Nets first-round pick Noah Clowney says hes got more offensive game than was on display at Alabama

Former Alabama forward and Nets first-round draft pick Noah Clowney said the full extent of his offensive game wasn’t on display in his lone season with the Crimson Tide.

Because Brandon Miller was the team’s No. 1 scoring option.

Speaking to reporters just 12 hours after the Nets officially selected him with 21st overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the trigger-happy stretch-four from South Carolina suggested the public has only been exposed to trace amounts of his offensive game.

He is excited to show the aspects of his repertoire that were diminished on a team built around Miller as the lone star.

“I think I got a lot more to my game than what people have seen, but obviously, I was playing with Brandon, and we didn’t need another star on that team,” the 18-year-old, 6-10 Clowney said at the HSS Training Facility in Industry City Friday afternoon. “So I played my role to help us win. That’s really all there was to it. But I think it’s a lot more to my game than what they’ve seen that can be seen later on.”

Miller, of course, deserved the spotlight.

He went second-overall to the Charlotte Hornets in Thursday’s draft and averaged about 19 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block per game as the leader and captain of Clowney’s Crimson Tide team last season.

Clowney averaged about 10 points, eight rebounds and a block through 36 games at Alabama last season.

He also attempted an average of 3.3 threes per game, converting at a 29% clip from downtown as a freshman.

Clowney’s desire to launch threes given his size and defensive potential enamored the Nets front office, general manager Sean Marks said moments after the Draft concluded early Friday morning.

The Nets’ first pick of the night said he hasn’t molded his game after any player in particular.

“I knew my capabilities, and I know I can listen, so when they tried to change my jump shot in high school, I knew I could change my form and I could become a good shooter,” Clowney said Friday afternoon. “As far as volume — s—t — coach told me ‘let it fly,’ so, let it fly.”

Marks and his front office believed Clowney was the best player available at pick No. 21 on Thursday night. The Nets held a number of conversations ahead of the draft regarding packaging picks 21 and 22 in a deal to either move up in the draft order or acquire an impact player from another team via trade.

The organization ultimately settled on Clowney at 21, Duke’s Dariq Whitehead at 22, and Jalen Wilson — the 6-8 forward who averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and a steal as a senior at Kansas — with the 51st pick of the night.

For Marks, it’s the unique combination of Clowney’s size and shooting ability that landed the one-and-done big man in Brooklyn.

“When you have a 7-3 wingspan, I can’t teach that. Our coaches can teach a lot of things, but they can’t teach that,” he said. “I love the fact that he doesn’t shy away from shooting from the outside. He’s very versatile, can play a couple of different positions out there.”

Even if Miller’s star diminished Clowney’s spotlight in Alabama, the Nets don’t appear to have any delusions regarding their first-round pick’s potential.

“I don’t think any of these guys quite know how good they can be yet,” Marks said, “and I don’t expect them to.”

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/vPfZ0lw