Kings Coach: Ben McLemore Has To Work On Shot Selection
By Mike Dyce
The Sacramento Kings first round draft pick, Ben McLemore, shot the ball 23 times in his summer league debut. Unfortunately, 19 of those didn’t go through the rim. The game ended up being a 76-73 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
“Obviously, [Curry and Thompson are] great shooters, but they’re not the athletes Ben McLemore is,” Kings head coach Michael Malone said, via the Sacramento Bee. “That’s no knock on them, but the one thing we have to continue to work with Ben on is shot selection.”
“Guys that make shots, you don’t mess with how they shoot,” Kings assistant coach Chris Jent said. “They just get to their shot quicker. You help them read defenses so they know what they can get on their catches to make them better. Or you help with their relocation, to find open areas, to find shots.”
McLemore has already watched film to and tried to identify his weaknesses.
“Coaches helped me correct that,” McLemore said. “We definitely watched film to see what I did wrong.”
But Malone is confident that his athleticism will help him create shots, good shots hopefully.
“He’s athletic, and he’s such a great shooter, but he’s got to understand what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot,” Malone said. “But he’s got a gift. Shooting makes up for a multitude of sins, and he can put the ball in the hole. So we’re not going to mess with that at all.”