From draft star to league wanderer, Alec Burks’ injuries, setbacks and rebirth – NBA – Basketball | Sports Vision

In a previous article about PJ Tucker, I mentioned that I believe player development is divided into three stages, namely selling physical strength, selling skills, and selling brand. Some players remain in the second stage throughout their careers, but in fact, as long as their main skills are clear and supplemented by a few auxiliary skills that can link up with their main skills, they can still have a long career in the league, and may even become the main player or… star.

After reading the article, a friend asked me: “In your opinion, are there any Green Leaf players who are stuck in the second stage?”

The first thing I thought of was Alec Burks.

The best shooting guard in the class

Alec Burks was born with the twelfth pick in the 2011 draft. This year’s draft was very interesting. At first, the outside world generally believed that this year was a weak year for the draft, but later many mainstays of the team came from this year. Of course, Kyrie Irving, who was the top pick, came from this year. Needless to say, Klay Thompson of the Splash Brothers was also drafted that year, and Kawhi Leonard, who won two championships, was also the 15th pick that year.

But are you saying that the expectations of football commentators are wrong? That year’s second pick, Derrick Williams, and the third pick, Enes Freedom, did not have a career that met outside expectations. Even the development of many of the top fourteen picks in the lottery was not smooth.

But back on draft night that year, most people thought highly of Burks.

“Excellent in attacking the frame, he can attack with both hands.”
“Able to create shooting opportunities for myself.”
“And some point guard playmaking ability.”
“In an open attack, he will be quite outstanding.”
“With a wingspan of 6 feet 10 inches, he has the ability to interfere with his opponents.”
“He’ll be a versatile combo guard.”

It can be seen from the scouting report that Burks is considered a very talented shooting guard. At the time, some commentators even praised him as the best shooting guard in the class. In terms of physical condition, Burks has a tall figure of 6 feet 6 inches, and a wingspan of 6 feet 10 inches, which also allows him to receive high evaluations on defense. Especially his playing style is not selfish. He is a No. 2, but it is necessary. Can be used as a ball-handling player.

“The body is thin and lacks strength and resistance.”
“His shooting needs to be improved. When the range is extended, his shooting mechanism will collapse.”
“More like a push than a smooth release.”
“Lateral movement lacks explosiveness, and the defense is prone to collapse when facing smaller and faster defenders.”
“Overall, Burks has room for improvement and the ability to become a rotation player.”
“If he can practice his jump shot…”

However, Burks is not completely without weaknesses. In fact, his unstable jump shot makes his offensive mode mostly limited to cuts. However, facing NBA defenders with better bodies, Burks’s explosiveness and confrontation are not enough to make him He can completely use cutting as a finishing weapon, so the draft website at that time believed that as long as he could practice shooting well, he would have a good chance of becoming a useful player.

“I feel like I can bring more energy and more skills to the Jazz.”
“I can score, pass, and organize. It also allows me to play No. 1 or No. 2.”
“Improving my shot has been my driving force since I entered the draft.”
“I know this is everyone’s biggest doubt about me.”

Judging from the skill package, Burks already knew very well what the main skill he could provide to the team was scoring. And his auxiliary skills are already very clear, that is, he has a certain degree of passing consciousness and ability, so the task before him is obvious. To develop stable scoring ability in his rookie year is not only to cut and finish, but also to There are movement without the ball, and the toughest enemy: shooting.

But Burks expressed high confidence in an interview at the time. He believed that the then Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek was a famous shooter in the past and would definitely be able to give him a lot of shooting advice.

In his first three years with the Jazz, Burks has been the team’s sixth man, responsible for grabbing points and continuing the team’s offensive firepower. However, in those three years, the Jazz had just said goodbye to head coach Jerry Sloan, who had been in charge for 23 years, and Deron Williams, the ace ball handler in the past. The entire team was re-establishing its system. In the past three years, the Jazz had only made the playoffs once, and had a stable performance in the third year. Burks, who averaged 14 points and 2.7 assists in 78 games, naturally became one of the puzzle pieces for the team’s rebuilding. Therefore, he signed a four-year extension contract with him in the last year of his rookie contract.

At this time, the Jazz’s new coach Quin Snyder intended to put him in the starting lineup and serve as the team’s second starting position. The originally criticized three-point shooting percentage also increased from the original 35% to 38% at the beginning of the fourth year. %, indicating that he has indeed developed useful auxiliary skills after using his main skills to establish himself in the alliance. Everything seems to be developing in a good place…