**Q: How do you think Brandin played?**
**Steve’s answer:** Brandin was fantastic, yeah. Without Steph, obviously, we needed his offense and he came through in a big way. He’s a really crafty player. He knows how to get to the rim. He’s got that euro step. He just has a feel and a knack. He had 10 rebounds, I think. It’s one of the things we love about him. He just seems to be a step ahead of the play all the time.
**Q: With Jonathan, there’s games where he’s really locked in, others where he’s kind of just fading. He obviously was very locked in last night. He looked early in the night like he might be fading. But then he took a step back to life. Any sense of what got him rolling a little bit?**
**Steve’s answer:** That’s kind of how it is with young players. It’s a little up and down. And I thought JK really stayed with it after the slow start. And he did a really good job of attacking, getting downhill. He had a big scoring night. And he continues to grow. So he’s doing a great job.
**Q: What are you seeing in his growth, just as a scorer?**
**Steve’s answer:** Yeah, I think he’s feeling the spots to attack. He’s starting to understand spacing and feel where the defense is. He’s not dribbling into traffic. He had no turnovers tonight. Just felt like he attacked when he should have. And moved the ball on when that was the right plan.
**Q: We’ve now talked a lot about what he can do athletically, getting to the rim, diving. But what do you think he can maybe give this team as it kind of re-forms, just as a secondary scorer at times, give him the ball, let him go create?**
**Steve’s answer:** Yeah, I mean, that’s obviously a huge component to what he can give to us, is the scoring and getting some easy baskets at the rim. And so we’re really showing him clips every day, trying to get him to get to the rim, especially without the ball. He wants to attack, which is great. But what we’re trying to get him to understand is if he gets to the dunker spot, finishes his cuts rather than staying at the foul line area, it improves our spacing. And he’s probably going to pick off two or three buckets a game, just getting to the dunker spot and following, going to the offensive glass. And running to that spot either in transition or after setting a screen. His tendency now is to kind of linger on the perimeter. I want him at the rim. He’s one of the best in the league finishing when he gets the ball in the paint. And so we’re going to keep pushing them in that direction.
by taygads
2 Comments
I’ve always really felt like Kerr didn’t want to coach Kuminga and he’s been developing despite his coaching. Looks like that was either just wrong or Kerr might be turning a new leaf with the kid, you can tell these last couple weeks Kuminga has gotten so much more comfortable when he’s on the floor. I really hope this continues because he is damn near unstoppable going to the rim and he’s still rough around the edges.
I totally understand why Kerr gives a long leash to podz as well as TJD and why it was never like that with JK or moody but i will say that though. Most of the young guys (maybe outside of TJD) don’t move the ball enough, it stays in their hands way too much, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. To put it in perspective yesterday with Steph handling the ball for the most part – 39 assists. Today – 23 assists.