Paul Millsap And The Art Of The Rip Steal

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Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver have quite a bit in common. Both were second-round picks. Both occupy the same corner of the Hawks' locker room. The two are almost the same height, even though one is a shooting guard and the other a power forward. 

Here's one more commonality to add to the list: they each know how to get a rip steal. Like Korver, Millsap is a master of waiting for an opponent to show him a glimpse of leather. Then, with the force of a jackhammer, he mashes through the ball. More often that not, he dislodges it.

Korver and Millsap also spent two and half seasons as teammates in Utah. Were the Jazz responsible for teaching the art of the heist? 

"No, but I tell you what," Korver said recently. "In Utah we were definitely a very physical-playing team. Coach Sloan, that's what he preached was a physical ball game. If we didn't have enough fouls at the end of the first quarter, we weren't playing aggressive enough."

On the season, Korver has 60 steals and Millsap has amassed an even more impressive total. The three-time All Star has 139 on the season, a mark that ranks him tenth in the league and, unofficially, first among power forwards and centers.  As a team, the Hawks are fourth in steals per game.

"Paul just has a great feel for it," Korver added. "He's probably the best big in the league as far as being able to strip down and get steals."

Millsap has made a habit of sneaking up would-be shooters and passers in the instant when they think they are about to complete their move. It's not uncommon, in the moment after the robbery, to see a look of surprise on the faces of his victims.

"It's tough when a guard is coming off a pick-and-roll, and you've got someone way up in there slapping down at the ball," Korver said. "That's a big part of our defense."

Head Coach Mike Budenholzer said that the Hawks do practice the move, but that Millsap has a knack for the maneuver that goes beyond the drill work.

"He's amazing on the perimeter with his hands," Budenholzer said. "It's just one of his best weapons. We do a few things on activity with hands, and we teach a little bit, but it's 99.9 percent him and his natural instincts."

Millsap's yearly steal totals have gradually crept up over the course of his career: from 67 in his rookie season to a career-high this season. Part of that, of course, is due to increased playing time. But Jason Kidd, who ranks second on the NBA's all-time career steals list, sees experience as a big advantage too.

"I think (it's about) time in the league and tendencies of your opponent," Kidd, now the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coach, said. "The more you watch film and watch tendencies of players, the more you pick up things that might take place in a game. (It's) just different tendencies of what guys do: before they shoot, before they pass. It's like a pitcher tipping his hand before he throws a pitch."

Even if Kidd made a craft of the rip steal, he wasn't always forthcoming about his trade secrets.

"Everybody would ask, 'How did you know?'" Kidd said as his face cracked into a mischievous grin. "Sometimes you would tell them. Sometimes you didn't."

Millsap agreed that it took time to master the move, and he said it with a shrug that hinted that he learned it out of necessity when he entered the pros.

"It's something that I learned in the NBA," Millsap said. "When you get to the NBA and you're 6-foot-8 going up against guys that are 7 feet, you're not going to be able to block their shot every time, so you try to get it low when they bring it down. It's all about being smart and using what you have."

Korver echoed a similar sentiment. 

"I just do it because I'm slow," Korver said, "so I've got to be able to play defense in other ways."

When told that Millsap cited his own height as a motivating factor for mastering the rip steal, Korver summed up a healthy philosophy in seven well-chosen words.

"Sometimes your liabilities create opportunities, you know?"

Story by KL Chouinard

http://www.nba.com/hawks/features/paul-millsap-and-art-rip-steal

[Jdawgflow]

This is a good article.  Although I am worried about having an older team sometimes, stories like these make you glad to have veterans with good heads on their shoulders.

[MaceCase]

Sap, the slap box GAWD.

[Atlantaholic]

Millsap has played at an All Nba level this year. Has been more valuable than elite level names like Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin.

[lethalweapon3]

The only thing Sap ain't stealing is money!

~lw3

[benhillboy]

Dirk had an excellent one last night in crunch time, on a Harden drive no less.  I thought about Sap, Kyle, and Thabo and the likely chance they would've gotten whistled for the same clean rip.

[Trout7]

Paul has to be good at stealing, because that is the only way he can get back some of what is rightfully his after all the NBA refs steal from him.