Matt had a great write-up on Farieds improvements but I thought it was worth reiterating it a bit here. Faried began the year a player adrift. The GM who coveted him when so many others had passed and the coach whose up and down offensive style seemed designed to maximize his athletic ability while minimizing his half court deficiencies were both gone. Trade rumors swirled around him and Brian Shaw seemed dead set on forcing him to go to work on offense with his back to the basket. Farieds subsequent failures started costing him minutes.
And yet, something weird happened. Despite what seemed like irrevocable differences between play style and offensive capability between player and coach, Faried did the thing that Brian Shaw was always purported to be able to do to players, one of the core reasons he was hired. Faried got better.
In the 19 games since the All-Star break, Faried is averaging 18.2 points and 8.8 rebounds a game on 56.7 percent shooting. His minutes and usage rate have gone up significantly and Faried post-ups are no longer a comedy of errors, but a staple of the half court offense*. Farieds shooting a cool 50 percent on post-ups and is 24th in the league in points per possession among qualified players per SynergySports.
