Making the most of his opportunity tonight in a start. Spurs vs. Trail Blazers - Box Score - April 10, 2017 - ESPN
32-6-5, not too shabby vs. the Spurs too.
Propelled his team to victory with Lillard and McCollum sitting out vs a full strength Spurs team. That is incredibly impressive. That's the Bazz UConn knows
He only had 20 shots. 9-20. I think you were adding his 3 pt shots which are already included in his 20 shots.27 shots means he was green lighted to have his glory moment.
One nice thing is that the player on both benches watched him kill it.
He only had 20 shots. 9-20. I think you were adding his 3 pt shots which are already included in his 20 shots.
What I mean by that is that at least all of the spurs players played significant minutes. It's not like he beat an entire team of bench players.Why can't you praise Napier's game without the hyperbole of "against the full strength Spurs"? The Spurs starters only played about 20 minutes and they emptied the bench for a significant portion of the game. Seeing Shabazz even having that type of game in the NBA is already a great thing, no need to add the hyperbole.
That's the most confidence he's played with for a game since he was wearing a UConn jersey. Played with his swagger again
What I mean by that is that at least all of the spurs players played significant minutes. It's not like he beat an entire team of bench players.
I was never a good basketball player, but when I played 3-on-3 with two guys who couldn't shoot, and I *knew* I had to be the scorer, I would play my best. Shabazz knew he had the keys to the car with Lillard, McCollum and Crabbe sitting. And he drove that thing like a mofo.
It's games like this that tell me Napier has stuck in the NBA even if he's not what we might have hoped he'd be. But the question is, can be become more than a 9 mpg guy? He needs to get his overall FG% up - he's shooting 36% from 3, which is nice, but only 38% overall. Unfortunately, those are the same numbers he put up as a rookie (although significantly better than his numbers from last season). His irregular playing time has to be a contributing factor, but the bottom line is he needs to improve to become more than an end-of-the-bench "spark" guy.