You can tell from the dunks he had last game that he's more explosive athletically speaking. Kuz is going to be great this year, can't wait to see him continue to improve and develop.
It's too early and this team is too deep for him to get in his own signature shoe, so I imagine he'll only be wearing Nikes and it allows him to essentially double-dip in shoe endorsements.
Definitely not a friggin Center... How has the dumb coaching staff not figured this out in camp and preseason? He is already worse than his rookie campaign. They want to put a pine of salt in the wound by playing him as a center. Guy was hot garbage tonight. Randle in that position is a 100 times better.
Luke playing a non-center at center continues. Randle, Nance, Kuz, etc. Randle was the most successful of all the experiments, but even he struggled against big lineups. Sure, there are the Ben Wallace's and Draymond Green's once in awhile who can do it, but most 6'7" and 6'8" bigs simply can't anchor a defense. There's a reason why even in the modern NBA, 7'1" Rudy Gobert's are playing center. You can't teach size.
I really can’t judge Kuz until he isn’t playing center, it’s not fair. Guy is best spotting up for threes, driving from the perimeter and using his spin moves and hook shots, guarding guys his own size. Now he has to camp in the paint, guard guys that have height and weight on him, it’s plain idiotic to use him like this.
^I agree generally....but he has been unable to hit the 3 ever since his hot streak ended (after summer league and the beginning of the season). And his lack of efficiency has been an issue ever since. He does have a hot game here and there but nothing you can rely on on a nightly basis. Kuz was NEVER a good shooter before he came to the NBA...and has never been ever since his hot streak came to an end. I just think Kuzma is realistically at best a 35% three point shooter. He usually takes too many threes considering his low efficiency. And that isn't because he plays C...shooting an open 3 is shooting an open 3 whether at PG or at C doesn't make a difference. The friggin problem is that even with his low efficiency, he is still one of the best 3 point shooters on this team which is infuriating. He is good at posting pictures of louboutin shoes on instagram with the hashtag #alllove...
I am pretty sure that banging with guys in the post @ 220lb takes a toll and DOES impact your legs and stamina, thus impacting his shooting.
Kyle has been thrown into that weird position Randle was at the start of the season after prepping to be a PF. Except Randle had the strength and power and conditioning to grow into it last year.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he is played in his more nature 3 or 4 position but man he's not looking so hot out there.
Wow, some of you going all Chicken Little over Kuz after ONE game. Kuz is gonna be fine. He is not going to be a full time small ball 5. Luke is just experimenting with ways to get him on the court with LeBron and BI. The three were on the court together for 2 minutes last night, but those two were actually two of the best of the whole game.
He was pressing in the preseason too. I do think playing out of position is a big part of it, but he's also just been off. Poor shot selection, and he's getting roasted in the pick and roll.
