Will Jordan Nwora be able to build off of a confidence-boosting performance?
Who would have thought that a game where Jordan Nwora shot 1-of-6 from 3 was actually one of his better games this season!
He was a nice spark off the bench and saw 26 and a half minutes, which included being on the floor late in a close game with the big three. Not something you’d expect in such a big game from Nwora considering his 3-point shooting, but he did other little things that made up for it.
Sure, he chucked up some early shot clock 3s that were a bit out of the flow of the offense, but instead of continuing to jack up shots, Nwora pivoted his offensive game. When the ball was swung around to him, he attacked the defense.
Nwora has good size at 6’8″ and 225 pounds, so you’d assume he could be a decent finisher around the basket and he showed some of that against the Phoenix Suns. The bigger thing, though, was how he competed on defense. He fought over screens well for the most part and remained active at that end of the floor.
That was what allowed him to stay on the floor late in the game as opposed to head coach Mike Budenholzer bringing in DeAndre’ Bembry.
This could be a game where they decide to rest some of the bigger names or older players and that’s usually where Nwora shines. My hope is that, regardless of who’s playing, Nwora builds off of his most recent game and takes the competitiveness on defense as well as the attacking scrambled defenses moving forward as things that will keep him on the floor.
His shots will fall, but it’s about doing the little things and if he can keep that up, he’ll see more time out there in bigger moments. I’ve been the big Nwora guy this season in regards to not wanting to give up on him and this game gave me a little more reason to believe in him.