Hield proving to be Steph complement Warriors needed

Hield proving to be Steph complement Warriors needed originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SALT LAKE CITY – During a timeout in the Warriors’ preseason win over the Detroit Pistons, a meeting of basketball minds took place between assistant coach Bruce Fraser and two of the game’s greatest shooters. While Steph Curry was in a blue sweatsuit sitting out the game, Buddy Hield was lighting up the Pistons, going 4 of 6 from three in 14 minutes, and listening to every word of advice his new teammate was sharing.

“We were talking about feet,” Hield revealed Friday after Warriors shootaround ahead of their game against the Utah Jazz. “He was trying to figure out how I caught the ball and shot it, and what he’s comfortable with, what I’m comfortable with. We were talking about feet and balance.”

Curry and Hield are both elite shooters on the run. They’re weapons that can’t be stopped in transition. Automatic three points without perfect defense, and even that isn’t enough at times.

For how much he tries to be as balanced as possible, shooting is about feel to Hield. When it comes off his right hand, he usually knows right away if the ball is going in or not.

“I’m a guy that’s about hand placement,” Hield explained. “If it comes off my hand right, I feel like it has a good chance of going in. We’ve done so much work with our bodies and we’ve already mastered that, so when guys make tough shots and people go, ‘Oh, that was a tough shot,’ I’m more like, ‘Yeah, but it came off my hand right – it felt good.’

“I’m just so used to making that shot all the time. Sometimes it’s not all about balance, but hand placement and once that ball is in the right hand placement, let it go and you know it’s going in.”

The Warriors acquired Hield via sign-and-trade as part of their massive six-team deal that saw Klay Thompson join the Dallas Mavericks. From training, throughout the preseason and in the Warriors’ blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Hield has been a seamless fit in Steve Kerr’s offense.

Hield shot 48.7 percent from 3-point range in the Warriors’…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hield-proving-steph-complement-warriors-193317885.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-10-25 19:33:00

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