Julian Strawther Is A Name To Watch 👀 | Nuggets Knowledge: Season 2

Julian Strawther Is A Name To Watch 👀 | Nuggets Knowledge: Season 2

Julian strawther is a name to look out for the Denver Nuggets are incredibly high on him and honestly I am too what’s up nuggets fans my name is Matt Brooks writer for nuggets.com and welcome back to season 2 of nuggets knowledge where we analyze key players Trends and games for your Denver Nuggets today we’ll be taking a deep dive into the film of Julian stur Denver’s soon to be sophomore for our first player breakdown of the off season now before we get into it I think it’s first important to apply some context stur was was drafted at the end of the 2023 first round he showed signs of Promise in summer league and was a star in Denver’s preseason earning him a spot in Michael Malone’s rotation stur had some big games in the first two months of his rookie season he scored 21 points and made five of nine three-pointers against the New Orleans Pelicans in the sixth game of his career that included a monster three-pointer in the fourth quarter weeks later he set his career high with 22 points on a career most six made three-pointers he also swiped away a career best five steals it was an amazing performance that kick started a nice stretch for him and the rookie would go on to score 10 or more points five times in his next 11 games before he unfortunately injured his knee that injury affected him the rest of the season and he only reached double figures once in the new year so why bring any of this up well right when stur got rolling he got hurt it’s something the Nuggets talked about a lot and it was a major turning point in the season that’s why I feel pretty comfortable saying this I would throw out the numbers from his rookie season altogether his 29.7% threo percentage is not representative of the type of shooter he is and his 4.5 points do not reflect the type of scorer he can become here’s why strawther was a lights out shooter in college he shot 40% in his Junior season thanks to his consistent mechanics and the lightning quick stroke his range is also incredibly deep most of all he’s not shy to hoist this shot is from the ball Arena logo nearly 30 ft out stw’s shot preparation is exquisite he can square up to the basket from a variety of angles making him a very dangerous movement shooter you’ll also notice he hops into his shots to get his mechanics in line and to get his legs under him the Hop is also why he can shoot from so far out and it allows him to decelerate from a full- speed Sprint and nail transition 3es even when passes are off Target being a hop shooter gives him Breathing Room the key to being a great shooter is to always keep your mechanics consistent no matter the situation Strather does that like here he catches with his leg spread apart but then quickly takes a small hop to to get into his regular shooting motion here the Hop is done as more of a s side step swish on this play he takes two hops one in the air to catch the ball and the second is a small Bunny Hop to get his balance together altogether you’re getting a shooter with excellent fundamentals with an insanely quick and compact jumper just look at how fast he gets this shot off strawther isn’t going to be shooting threes after a bunch of fancy dribbles like James Harden or Damen Lillard but he showed signs of being more than just a standstill catch and shoot guy some someone that can dribble into his own three-pointers and burn a transition defense here it’s a quick right to left crossover into the three when Oklahoma City is a step slow defensively and again the guy is a legit movement shooter watch how quickly he’s able to catch turn and Rise Up All In One Motion in less than a second after this cut the Nuggets featured Julian a ton in the offense because he’s such a ridiculously versatile shooter this offseason head coach Michael Malone revealed to me that he ran the third most after timeout plays for strawther behind only Jamal Murray and Nia yic I’m sure you’ve heard of those two that shows a lot of trust in the 22-year-old this is a coach of a championship team running plays for a rookie Denver loves running this cross screen play for strawther which is the screen that he sets for Payton Watson before sprinting behind the three-point line for three typically in basketball the most dangerous player on the floor can many times be the screener because the defense tends to forget about them Denver weaponized this with this cross screen play to give Julian open three-point looks by the way this play is known as Flex action in the NBA Denver ran other plays for Julian here it’s split action a play that was popularized by the Golden State Warriors nicoa yic makes a great decision by finding stur for three after some crafty off ball movement this play is one of Denver’s favorites rip dho and it involves Julian setting a back screen for Aaron Gordon which confuses his man before flying into a handoff from jic the result is an open three this play for strawther is known as stack pick and roll involving him setting up a back screen for Zeke Nagi and then slipping behind the ark altogether this is just a ton of plays ran for a rookie and it speaks to his Skyhigh potential as a movement shooter his ability to get his feet set is special Malone wasn’t lying about running a ton of plays out of timeouts for him here he’s able to hop turn and shoot in one motion when Denver inbounds the ball from the Baseline this three is remarkably difficult you get a feel for just how ridiculous Julian’s balance is St looked comfortable making threes out of handoffs making him the perfect nicoa yic player who’s maybe the best handoff player in the league because of his bone crushing screens Julian should be a terrific fit in this offense as he gets more time on the floor now if teams overplay him on handoffs because of how dangerous of a shooter he is stur can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim here Denver goes to its rip dho or back screen handoff play for Julian Jonathan Isaac defends this well so Julian takes three dribbles and elevates for the floater his ball skills are a lot better than people realize you can’t just run him off the line he’s so much more than just a shooter here he beats a hard close out on his three-point shot by dribbling to his left and finishing with the feathery right-handed push shot he loves that right-handed floater and he can make it from multiple different angles here driving in from the corner the key for him will be finding a good balance between this trusty floater and actual shots at the basket but still it’s nice to see he’s got a shot in his Arsenal that he’s this confident about he makes this one through a ton of contest and really all of this the floaters the threes they’re all made possible by the fact that he has incredible touch I don’t know how he gets this one to go in he even made floaters in big moments another thing I love about strawther is how aggressive he is about getting to the rim he’s not afraid of contact and he drew more fouls than I expected in his rookie year here Nai sets a pin down screen for him and right away he puts the ball on the floor and scores up close he plays fearlessly if things pan out strawther might turn into a legit movement shooter with a reliable floater who can put the ball on the floor and draw fowls that’s a very dangerous player and an awesome supporting piece next to Denver Stars his ability to shoot in any situation is only half the equation because he’s also a terrific cutter here juking back and forth like a running back before sprinting into this handoff with DeAndre Jordan and finishing with the floater being a good cutter is going to make him a great fit for joic ball here scoring up close after this terrific cut in the split action with NOA and cavius Caldwell Pope he won’t be asked to handle the ball much in Denver’s offense but in the times he did he looked pretty comfortable that’s something the team may look into more as he gains experience we’ll see there could be something there with strawther as a pick and roll Creator his ability to process multiple things with the ball in his hand and make decisions was certainly notable here he dribbles into this pick and roll with Jordan and goes between his legs to the right however right when he’s about to make his move he spots 7 fo4 Victor webon Yama standing in his way so Julian Retreats from for a second to let Jordan’s roll to the rim occupy wem’s attention before driving hard and completely dusting his man with this Nifty Euro Step for the floater that’s a tough shot this time Julian runs the pick and roll in transition and he snakes the pick and roll to finish with his trusty push shot before Larry Nance Jr can even get up a contest Julian made some really nice passes in the pick and roll like this one to nii over two Defenders this is an awesome pocket pass to jic I think their chemistry and handoffs can be really dangerous and anyone that can make the pocket pass to yic is going to be valuable in Denver’s offense it’s how NOA gets to most of his floaters the most dangerous shot in his Arsenal on this pick and roll down the sideline with NOA stord draws two Defenders and makes the perfect pass to the three-time MVP running offense through Julian isn’t going to happen a lot at this point in his career but it’s nice to know it could be a possibility down the line the same can be said about his skills as a one-on-one score again he’s not going to be asked to isolate much in Denver’s offense but it’s nice to see he can beat guys off the dribble at the very least it’s another way for him to draw free throws let’s switch to the other side of the ball defense where strawther appeared ahead of schedule in his rookie season it’s clear he built a strong knowledge of fundamentals NBA ready fundamentals after three seasons at Gonzaga University under coach Mark fud he was a genuinely impactful Team Defender it sounds like a cliche but there’s no other way to say it strawther was regularly in the right place at the right time which is incredibly uncommon for guys in their first NBA season it helps that he has great hands great slap down steals like this are not easy to pull off his quick hands and excellent off ball positioning made him a real threat when digging down on the ball like he does here against this yaka purle postup this time Julian digs down on Patrick Williams driving lane he generated a good amount of steals in his rookie season here Toronto goes to a stack pick and roll and Julian reads it like a book sticking with his man Gary Trent Jr when he sets the back screen for the pick six steel he was pretty aggressive as an off Defender especially for a rookie here blowing up this handoff play which eventually led to a Miss strawther made sound decisions on defense and gambled when appropriate collapsing on this driving lane and giving up a three-pointer to Josh aogi a low percentage shooter now I mentioned stur was in the right place a lot and that was especially true underneath the basket here helping Michael Porter Jr gum up this Pao banero Drive in fact I’d argue that his Lowman rotations were the best part of his defense here rotating over from the weak side of the floor to meet Nick claxon at the summit to turn this dunk into free throws super smart play being such an active low man gave him the opportunity to rack up steals here Julian is in great position to tag bogdon bogdanovich when he screens and rolls to the rim Julian tags the rolling Nia vuik here as the low man to stop this potential shot up close and then he Sprints out to his original man Javon Carter to run him off the line his awareness defensively is going to put out a ton of fires for the Nuggets timely Lowman rotations also gave him opportunities to block shots that’s where you see he’s a full 6′ 7 much taller than the average shooting guard this might have been his best defensive play All Season he just completely blows up this lob he has things he can work on most of them are on the ball like getting around screens but that will get better with time he’ll improve at picking his angles and trailing Shooters around screens plus he’s only played 545 total minutes in his career he’ll do other young guy things too like close out too hard to Shooters but again that’s super fixable as he sees more and more tape in NBA scouting reports he’ll learn who and who not to close out hard to the biggest thing for the 21-year-old going forward will be adding weight to his frame that’ll help him against opposing Wings when they drive to the rim time in the weight room will certainly help him against physically imposing forwards like Andrew Wiggins but this right here is the on ball Defender I think he can become he absorbs this post up brilliantly and forces the Miss with his 6’9 wingspan and he’ll learn tips of the trade as time goes on and he gets more experience like not meeting guys too high up the floor in transition and that’s where being a quick learner comes into play here he picks up marus smart much lower on the floor and completely engulfs the shot bet on Julian’s ability to be taught his coach ability Julian strawther has a real chance to carve out a solid role for himself with the Nuggets next season he’s a high volume extremely versatile shooter who can shoot off movement and that feels a need for the nuggets with cavius cwell pop gone especially if he can continue to compete defensively and be in the right spots he feels like a breakout candidate waiting to happen in year two thank you guys for watching this episode of nuggets knowledge be sure to subscribe to Nugget’s YouTube to stay updated for the next one again my name is Matt Brooks and I will see you guys next time

In the latest Nuggets Knowledge, we took a look at the intricacies of promising sophomore Julian Strawther’s game.

Follow Matt Brooks on Twitter: twitter.com/MattBrooksNBA

Find Denver Nuggets news, gear, tickets and more right here: https://linktr.ee/denvernuggets

#nuggets #denvernuggets #basketball #nba #nuggetsknowledge #basketballgame #nbahighlights #julianstrawther
Julian Strawther Is A Name To Watch 👀 | Nuggets Knowledge: Season 2