Interviewing Labaron Philon as Labaron Philon

This is not a real interview.

Last month, in the midst of writing my standard scouting report on Philon, continuing my “Words On” series following the AJ Dybantsa article, I found myself completely uninterested in finishing the piece. The style I chose to convey Philon’s story became too stale to write out. I didn’t have an angle with Philon as I did discussing Dybantsa, Knueppel, or Malonga. An interview, I thought, would be interesting to write. Now, I’m completely ignorant to the ethics of impersonating Philon and the potential consequences down the line, so I’m making it clear now that I’ve had zero contact with Philon or his team, and the responses to the interview questions below are my own thoughts, not his. At its foundation, this piece is a scouting report, and every detail included in “Philon’s” responses are with purpose. In engaging with this faux interview, one should take with them the idea of how I’ve interpreted Philon the prospect—his strengths, weaknesses, and his projection to the NBA. Enjoy.

ML - Introduce Yourself
LP - Labaron Philon, 20 years-old, from Mobile Alabama

ML - Measurements?
LP - 6’4, 177-lbs, 6’6 wingspan

ML - 177-lbs at 6’4 is considered undersized in the NBA. Undersized guards archetypically struggle to realize two-point efficiency, particularly at the rim. Speak about how you found success at the rim with Alabama, shooting 57.4% 2pt and 65.7% at the rim.
LP - I play bigger than what my measurements suggests. I’m not opposed to playing physical with defenders that want to defend me with physicality. It’s a confidence in my ability to manage defenders stronger or bigger than me and still generate great offense.

ML - Could you expound on what that ability pertains?
LP - Yea, think it starts with my handle. I’m able to attack from both sides of the floor—shading to my off-hand doesn’t shut me down. And the bag is deep, so I can play by ear and generate space at will, the how depends on the type of defensive coverages thrown at me. But fundamentally my two-point success starts with establishing territory. Meaning I’m not trying to slip through the defense avoiding contact to the rim. I section and control my immediate space all the way to the cup. Usually it’s a combination of changing pace, maintaining an arm bar with my free hand, hesis, sudden changes in direction. It’s all anchored in my handle. Playing into defenders threatens fouls, which defenders always have to be aware of, it keeps them at bay. Still, it’s a challenge. I’m not the fastest player on the floor, I’m not getting a clean drive by downhill, so it’s also about finding counters, like my floater or middy spin fadeaways.

ML - Take me through your approach against the most common defense coverages, say in the pick-and-roll.
LP - Sure. I’d say my biggest advantage against pick-and-roll coverages is my three-point shot. The point-of-attack (POA) has to fight to get above the screen every time, because if you go under, I’m pulling it, no hesitation.

ML - You shot 40% 3pt on 6 attempts a game
LP - Yup, so teams like to hedge against the ball screen, the screen-defender playing up level to the screen to try to shut down my pull-up threes. If it’s a hard hedge, that’s basically two on the ball, so I’m sending the pass to Aiden Sherrell, my big, wide open on the roll to the basket. If the pass isn’t available, meaning the screen-defender only tags me then recovers to Sherrell, then I’ll stall out the coverage and wait for the POA and screen-defender to somewhat reset. I’m still playing with advantage, the screen-defender is tracking my screener downhill, away from the ball, and the POA isn’t in a set stance to really defend me. Any move I make he has to bite, the threat of getting beat is too great. So I build on this and create a bucket however I see fit. Sometimes that’s a snatch back, step back three, or it’s a drive to the cup. There’s other possessions where the POA tries to get ahead of the ball-screen knowing he’ll be behind if he waits for me to actually take the screen. In that case I’ll reject the ball-screen, drive the opposite direction of the screen, and my defender’s beat. I’ll dribble once or twice in the direction of the ball screen to bait my defender, then reject quickly with a tween or cross and drive hard to the basket. The screen-defender can’t pick me up because they were planning to hedge. Blitzes are a bit of a struggle. Usually I’m dictating pace in the pick-and-roll but blitzes enable the defense to change the pace of the possession, and the passing window to Sherrell closes very quickly in those moments. I’m still figuring those out.

ML - Earlier you mentioned not being the fastest player on the floor. Speak to how your athleticism in general translates to the NBA
LP - My strengths athletically don’t really catch the eye like speed or jumping does. Keeping my balance through multiple successions of contact, changes in speed and direction is one example of my underrated athletic feats. My overall flexibility, getting low on both ends of the floor, whether that’s navigating through screens or lowering my center of gravity to get under and past defenders on drives. Having a thorough awareness of myself in context to my teammates and defenders on the floor, how to angle and position my body through space within that context. Of course my dexterity and overall coordination, my handle and finishing the best examples of the two. I’m not a speedy guard nor am I a long strider, so I’m not covering a ton of court quickly like Edgecombe or Maxey. I’m not muscling through defenders either, bulldozing through guys with shoulder-bumps like Shai. So it’s all very technical, something that I work on all the time, because those athletic shortcuts speed and strength aren’t to the point where I can straight up dominate defenses with one or the other. I’ll have to get stronger to be one of the best in the NBA, for sure. Strength kind of works into my play style too.

ML - With your handle and intellect, as well as the technical athletic talents you just spoke on, I had expected to see you venture a lot more into isolation reps. Where do you see your isolation scoring currently and what it could become in the NBA?
LP - It’s something I’m expanding on for sure. Without a ball screen it’s all about physicality. Tying into how strength works into my play style, guys in the NBA who play with pace like me, who aren’t creating offense with speed, are all really strong players. It’s something I gotta add to my game. It can be a challenge to create separation in isolation, against a set defender. With my handle I can generate great three-point shots in iso—stepbacks and sidestep threes are my favorite, but there comes the risk of turning the ball over or wasting shot clock if I’m trying to get downhill in iso. I’m both exerting energy to get defenders off my body and keep my dribble alive whilst attacking. For right now it it just makes more sense for me to use a ball-screen until I get stronger. It’ll take some adjustment playing NBA defenses, the overall pace of the game and the size of defenders, but I think I’ll figure it out.

ML - Alabama was one of the fastest paced teams in the NCAA. You guys were known to get a ton of shots up, and quickly. As the starting point guard, what was your approach to getting teammates great looks in Head Coach Nate Oates’ system?
LP - Yea, people like to say that we play a NBA-type scheme because as a team there’s very few middies taken, though I took my fair share. With Coach, it’s about the best shot available, shooting the most efficient shot type the most often through the course of the game, and the numbers should lie in our favor. So that’s three-pointers, layups, and dunks. And as the point guard, I’m working the defense so I can get my guys their shots. And just like my scoring my passing ability is rooted in my handle, my ball control. Ball control is important because I’m usually in the midst of drawing in a second or third defender before I make the pass, so if I don’t handle it right I’m turning the ball over, and live-ball turnovers are the worst kind. Playing in traffic as often as I do, a good chunk of my passes coming out of some type of ball-screen so there’s always another defender in my space, my creativity is a big part of my success. Defenders become accustom to the pick-and-roll, and after a while they figure out how to contain the conventional scoring and passing windows. So it’s on me to find a way to still deliver the ball to Sherrell when he’s rolling to the rim wide-open but the defense has taken away my right-hand. That’s when you’ll see my one-handed left-hand shovel passes or bounce passes. Or I’ll use my eyes to bait guys and look in a direction other than my actual target, which usually gives me that extra split-second to make a clean pass that would otherwise be picked off. The head fakes work hand in hand with jump passes, and jump passes are great for giving me and my teammates that extra second, half-second to make an opening.

ML - Going back to scoring for a second, the overwhelming majority of your points are points unassisted. You just described how you get great looks for your teammates, but how do you position yourself for teammates to get great looks for you?
LP - For sure, I’m not always going to have the ball in my hands, Hollaway and Latrell are cooking up too. If I’m off-ball, I’m around the three-point line ready to fire. Defenses usually aren’t going to give me an open three up front, so that’s one defender away from the paint allowing my guys to get cleaner drives to the rim. If they do decide to shrink the floor and dig at Hollaway or Latrell, I’m a kickout away. Against closeouts, I have a few options. Sometimes I’ll pump fake off-the-catch and fire an one-dribble sidestep three, a shot I’m really comfortable with that plays into my shooting rhythm. I can also out of the pump fake drive to the rim, and with my defender out of position expecting me to shoot a three, the nail defender and/or low-man are forced to help off my teammates, and from there I can make another pass for an open three or lob at the rim. It’s another part to my game unlocked by my handle. And of course there’s possessions where after I beat my man on the closeout I just have an open lane to the rim or an easy floater. Occasionally they’ll run a pin down for me, usually into a handoff around the top of the key (Chicago), which in effect creates a sort of ball-screen in motion, which if executed correctly allows for stronger spacing leverage against the defense. I’m not an off-ball specialist, so I’m not going out there hitting 45-cuts or backdoors, and I’m not three-point specialist either, so you won’t see me rabidly relocating/spacing along the perimeter. But I do play my role off-ball. I’m maximized as an on-ball creator but that doesn’t mean I only contribute when the ball is in my hands. I’ll be able to demonstrate my off-ball side more in the NBA alongside Jaylen Brown and Maxey for sure.

ML - To close, talk about the other side of the floor. How do you see your defense translating to the NBA, both strengths and weaknesses?
LP - For me it starts with effort. Yes I’m not a lockdown defender, but I’m not a head in the clouds type of guy either. As a guard, my team is expecting me to defend opposing guards, so that’s navigating screens and walling up in space. POA is tough, it’s an area I have a lot of work to do. Navigating screens at my size and it’s 240-plus pound bigs setting them, it’s tough. But dying on a screen means Donovan Mitchell or Anthony Edwards getting a wide open three, so it’s something I have to figure out quickly. Not being strong enough to fight over the screens, nor the lateral agility to get above the screen quickly holds me back as a POA defender. I’d rather defend off-ball. Having to defend in space has problems of it’s own when it’s a shifty guard like myself I have to guard. I just don’t have the lateral agility at the moment to properly guard in space like I should. I’m way better off-ball, defending guys off-the-catch, containing drives, getting into passing lanes and causing havoc. Regardless, it all comes back to my effort. You see it in the film. I’m not taking any defensive possessions off, I’m active away from the ball, I’m fighting to get over screens, I’m swiping at the ball, getting my body into the ball-handler, sometimes taking on guys at halfcourt. It doesn’t always work out in my favor but I think I improved defensively with every game. I’m hoping that trend continues in the NBA.