In the process of the Utah Jazz‘s post-All-Star break stretch, several injuries to the rotation and starting lineup have allowed Will Hardy and the rest of his staff to hand a bigger share of minutes and get a closer look at a few key pieces of the roster’s young, budding talent.
One of those names to get a jump in opportunity––and succeed in the process––is third-year wing Brice Sensabaugh. In his last 10 games of the season since March 11th, his averages are up to a staggering 25.2 points a night on 52.8% shooting from the field, an extremely efficient 46.2% behind the arc, pairing with 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
A lot of those strong results have been due to one notable improvement to his game offensively: his catch-and-shoot ability; something head coach Will Hardy had notable praise for as his biggest improvement before facing the Houston Rockets on Friday.
“Brice’s biggest improvement is getting catch-and-shoots off,” Hardy said pregame. “Shooting is a great weapon for him. Brice, coming into the NBA, for sure more of a scorer than a shooter. A very high-level shooter, but probably would identify more as a scorer.”
“For us now, and moving forward, if Brice gets a catch-and-shoot, we want him to shoot it… For Brice, my dream is that if there’s a game where people never close all the way to him, he leaves the gym and has shot 10 catch-and-shoot threes and never took a dribble, never had to.”