Buddy Hield has fought for the freedom of having the green light from his coach, something he didn't always feel he had with former boss Dave Joerger. The same has happened with Luke Walton amid his recent shooting struggles, something that has forced the Sacramento Kings sharpshooter to pick his “F U” shots a lot more carefully.
“Just coming down and shooting it, not letting my teammates touch the ball, being like f*** you. Excuse my language, but F you shots, looking everybody else off and just shooting it,” Hield said in explaining what he considers a bad shot, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic.
Hield admittedly watched clips of great shooters like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to hone his craft as one of the NBA's premier marksmen. That pair of snipers take and make shots most players would be afraid to attempt — shots most coaches would consider “bad shots,” though a bad shot stops being a bad one once it goes in, repeatedly.
Yet Kings assistant coach Jesse Mermuys wanted Hield shooting shots “coming off pindowns at a high clip of speed and just firing it.” Perhaps too much of a shooter's dream.
“I was like, ‘That’s a bad shot,’” said Hield. “And then (Mermuys) said, ‘Klay and Steph both do it and you’re that same type of shooter.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a tough shot.’ He was like, ‘You’re telling me you can’t do it?’ So I challenged myself.”
Hield has that innate trait that only elite snipers have — there's no shot he wouldn't take. Yet even Hield knows he can’t take those “F you” shots unless he’s starting to catch fire.
“Once it’s good and everybody else is playing, if I’ve got a rhythm shot, cool,” Hield said. “The F you shots, unless, I’m hot, I can’t do that.”
Toeing that fine line can be the right recipe for Hield, keeping him away from bad shooting nights and allowing the Kings to stay in the game.
Hield shot 39.6% from deep in October, 36.8% in November and a foul 34% from deep in December. If he is to right his wrongs this season and climb back to the 40%-plus clip he's hit in the past two seasons, he will need to be a lot more cautious with his trigger in 2020 to spearhead the Kings to a better future.
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