Even with the Jazz starting the season worse and worse, there is still a lot of excitement about this team. One of the most exciting storylines is the rise of Keyonte George. While this was the jump the Jazz were hoping to make last year, the player Utah wanted George to become has finally arrived and is starting to get the recognition he deserves.
Athletic’s Alex Speers discussed George on “Slam N Jam” with Andrew Schlecht, where George asked the “WHAT??” in their “the good, the bad and the WHAT??” segment.
“My ‘WHAT??’ This week is all about what Keyonte George has been up to this season as he has become a seemingly great player overnight. But specifically the thing that makes me say, “WHAT??” is how he gets to the line… He took three and 4.3 attempts per game in years one and two, respectively…
“Keyonte is currently averaging 9.3 free throw attempts, which more than doubles his performance last season, and he’s doing well at it, shooting 91%. That’s a huge jump. His free throw percentage… went from .31 to .61… When you look at players who average at least 20 minutes per game… no one in the league sees a higher percentage of their points come from the free throw line than Keyonte George.”
Note that this segment was released on November 8. Since then, George’s FTA has dropped to 8.4, although his free throw percentage is still around 91%. Nevertheless, George’s ability to make mistakes was a nice change for the Jazz, as they needed to surround Lauri Markkanen with another scorer who could find ways to get his own.
And let’s not forget the leap into the game that George has made. Going from 5.6 assists per game (a solid average for a combo guard like George) to 7.2 shouldn’t be swept under the table. George has taken off everywhere. It wasn’t perfect everywhere, but his improvement alone makes this Jazz season that much more exciting. It’s what earns him Deron Williams comparisons.
Even crazier is that there is still room to grow
Something Speers also weighed in on is that all George needs to do to prove he is a future star is simply improve his floor spacing skills.
“If his three-point shot is coming…like we’re talking about a star guard if he can shoot threes and get to the free throw line…if he can become a shooter and the fact that he can get to the line is real…all of a sudden his ceiling is so much more realistic than I thought going into this season.”
George has a mountain to climb to increase that efficiency. He is currently shooting 27.5% from three, but the season is still young. The Jazz guard has already proven that he is worth keeping for the long term. If the three-ball is there, and he has shot better in the past, he has shown Utah that the team really does have a guard as one of its building blocks.
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