Second-year Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler concedes he’s struggling a bit, that he's been weighed down a bit by big expectations, an imperfect stint with Team USA, and some on-court indecision. But he has vowed to find the joy in playing again.
The second-year center concedes he’s been weighed down a bit by big expectations, an imperfect stint with Team USA, and some on-court indecision, but has vowed to find the joy in playing again.
A small sample size, sure, but it’s been apparent to anyone watching that the big man has not quite found his groove yet. Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler as the Utah Jazz host the Memphis Grizzlies, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. “He’s not somebody at this point where you’re just throwing him the ball and he’s making plays or doing stuff — not that he can or can’t. But I think that sometimes he just needs to simplify it a little bit,” said big man Kelly Olynyk. “He kind of gets in his own head, and it’s tough.
“Walker’s been OK. He’s not where he wants to be, on either end of the floor. I think a lot of his frustration is probably on the defensive end — he feels like his timing’s a little bit off around the basket. He’s watching a lot of film to try to solve some of that,” Hardy said. “But dealing with expectations is hard. Walker’s had a really good start to his career, and I think there was a lot of expectation coming into this year, a lot of talk about Walker, and it’s just not that simple.
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