Derrick White IS the process

A top-down view into Derrick White's processing speed

The NBA keeps linin’ ‘em up, and the Boston Celtics keep knockin’ ‘em down.

On Sunday, it was the Minnesota Timberwolves’ turn to feel the unrelenting waves of offense. It started with Jaylen Brown putting the team on his back. Then, after a period of struggle, the floodgates opened.

This is what the Celtics do. They figure you out. They prod and probe. And then, when they start to see the cracks, they ramp up the pressure in whatever way they see fit. Against Chris Finch’s team, Mazzulla leaned into Morey Ball (Layups and Threes), especially in the second half.

However, for all the individual heroics, it was Derrick White who ended up catching the eye. Well, my eye at least.

After the game, Mazzulla and White addressed questions surrounding the veteran guard’s processing speed.

We hear that term a lot in modern-day NBA analysis.

Processing Speed is a term used within Sports Science. Here is its primary definition:

“Processing speed describes the fluency with which the brain receives, understands and responds to information.”

If you put this into basketball terms, it’s how quickly a player sees whats happening on the floor, understands whats happening and reacts to what’s happening. Of course, this can look different on a possession-to-possession basis.

It could be that Player A recognizes a team shifting into an alignment that signals a set play, leading Player A to call out an audible on defense.

Or, it could be that Player B spots the help defenses cheating ever so slightly off his man, calls for the rock and quickly attacks the gap. Creating an easy kick-out after the helper is forced to commit on the drive.

When reading these two examples, I had White’s movements playing over in my head. You may not have chose the same player to simulate these words, but I’m guessing you had some form of basketball play happening in your minds eye.

Fortunately, we don’t need to work in the realm of imagination. White put on a processing speed clinic on Sunday.

“Sometimes it’s handling, sometimes it’s screening, sometimes it’s defense, running that loose ball down,” Mazzulla said. “Just makes big time plays. He (Derrick White) has a tendency to do that, but I think that’s really the identity of our team. People can make different types of plays at different times.”

In the above clip, the Celtics go to a “chin stagger.” The naming of the action isn’t important. Instead, I want to focus on White’s role within the action. With Gobert operating in drop, it makes little sense for White to try and cut into the mid-range or around the rim. He can spot that from a mile away. There’s a reason they call Gobert the “Stifle Tower.”

So, White comes off Horford’s screen and flows into a stagger action to get Brown out of the corner. The play unfolds, and White sinks to keep the spacing across the baseline.

This example may be nuanced, and it may have been a set action. However, judging by the Celtics’ read-and-react offense and how most of their sets are based on principles, it wouldn’t shock me if this was a read from White. I mean, how many times have we seen White come off that action and either kick it to a second side or get a shot in the paint? We only have to look at the below example…

Again, the speed at which White recognizes the defensive coverage and where his teammates are gets the ball out of his hands, and chooses to occupy the dunker spot to contest for a rebound is another example of his processing speed.

White’s ability to perceive the floor is what helps separate him from other guards. He rarely gets beat off-ball, makes the right read more often than not, and knows when to stick on someone’s hip or sag back to invite them into his space.

I really liked the above-defensive possession from White, who did a little bit of everything. The play starts with White staying home as the high man on the “Weakside I” until he tags Naz Reid, who is rolling off his PnR action with Anthony Edwards.

After he’s tagged the roller, White attempts to close out on Alexander-Walker. However, Edwards sets a screen, forcing a switch between White and Horford. No delay on any of this from White, by the way…He’s reading and reacting in real-time, eliminating any potential advantage the Timberwolves are looking for.

We all know what happens next: White sticks with Edwards, opts to stay glued to his hip, and gets the block.

In business, especially sales and customer support, the term “KYC” is often thrown around. It stands for ‘Know Your Customer’…In basketball, it’s “KYP” or ‘Know Your Personnel’ — White is great at this. He knows which situations he needs to suffocate and when. And he knows which spots he needs to give some breathing space.

“Just instincts,” White told the media after the game. “Just flying around…Just trying to get our there as quick as possible. Not allowing him to get a catch-and-shoot. Reading the game, seeing what the flow is. Just having fun with it.”

‘Just instincts’ — I found this response fascinating. We can all relate to having an instinctual feeling when doing something we enjoy and have done countless times. From our perspective, we’re not doing, predicting or making anything special, yet, to someone on the outside, they view it as a praise-worthy feat.

We often hear the word ‘experienced’ thrown around. And sure, experience can help hone ‘processing speed.’ However, have you ever done something — a sport, hobby, or pastime and found that someone is just better than you? That’s likely because their neural pathways are stronger, or they form quicker — thus allowing neurons to fire quicker, which in turn processes information.

I recently went back to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training after a few years off. I remember what I’m supposed to do because I have the experience, but my pathways need fine tuning. And even then, I’ve seen many people stroll in, train for a year or two and just be naturally better than me. It’s how things go. Same when I trained Muay Thai, years and years of people taking jumps fast than me.

Everyone has their own journey.

However, when you’re in the NBA, if you have one of the quicker processing speeds, you have a clear advantage.

White has been invaluable since Boston acquired him. Sure, he’s added to his game. He’s improved in every aspect. But, without his quickfire thought process (or the game slowing down) and his rapid decision-making, it’s questionable whether he would still be so effective.

Fortunately, we will never need to know the answer. And hopefully, White is here to stay for a very long time.