Hey, it’s Raj from 3CB.
Lakers wing Kyle Kuzma came into the 2019-20 season with heightened expectations for his
jump shot after a full summer of adjusting his form and attempting to iron out the kinks
that plagued him last season.
However, he’s still struggled from distance this year, shooting a paltry 29.7% overall
from behind the 3-pt line.
In this video, I’ll explain three reasons for Kuz’s jump shot struggles - including
two mechanical deficits and a contextual factor - and if these issues can be rectified moving forward.
A key emphasis for Kuz’s 2-motion jumper was to make it more fluid and efficient via
improved balance, syncing of his upper and lower body, and using a higher set point.
A reasonable prototype is Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
However, Kuz has struggled mightily with those mechanics this season.
It’s almost like three distinct movements.
That lends itself to considerable movement noise and variability, both of which are enemies
of consistent mechanics and results in leaking energy, each of which may help explain why
Kuz’s misses are so erratic.
Kuz’s disjointedness reminds me so clearly of a player who’s in the middle of the shot-alteration
process and overthinking the mechanics, which we know interferes with learned & practiced
shot coordination.
Kuz frequently rotates his body to the left while shooting the ball.
This rotation adds yet another layer of free variables and inconsistency into his jumper.
A common reason for this type of rotation and landing is impaired balance during the
jumper setup.
This creates a domino effect that impacts the rest of the movement.
On his makes, he exhibits more even foot placement, less rotation, and simultaneous touchdown.
Lastly, Kuz’s struggles may be in part to a disjointed season - even prior to the COVID-19
delay - that began with a lengthy recovery from a foot stress fracture suffered during
USA basketball training camp in August, adjusting to a new, limited touches role in the offense,
and another injury setback after inversion spraining his ankle in December which he then
tried to play through for two weeks but clearly struggled with and eventually sat out over
a week to properly rehab.
This disjointedness limited Kuz’s in-game reps, adaptations, and killed any rhythm or
confidence he may have started to find.
Teammate Avery Bradley went through a similar rut after missing nearly a month with a hairline
fracture of his right fibular head but found his jumper in a serious way - shooting nearly
45% from beyond the arc over the final 17 games prior to the COVID-19 shutdown - but
he wasn’t also dealing with the added layers of a new jumper or role like Kuz is.
Things may look bleak for Kuz - especially based on the numbers - but there is still
real hope that he can work through these issues.
His form fluctuation & disconnectivity is a critical part of learning and adapting to
altered shot mechanics, mechanics that were ingrained into his movement system for 20+ years.
That fluctuation only increases when under the high-stress microscope of playing for
a Lakers championship contending team.
Further, Kuz has shown some consistency in mechanics & thus better results from specific
parts of the floor, hitting at a 3-pt clip of 38.5% from the left corner
and an astounding 61.5% (!) from the right corner.
Lastly, for this season, the COVID-19 delay may actually end up helping Kuz’s shot because
it not only gave him more time to assess and correct jump shot problems but also gave him
some time to just take a break, step back from the pressure, and come back mentally
refreshed for this NBA restart.
That’s a wrap for this video.
Thanks for watching.
My goal is to provide you with in-depth, evidence based, narrative free analysis and you can
always find me on IG and Twitter @3CBPerformance.
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3CB out.