The first couple of months of his NBA career haven’t been easy for Gary Harris. Not that he expected it to be.
The Nuggets guard knew his playing time would be limited, which is never easy for a former college star. Harris was the centerpiece of the Michigan State attack a year ago.
Patience, he understood, would have to be a close friend in the NBA. But he didn’t want to accept not playing well when he did get an opportunity. A major shooting slump has been both perplexing and disappointing for a rookie eager to make a good first impression.
“You’re just thinking so fast,” Harris said. “You want to make something happen. You’re trying to do it all at one time instead of just relaxing and just playing.”
The fool’s gold was the ease with which Harris scored in his NBA debut. He made 6-of-10 shots and scored 13 points in only 18 minutes as the Nuggets rolled to a victory at Indiana on Nov. 14.
It took Harris seven appearances over the next three weeks to make six shots combined. His confidence took a hit. That’s when Nuggets guard Randy Foye swooped in to help. Foye took Harris under his wing and, among many other things, advised him not to put too much pressure on himself. He told Harris to expect slumps but to let the down times motivate him to work harder.
“It’s a different game in the NBA. And that’s something that I’m trying to explain to him … that it’s a long road,” Foye said.
Harris is shooting only 23.6 percent from the field, but coach Brian Shaw is giving him more playing time of late.
He scored seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in Denver’s loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. One of those was a 3-pointer.
“I’m taking it one game at a time, just trying to improve each game,” Harris said. “Just trying to go out and help the team, impact the game in any way possible and try to just keep getting better. Things are starting to slow down a little bit. Still kind of fast at times but definitely starting to slow down.”
Harris’ inclusion in the Nuggets’ past two games was his first back-to-back appearances in two weeks.
“I want him to understand that you’re going to have 30 good games and you might have 10 bad games, but at the end of the day that’s just 40 games,” Foye said. “If you have another 30 and 10 bad, that’s 60 good and 20 bad. I’ll take that any day. Just don’t compound the issue by putting a lot of pressure on yourself.”
Harris appreciates the advice.
“Randy’s been great, telling me to relax and slow down. He’s being there being real supportive.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
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Spotlight on Marc Gasol: The younger brother of Chicago’s Pau Gasol has always been a defensive force, but this season he has combined that with the best offensive season of his NBA career. He entered the Grizzlies’ road game Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers averaging a career-high 20.1 points, along with 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets: Wilson Chandler played through a quad contusion Thursday at Chicago and reported no complications afterward. … Darrell Arthur continues to work himself back to being healthy enough to play his usual role. He hasn’t played in any of the Nuggets’ past five games because of a strained lower left leg. He has been available in some of those games, but coach Brian Shaw is opting not to play him unless it’s an emergency.
Grizzlies: Zach Randolph, averaging 16.1 points and 11.4 rebounds, had missed five consecutive games entering Friday because of a swollen knee. … Memphis assistant Jeff Bzdelik was the coach of the Nuggets from 2002-05. He also coached Air Force and Colorado. … The Nuggets have a two-game losing streak against the Grizzlies.
