Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay surveys the court while Houston’s Patrick Beverley defends during Wednesday’s season opener. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Tune in to an opposing team’s broadcast of games in which the Nuggets are playing, and you’re sure to hear this as part of the snapshot profile of rookie Emmanuel Mudiay when he’s being discussed early in the game.
“This is Mudiay. He struggles to shoot.” Or “Mudiay’s not known for his shooting…”
The Houston Rockets broadcast said, “That had been his weakness coming into camp. They said he wasn’t a great outside shooter.”
Emphasis on had?
Maybe.
For all of the hand-wringing and harsh criticism, there have been few signs that Mudiay actually does struggle to shoot from the perimeter, outside of a quartet of summer league games, which were his first foray into NBA-caliber competition immediately after being drafted.
Since then, it has not been an issue. He shot a respectable 37.5 percent from 3-point range during the preseason, an average dragged down by one 0-for-1 performance and another 0-for-3 game. Those tugged on a 2-for-3 (66.7 percent), a 1-for-2 (50 percent) and a 3-for-7 (42.9 percent) performance — all more than adequate tallies for any level of basketball.
In his NBA regular season debut, at Houston, Mudiay was 3-for-5 from the 3-point line.
So does he think he’s put that narrative to rest?
“To be honest, I could care less about that,” he said. “Every good player is going to have a bad shooting night or a good shooting night… I’m just confident in my shot. I’m going to keep shooting when I’m open or when there is somebody on me. I feel like I can make shots.”
Mudiay stayed on the court well after everyone else was gone following Thursday’s practice, getting extra shooting time in on the main Pepsi Center court. His willingness to put in the time to ensure he’s a consistent shooter has been a constant throughout the summer and now into the fall.
“Being in high school, or in China, I never really had to shoot threes,” Mudiay said. “My instincts were to get to the basket, get to the paint. Maybe when I shot two or three threes, I probably wouldn’t make those. But, I’ve just been trying to stay consistent and if I’ve got an open shot, just try to take it with confidence. That’s how I’ve been playing. The main thing is my balance, that’s the main thing that I had to work on.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
