It’s hard to find a time in the last decade where the expectations for the United States Men’s basketball team were any lower. With star players from across the NBA dropping out and even FIBA pushing Serbia ahead of USA Basketball in the World Rankings, people are expecting less from the team than they have in recent memory. However, the remaining NBA players have an opportunity to surprise people and one of those is Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma.
Although Kuzma hasn’t officially made the final 12-man roster for the FIBA World Cup in China, he dropped 12 points and made 4 3-pointers in this morning’s dominant win from the United States in a tune-up against World Cup contender Australia. In the game he also showed focus on crucial things the Lakers will need next season. Kuz looked good moving off the ball as usual but most importantly, he cashed his chances in when he got them going 4-6 from the 3-point line.
Kuzma has been putting in work all summer with shooting coach Lethal Shooter, looking to improve his spot-up shooting as it will be critically important to his success playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On all four of his makes, Kuzma didn’t dribble which is an important step in his development. Last season he shot just 31 percent on (58-of-154) on no-dribble spot-up jumpers compared to 40.9 percent on spot-up opportunities in which he took at least one dribble, according to Synergy Sports.
Whether Kuzma makes the team or not, it looks like he’s working on the things that the Lakers will need for them to be successful next season in a brutally competitive Western Conference.
