33.1 percent shooting, averaging 2.6 shots per game and 0.9 hits, that's the answer from Kelden Johnson's three-point line diplomacy last season. Last season we saw a chariot-like roast chicken on the front line, and from the first game of last season, he rushed into the opposite penalty area from time to time to face the tallest and strongest player on the opposite side. Collisions, whistles, goals, this is the very visual impact of the game scene brought by KJ at that time, and it is also the most commonly used way of playing KJ after gaining weight last season, but this style of play is too single, and it is easy to be targeted after being familiar with the opponent.
So, this season, KJ intends to make some transformations.
I want to be a better professional player. Kelden Johnson knew he needed to be more comprehensive, so he lost weight and practiced his shots in the off-season, hoping to have a richer arsenal on the offensive end of the new season.
But in the first few games of the new season, Roast Chicken's three-point shots were not good, and in the October game, he had a hard time hitting those empty shots outside the three-point line, which also led to most of the games in this period that he could only hit the basket more and still play the way he used to play.
But fortunately, the Spurs have an extremely good shooting coach. With his help, Roast Chicken's three-point shooting percentage began to skyrocket in mid-November.
In mid-November, the two games against the Lone Rangers and Lakers were a watershed for KJ. In these two games, Roast Chicken announced the results of his three-point cultivation with 3/6 and 6/9 shooting rates, respectively. After that, roast chicken's 3-point projection became more and more sufficient, and by the end of the season, Kelden Johnson was able to shoot 2.1 three-pointers per game with an extremely close to 40% shooting rate, which also made the guy who was still desperately trying to hit the basket last season into one of the best three-pointers on the team this season.
Of course, even the best pitchers will have a fluctuating outside shooting percentage. You may shoot more than 10 three-pointers in one night, but you may also hit the iron in a row for the following day. Roast Chicken is no exception, and his three-point shooting rate has also declined at the end of the season, but at the same time, his three-point shooting number this season is gradually increasing, and the quality decline brought about by the increase in quantity is acceptable.
In addition, another inflection point in this season's roast chicken performance was Xiao Bai's being traded. Xiao Bai's departure has led to the Spurs qualifying offensive launch point leaving only Murray alone, and now Murray has no way to fully absorb the ball rights left by Xiao Bai, which also causes other players such as KJ to also need to digest some players. From the pre-trade games, we can see that Kelden Johnson was playing more as a no-team player at that time, and the frequency of autonomous attacks was not high. But after Xiao Bai was traded, there were fewer people who could instigate the attack, which required him to increase the proportion of independent attacks.
But fortunately, we were pleased to find that after the trade, the roast chicken showed enough self-offensive ability. While he doesn't have any fancy offensive skills right now, combined with his current shooting threats, the ability to hold the ball and score after the trade has been able to absorb a portion of the ball, and Kelden Johnson seems to be quietly showing more possibilities.
DeJuntai Murray became the first All-Star among the team's youngsters, but I'm sure he won't be the last, and in the next few seasons, there will be more youngsters who can't rest on All-Star Weekend, and the next to be on the All-Star list could be Vasell or Kelden Johnson. Keep up the current level of progress and they all have a chance to get better.