[Game] Kings at Nuggets - Sunday, Dec. 29 - 5PT/8ET
- Thread starter Capt. Factorial
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I'd love to see more Justin James out there. This dude played really good defense against Booker. He still got scored on nearly every time but there was really nothing else he could have done better other than forced a turnover. That was just Booker hitting his shots against good defense. If you watch him play defense, I think it's obvious he has learned a lot from Cory Joseph. In fact, he plays man defense nearly identical to CoJo out there when you look closely. That's very promising for a 2nd round pick that's 15 games into his NBA career.
If he can just get his shot going, I can see him being Josh Richardson lite out there. It's just a roll of the dice whether that will ever happen or not. His stats in college are weird in that his first 2 years he shot 36% and 42% from 3 but his final 2 years he basically shot 30%. The promising thing is that shooting is one of the things players develop most often, so if he can develop this part of his game, he can be a very good 3&D player moving forward.
Hopefully we can get something for Ariza at the trade deadline and open up some minutes for JJ. If we were in the playoff hunt, then I'd be more than happy keeping Ariza because he's a better player right now but since we aren't and don't look to be, it would be nice to get some development time in there.
If he can just get his shot going, I can see him being Josh Richardson lite out there. It's just a roll of the dice whether that will ever happen or not. His stats in college are weird in that his first 2 years he shot 36% and 42% from 3 but his final 2 years he basically shot 30%. The promising thing is that shooting is one of the things players develop most often, so if he can develop this part of his game, he can be a very good 3&D player moving forward.
Hopefully we can get something for Ariza at the trade deadline and open up some minutes for JJ. If we were in the playoff hunt, then I'd be more than happy keeping Ariza because he's a better player right now but since we aren't and don't look to be, it would be nice to get some development time in there.
Despite the loss to Phoenix, I still think there were things to build on. Buddy played maybe his best game of the season, even better than his hot shooting performance against Boston. He actually drove the ball to the basket, made forceful contact with his man, and made the basket. He got some foul calls because of his aggression. He needs to continue with the same attitude against Denver. Buddy is a strong guard. There is no reason that he can't continue to use that strength to get foul calls. Barnes was very aggressive driving to the basket also. Keep it up. It's not like there are fantastic shot blockers on Denver. The team defense needs to improve, however. They've regressed somewhat from earlier in the season. They even had a few easy baskets they allowed because they did not get back on D. That kind of thing is inexcusable. Shore up the defense. Get a win.
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