It’s no secret that Bojan Bogdanovic hasn’t been as effective for the Jazz this season as he was a year ago.
Is his surgically-repaired shooting wrist still not totally right? Does he just not fully trust it? Is it simply that the surgery kept him from picking up a basketball for months and he’s now playing catch-up? Or is his reduction in production due to something else entirely, like, say — gulp — age-related decline?
As frustrated as Jazz fans have been with Bogey’s inconsistent play this season, though, they can’t touch his own level of frustration.
“This is probably the worst stretch of my career shooting the ball,” he told reporters following Wednesday’s shootaround. “I’m kind of making bad decisions when to shoot and when to kind of calm down and wait for a shot to come to me.”
He added that he isn’t going to use his wrist or the surgery as an excuse for his uneven play. He doesn’t believe opponents are guarding him any differently, or that he’s getting a different shot profile.
“It’s just me kind of fighting with myself,” Bogey said. “… I’ve had good games this season — I don’t want to talk about my hand. Honestly, I’ve just got to be better.”
In the meantime, he’s been watching film of recent performances and concluding he can help himself out by hitting the glass harder, taking advantage of early post-up opportunities, getting to the free-throw line more, putting the ball on the floor less. He’s also been watching film of past performances, for the express purpose of “seeing the ball going in and seeing myself playing well.”
Quin Snyder reiterated yet again that he is confident in the forward’s ability to get his game back on track.
“He’s such a good player and such a good shooter. The message is, ‘Just keep being who you are and keep attacking and keep shooting,’” Snyder said. “… The message, whether it’s from teammates, or myself, some of the guys on the staff, is we know what a terrific player he is, and he’ll start to make shots. It’ll happen.”
The 18-point night he put up against the Nets’ JV team was a good start, but there’s still work to do there.
There’s lots more in the new Weekly Run! To keep reading, subscribe here:
