The Lakers are off to a terrible start as they face plenty of challenges from injuries to coaching. However, they can look at some bright spots as their sophomore, Jordan Clarkson is making a lot of noise as their main guy.
The combo guard is currently averaging 15.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg and 2 apg despite sharing minutes with Kobe Bryant, D'Angelo Russell and Lou Williams. With that said, Clarkson assesses his early season success and what has changed in his game.
"I'm trying to knock down the open ones," he said via Bleacher Report. "The easy ones when I have the opportunity, worrying about taking good shots instead of bad shots. ... I'm continuing to grow in that area."
"I feel myself letting the plays happen more than anticipating the play and forcing it," he said. "I see a lot of things. The game is a lot slower."
Although one can say he is playing above expectations, he said that there are still things he need to improve such as balancing his scoring with his playmaking.
"I'm playing a lot more off the ball, so it's kind of a different aspect for me in terms of trying to get assists and stuff because I have such an aggressive mindset playing the 2-guard," Clarkson said. "But I need to find a way to balance that out and get my teammates involved as well."
Lastly, Clarkson remarks that his defense has grown a lot and this perhaps, is the reason why he is getting majority of the minutes and getting coach Scott's approval.
"I feel like my defense has grown a lot," Clarkson said. "I still have strides to make. The big thing for me, since I'm playing the off-ball position [is] post defense, trying not to let guys score on me on the block. Now it's just kind of playing help side and helping my teammates and keeping guys out the lane."
