LBJ's passes to Kuz diving to the basket have been mostly redistributed to AD, so if he's unable to hit from range, I'm not sure what else he has to offer offensively. Maybe it will help when Rondo comes back as he can feed Kuzma on the second unit. I think this also explains why JaVale seems redundant at times. They all do the same thing as AD only less effectively.
You can't compare someone shooting 8 seasons at 42% from three with someone who had one good year from deep. Even Harden who shoots only 36% from range also shoots 86% from the line. Of course we hope Kyle will return to his rookie form from distance but when you are the second worst volume shooter last season (only to Westbrook) and you start out the third season where you left off... you start to think maybe 36% isn't what he is.
LOL. He has had 1 good half since hiss return. I'll give him some more time. Truth is: we really need him to be big for us.
I’m sure we all want Kuzma to succeed. We will need him to help carry the scoring load off the bench. My problem has been his shot selection has been underwhelming. If your 3 isn’t falling don’t continue taking difficult shots.
It's a good point. A lot of those easy baskets Kuz was getting early last season with Lebron are now going to AD as he's the pf. With the emergence of Dwight, there's even less room in there for Kuz to operate.
Boom, that is it. Totally agree Cookie. At some point he needs to understand that. If it isn't working, stop doing it. That's what happened on the road in Chicago, he was kind of falling into that chucking and missing threes mode, then he got himself together and started being more aggressive by attacking the rim and cutting. The more you do that then often times your confidence grows and you start making some of those harder shots. That's basketball 101. Either his coach or his teammates or Kuz himself needs to take this in and change what he's doing.
Agreed, while I have been worried about his play, I realize he needs some time with these guys. He needs to be indoctrinated by Lebron and the others. Like others have said, he has been used to playing with kids, now he is playing with vets. The vets need to take him under their wings and teach this kid how to really play. He does have natural talent but he still makes a ton of bad plays. He has to minimize the mistakes and let the good play come slower. It will and then as he gets used to playing more, they will come more often. That's the process he needs to embrace.
Should have slowly revved him up in practice till mid Nov (which would have placed him closer to the 8 week recovery mark). he could then get his conditioning back during those mid Nov to early Dec games. Have y’all seen our upcoming schedule? It would have allowed us the luxury to hold Kuz back till he was at least not on a minutes restriction.
If he's healthy enough to play ...... getting a feel for real game action and getting used to his new teammates is better done in the actual games leading up to that period of the schedule ..... I would say instead.
Our coaching will work him in. They have to figure out how to use him as well as Kuz figuring out how to play with this group. Let's get these guys acclimated to each other asap and then really get on a roll. Going to be adjustment with Rondo also.
He’s got to take wide open shots in the flow of the offense, else the results are often even worse. That said, he seems not to be sure which those are right now—hence lebron’s “pep talk”. I won’t be worried until this goes on for a month. I think his injury was pretty serious, and our offense without him hasn’t been a thing of beauty, either.
5 of the next 6 are at home. Easier to get him going and in a rhythm at home before our 4 game roadie later this month. We need him out there as the guy. That'll fast track him knocking the rust off. But that is impossible to do without Rondo. Then when he's back to form, we can work on integrating him in rotations with Bron and AD (or 1 of the 2 when the other sits). He'll get there. We all know what he's capable of. We're winning and can afford some early season patience with him.
Remember when Kuz did other things besides chuck 3 after 3 after 3. Man that was a fun time. He hasn’t shot a hook shot since 1976.
He gave us hope and then he took it all away. Wasn't all on him, the team stank it up, but those two hero attempts with those missed 3s really hurt us.
