Emmanuel Mudiay Breakdown: Nuggets Rookie’s Shooting Stroke

Emmanuel Mudiay is a terror in transition and half court. Elite athleticism combined with good ball handling to go with amazing vision and an ability to finish at the rim. The only thing missing from his game? An outside jumper.

It was highlighted as a weakness of Mudiay’s in high school, and he’s been fighting to fix it ever since.

Mudiay has definitely taken strides in his development. Check out this video below from the NBA:

From watching film on Mudiay, you can tell that his release is a little slow. This tends to happen when trainers focus on fixing a broken technique. It obviously takes a while to break old habits, so the new shooting stroke has to be thought about, instead of being muscle memory. As Mudiay becomes more comfortable, the speed of release should increase on his jumpers.

The other problem with Emmanuel Mudiay’s jumper is where he releases the ball. He tends to release the ball a little below the top of his shooting form, which is generally seen as a negative. He could be used to doing this because he has so much size against point guards he’s faced (Mudiay is 6’5), that he doesn’t feel the need to extend.

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Emmanuel Mudiay (China) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number seven overall pick to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In the NBA, problems such as slow low releases will be highlighted. Bigger athletes are running out at you quicker, and Emmanuel could have trouble getting his shot off. However, he shouldn’t be deterred from letting it fly. Quite the opposite actually, if he wants his jumper to improve.

Emmanuel Mudiay is well on his way to becoming a solid shooter. However, this season the focus shouldn’t be on his shooting results, rather his shooting process. If Mudiay is shooting with the right form while quickening his release, this would be better than settling back into old, bad habits. Eventually, the shots are going to start falling, its all about building the right habits. In the mean time, be content with him dunking all over people and throwing dimes.