We needed that defense tonight. He stopped Kawhi multiple times and played really smart positional defense at times
He looked really good both on offense and defense. Still needs to get away from the one on one and just concentrate on getting open off ball and quick drives/cuts to the basket. That being said if his feet are set on those 3's, I'm surprised when it doesn't go in
...apparently Kuzma was nursing an ankle injury dating back to USA Basketball camp. His shooting form isn't leaning left or right but just straight up. Follow though looked smooth.
He did a fantastic job of defending Kawhi on multiple possessions. Chipped in 16 and 7 for good measure.
He played great and just took what came to him, never really forcing anything. This is the kind of game that we need from him on a daily basis. 16/7 with a blocked shot. And you are right, his defense was stellar. He contested KL hard all night. If he can do this we become much harder to deal with and more than that, he will not get traded in the off season. Why would we?
They kept trying to make us switch to abuse the mismatch... little did Doc know Kuz has improved to the point he's not the weak defensive link he once was. I'm really wondering if Kuz was just injured the whole season before the break, like they suggested, and it bothered him more than he let on
Kuz was phenomenal last night. His shot from distance looks much improved since the time off (although he rushed a few early on), and the biggest difference in his game is his defense, which was stellar last night. If he can keep this up he'll prove the doubters wrong and he'll be a keeper for sure.
Kuzma's much needed steady play on both ends along with Waiters' as another scoring threat bodes well for us down the road...
Yep. He was staying consistently in front of Kawhi and moving faster on D laterally, really impressive. And yeah he did look stronger. LOL Lebron looked like a man possessed those times he turned it up on D. A guy that big at his age notwithstanding.
It's incredible what some good coaching and an open mind can do for a young basketball player. The truth is - he was a willing defender before, but his fundamentals were simply bad and he used to shuffle his feet all the time. If he can keep this up, he is going to be a really good defender because he has the athleticism, he appears to be much stronger now and he is quite long compared to most guys he has to guard.
