The Los Angeles Lakers took a come from behind victory during their Thursday night preseason contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. Buoyed by some hot shooting from their unheralded players, the Lakers won the fourth quarter 33-20 en route to taking a 107-102 victory. However, one of the main players the Lakers are expecting to produce in a preseason setting, sharpshooting rookie Dalton Knecht, wasn't among the team's most productive players on the night.
In fact, Knecht struggled with his shot all night long. Whether it was coming off screens, shooting off the bounce, or merely shooting off the catch, the Lakers rookie misfired more often than night. He may have finished with 13 points, but he did so on an unimpressive 5-16 shooting from the field, including 2-10 from beyond the arc.
Nevertheless, even though Knecht's shot was not on point against the Bucks, two of the most important people within the Lakers organization — JJ Redick and LeBron James — encouraged him to keep firing anyway.
“When I was on the sidelines, Bron was telling me to just keep shooting it. He don't care what I shoot. Same with JJ, they said that they don't really care what I shoot. Just keep letting them fly. I know that's my best thing is [to] keep shooting it and letting it fly with confidence so having that is real good,” Knecht said in his postgame presser, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“When I was on the sidelines, Bron was telling me to just keep shooting it. He don't care what I shoot. Same with JJ, they said that they don't really care what I shoot. Just keep letting them fly. I know that's my best thing is [to] keep shooting it and letting it fly with confidence so having that is real good,” Knecht said in his postgame presser, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Indeed, for every designated shooter in the world, they know that their shots won't fall every single night. There will be inevitable off nights, and for Knecht, he went through one during the Lakers' preseason contest against the Bucks.
Nevertheless, Knecht is a rookie who is still learning the ropes in the NBA. The last thing the Lakers will want is for him to lose confidence in the main part of his game that makes him who he is. So like James and Redick said, he better keep letting them fly, trusting the work that he's putting in as he looks to be a long-term keeper for this Lakers squad.
Dalton Knecht flashes all-around game in Lakers' preseason win
Dalton Knecht made waves in the collegiate scene by being the go-to-guy for Tennessee. Knecht put up 21.7 points a night in his final season in college, thriving as the number one option thanks to his ability to score from all three levels.
However, college stars, when they get to the NBA, usually have to learn the ropes of being a role player. But Knecht certainly has the skillset to make it work. The Lakers drafted him primarily due to his ability to shoot from beyond the arc, as he shot 39.7 percent from three last season on 6.5 attempts per night — a healthy number.
But as seen on Thursday night, shooting can come and go, which is especially the case for rookies such as Knecht. Thus, they have to find other ways to contribute. Knecht certainly did that by going balls to the wall with his effort level against the Bucks.
Despite being a 6'6″ guard, Knecht made it a point to crash the offensive glass. He hauled in six offensive rebounds for the Lakers, allowing him to impact the game despite his shoddy shooting night. For reference, he did not grab more than three offensive rebounds in a game throughout his entire collegiate career.
This may be exactly what Knecht needs to do to earn his minutes off the bench for the Lakers for the upcoming season.
