SAN FRANCISCO — On one play, Jonathan Kuminga showed why the Warriors spent their top pick on him in the past NBA draft.
Playing with G League Santa Cruz on Saturday, the 6-foot-8 No. 7 overall pick sprinted the length of the floor to deny a Stockton Kings opponent a fastbreak layup. Kuminga put on the burners, then lifted off from inside the free throw line, threw up both hands and swatted the ball off the backboard.
Jonathan Kuminga has 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 MONSTER chase-down block at the half for the @GLeagueWarriors
#DubNation pic.twitter.com/wJfJ0rA3VM
— Golden Gate Hoops (@GoIdenGateHoops) November 7, 2021
Golden State coach Steve Kerr witnessed the display of athleticism in person after making the trek down the peninsula on the NBA Warriors’ day off.
“It was spectacular,” Kerr said. “That’s one of the things that we’re helping him zero in on is just sprinting the floor both ways. He’s such a locomotive out there. He’s a big, strong athlete. Running the floor consistently both ways will put him in position to make plays like that, which a lot of other people can’t even think about making.”
Kuminga finished his second regular-season G League contest with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 38 minutes. He was back at Chase Center the following night for Golden State’s matchup with Houston.
It’s all about reps for the 19-year-old, Kerr said, especially after he missed a chunk of the preseason with a knee injury.
“That’s the beauty of Santa Cruz,” Kerr said. “You can pick apart every little detail, but it’s not about that. It’s about just playing time. For a young guy like that, the more minutes the better.”
A piece of advice from veteran Andre Iguodala to Kuminga and fellow rookie Moses Moody in their G League games: “Get your misses out of the way in the G League games. Try tight passes,” he said. “Use practice and use the G League to figure out what you do well, figure out what you need to work on. Then when you come up here, you’re playing a little tighter. You really can’t make the same mistakes. You can’t have a turnover or two. You have to play clean basketball. But you can use the G League to get you comfortable with taking two shots up here and still being efficient.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com