Los Angeles Lakers third-year guard Jordan Clarkson has started to put it together on the defensive end.
Formerly a young gun that could go off in a scoring streak but have lapses on defense, Clarkson has realized his potential on defense after his first two years, impressing his teammates and coaching staff.
Head coach Luke Walton did not hesitate to call the Missouri product the team's “most consistent perimeter defender” during the Lakers' training camp.
Luke Walton called Jordan Clarkson's the teams "most consistent perimeter defender" during training camp
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2016
The 24-year-old was quick to give praise to his teammates.
“We're communicating (on defense) a lot better than we did last year,” Clarkson told Harrison Faigen. “That's cool that coach has that confidence in me. I'm just trying to keep showing that I've improved this year.”
His athletic 6-foot-5 frame will soon become a problem for offenses around the league if he can stay disciplined and buy into the fundamental aspects of defense, as he already averages a steal per contest. So far in the preseason, he has held opponents to a team best 14.3% shooting from within 20-24 feet, per NBA.com/stats. The other two Lakers ahead of him can be considered as outliers as they are both big men who are guarding players taking more shots closer to the rim.
If the effort translates into the regular season, it'll make Jordan Clarkson a two-dimensional player that can hold his own on either end.
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