Clumsy since the start of the season (33% success including 21% from distance), Zacharie Risacher experienced his first big offensive explosion last night, against the Knicks. A 33-point performance at 11/18 shooting including 6/9 from distance, to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 interceptions and 2 blocks!
But even more than his external skill, it was the incessant movements of the French rookie which marked us during this meeting against New York, as they hurt Josh Hart and company…
Races and movements to break the lines
Zaccharie Risacher's final basket is a good example, because while Mikal Bridges asks Josh Hart to come to the aid of Trae Young to force the opposing leader to let go of the ball, the Habs will occupy the space left open between the lines to place Karl-Anthony Towns facing a complicated choice. The former Bourg-en-Bresse player took advantage of the threat from Clint Capela to be able to shoot and allow his team to equalize.
We can certainly say that New York's defense is particularly weak, and that the two-way take on Trae Young is too flashy, and too slow. But as Thierry Henry explained this week about Kylian MbappéJude Bellingham and Real Madrid, it takes runs and movements to destabilize defensive lines.
Sometimes in “altruistic” movements, with the sole aim of freeing others.
Moves for him and his teammates
Sometimes in changes of trajectory which surprise an opponent who is too entrenched in his habits, like Mikal Bridges who did not expect to see Zaccharie Risacher diving behind his back.
Because even if he was clumsy until then, the first choice of the last Draft never stops cutting and positioning himself according to his comrades. The most interesting illustration is perhaps the following action, in which Zacharie Risacher anticipates Josh Hart's help on Jalen Johnson, while the Knicks had decided to stop Trae Young's dribble on the pick-and-roll. Wanting to take advantage of the surplus, the Frenchman therefore starts at the baseline… except that he sees his teammate dribbling towards the circle.
He then decides to turn around, to leave the racket as open as possible, while offering a passing solution to his teammate, with whom he gets along particularly well offensively.
Result ? A completely open 3-pointer against a Knicks defense clearly under construction…
