FriedRise wrote:The game has slowed down even more for him. This isn't just him on a crazy heater shooting 90% from 3 for a few weeks. His 3P% in this 9 game stretch is actually down (35.1%) compared to his career average (36.8%). But he's figured out a way to get to the rim and make something happen - which in many cases seem to be drawing contact and then going to the line. Looks like whatever strength conditioning he was doing is paying off because dude is absorbing a ton of contact to be able to get all these and-1s.
He was pretty good too last year, but it took him a little bit to adjust to the grueling schedule of playing NBA starter minutes. He sucked in the first couple months of the season figuring out how to play with the Mid 3 before picking it up in December once Zach went down. If you remember, last season was his first full year playing as a starter; he was coming off the bench before that playing 22 mpg.
The question is, is this sustainable? We know he can't rely on just his 3pt shooting because the dude is super streaky, so can he consistently go to the line 7-8 times a game and keep up this scoring output?
He's not going to the line 7-8 times a game. The only guards that get that amount of free throws are SGA, Harden, Trae, and Brunson.
During this stretch, he only gets 5.5 attempts per game. Getting to 7 attempts would be an outlier development.
He isn't going to keep up this scoring output, but getting free throws and paint touches is a better way to generate offense consistently.
