In this year's draft, the Pistons picked Cunningham from Oklahoma Chow University, and although Green and Mobley were equally good, Cunningham was still the more favored one. The Pistons, which have been silent for many years, hope to use the precious champion to choose a cornerstone of the team, and lead the team out of the haze and return to the right track as soon as possible.
However, Cunningham's previous games have been quite bad, for the fast pace of the NBA, he seems to be completely unprepared, shooting can not find a crosshair, a mess, did not show the talent that should be a champion, running and jumping ability is very average.
In the first game, Cunningham shot eight times but only hit one goal, and in the second game against the Bucks, Cunningham continued to be in a miserable state, shooting 2-of-14, with only 6 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Discussions about whether he deserved to be crowned or not began to rise and fell, with many voices appearing that Cunningham was the most watery champion in recent years, saying that it was impossible for him to meet the general expectations of the champion.
These remarks are a bit heavy for a young man who has just turned 20, but Cunningham is unusually calm, he is not eager to prove himself because of these remarks, still step by step, playing at his own pace
After a bad start, Cunningham has averaged 15.9 points per game so far, along with 6.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists, a statistic that, while not as stunning as James's rookie season, can also reach a qualified average.
And why Cunningham was elected to the title, now look, there are some eyebrows.
First of all, he has a very good quality, that is, selfless, at the beginning of the season, Cunningham was pushed to the cusp of the storm because of inefficiency, the Pistons were not in a hurry to produce results, naturally gave Cunningham unlimited firing rights, but Cunningham did not hurt the team because he wanted to prove himself, he still played according to reasonable tactics, and found that his teammates had a better chance and would still pass to his teammates without hesitation. The first interest of the team is what is engraved in Cunningham's DNA, and at the crucial moment of the game, Cunningham is never carried away by heroism, he will carefully observe where his teammates stand to see if there is a chance of an empty position, because the probability of scoring a shot in an empty position is always the greatest. As long as the Pistons can win in the end, then Cunningham himself will be happy no matter what data he gets, and he will always cheer for the three-pointers and layups that his teammates have won.
Secondly, he also has a big heart in key moments, in a game against the Raptors, Cunningham only hit one of his first seven shots, all of which were three-pointers, only three points, but in the final moments, when there was only one ball difference, Cunningham threw three goals, directly laying the game to victory. And two of those balls were scored against Anunoby, who was 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 232 pounds and had three votes to enter the NBA's all-defensive second team last season.
In addition, Cunningham's physical fitness is very strong, although he does not look strong, but he is very good at using his strength in the breakthrough, together with a stop, it will make the defender particularly uncomfortable, Cunningham is different from the kind of defender who relies on explosive power to eat, his dribbling is slow, and the attack relies on the control of the rhythm and the mastery of timing. In the game, Cunningham's reading defense ability is extremely strong, and as long as the opponent leaks a small flaw, he will immediately catch it. And once caught by him, no one can stop him, and his power will be fully utilized.
A point guard, a young man, technology can be slowly honed, but the innate temperament can not be practiced, Cunningham is not James nor Durant, he has no excellent physical talent, nor does he have explosive data as soon as he enters the league, but Cunningham's maturity and selflessness are visible to the naked eye, and the Pistons choose him for a certain reason.
The above has briefly introduced the advantages of Cunningham, and then summarized that Cunningham can be elected as a champion, one is a certain degree of combat strength, and the other is a strong learning ability. In the case of such a bad start, Cunningham was not lost, stunned by his own steady success in flipping, on this mentality alone, not to mention a rookie who has just entered the league for the first year, it is difficult for many famous stars to do it.
Fans who carefully observe Cunningham's playing can see that he is gradually adapting to the confrontation and rhythm of the NBA, and he has become more and more able to use the new rules to play, which is the embodiment of ball quotient and the basic qualities that a good basketball player must have.
Of course, in the first thirty games, Cunningham's performance is not as good as Mobley, cavaliers rising star Mobley is now very strong, not only his own performance at both ends of the defense, but also led the Cavaliers to play excellent results, Mobley has also been firmly occupying the top position of the rookie list, but one thing can not be ignored, that is, Mobley's risk of injury is higher than Cunningham.com.
A player, if even the health can not be guaranteed, then all other things are in vain, this is also the Pistons are willing to believe in Cunningham, Cunningham's current level and basketball IQ, sitting on the team's starting problem is not big, as to whether he can become a superstar, it depends on his next creation.
We must be clear, not every champion will become a historical level of stars like James and Duncan, 2021 is not a draft year, as a champion, Cunningham's overall performance after entering the league is good, I hope that everyone can look at the ball rationally, more tolerance, look forward to Cunningham, Mobley, Green and other people can play as soon as possible and become the pillar of the future of the NBA league!