Warriors’ Toscano-Anderson has thrived in Year 2
The ups and downs at the beginning of the 2020-21 season for JTA were one of the hot topics of Warriors Twitter.
He lacked consistent playing time as the front office and coaching staff tried to balance development and winning night in and night out. Yet when his No. 95 was called, whether it be for five seconds of defense or a spot start, he was raring to go, as our own Nathan Beighle noted.
As injuries piled up on the roster, especially in the frontcourt, Toscano-Anderson now finds himself contributing heavily to a team that has found real momentum. His efficacy as a player is night and day compared to last year, and it’s easy to see why.
Per Cleaning the Glass, opposing teams score 3.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when Juan is on the floor, and take a dive in free throw rate and offensive rebounding as well. Throw in the fact that he’s a hyper-efficient scorer and 99th percentile assist man relative to usage rate, and you have your new Iguodala replacement.
JTA’s impact scales much the same way Draymond’s does. If you put Draymond on a roster with a bunch of average players, he struggles to elevate them himself; if you give him one (1) Steph Curry, he’s given the freedom to elevate others, which in turn elevates Steph, and so on.
Juan’s toolbox of offensive skills combined with his switchability and length on defense make him the perfect complement to this current roster.
Perhaps the play that most defines who JTA is came against Boston on April 17th. Hustling for a loose ball that really could have been called for either team, he laid out over the scorers’ table to save the ball, leading directly to a clutch Curry three to go up two with six minutes to play.
His scary tumble gave him a nasty head injury, 35 stitches, and a concussion to boot. Juan himself thanked his luck, acknowledging that the injury could have been far more severe.
He’s one of the Warriors’ best hype men on and off the court, but his willingness to throw his body on the line for his team is special. A guy who plays like he has nothing to lose is a very dangerous player indeed.