gifted. Harden and Young are the shining examples. Luka Doncic seems a strong bet to join them as a flob god. Darius Garland has the right tools for the job as well. Others will undoubtedly emerge. Tyrese Maxey, Tyrese Haliburton, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all profile as potential high-level practitioners.
Flobbing will never be the only tool the NBA’s best offensive engines use, but it’s a deadly option for those who truly master it.