Toronto Raptors phenom Pascal Siakam has quickly gained respect from his peers as a knockdown shooter, something that was completely lacking from his mostly-athletic game three years ago.
The Cameroonian has transformed his game almost miraculously. Only two seasons ago, the New Mexico State product was averaging a mere 7.3 points in his second season in the league — destined to be just another role player that could fall through the grapevine under the right circumstances. Yet the 6-foot-9 forward made some significant improvements two summers ago, allowing him to capture the title of Most Improved Player.
And rightly so.
Siakam was still developing as a player last season, as a total of 29% of his 3-point attempts came from above the break, cashing in on only 27% of them. Fast forward one more season and the man known as Spicy P is shooting 75% of his 3-point attempts from above the break and he's shooting 42% on them, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
Skills trainer David Zenon says longtime shooting coach Phil Handy played a large part in Siakam's development as a shooter, and that the Rico Hines runs that often take place at UCLA all played a part in his massive improvement.
Ask Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, and all he sees is how much dedication Siakam has put to improving his mechanics.
“He just went to work on it,” said Nurse, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. “His mechanics are great now. He’s still a little bit away … there’s still a little more time to groove that stroke. He’s going to be a really, really good shooter because his mechanics are so good.”
Siakam's good-looking stroke is an encouraging sign for other non-shooters like Ben Simmons (and formerly) Markelle Fultz, showing that a player can really improve those areas of their game with some listening and dedication to the craft.
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