2024 NBA Draft: Breaking Down Ja’Kobe Walter’s Recent Cold Streak
The Baylor Bears are ranked No. 13 in the country with 17 wins and five losses on the season. They have a ton of legit prospects on their roster starting with the projected top ten pick in this year’s draft in Ja’Kobe Walter and projected top 20 pick Yves Missi. Walter has recently been in a bit of a slump, shooting just 20% from the field and 22% from behind the arc in his last four games.
Let’s dive into why he has been struggling and how he can turn things around this Saturday versus the Kansas Jayhawks.
Walter is a 6-foot-5 wing who’s known for his scoring versatility, but has struggled to make a positive impact on the floor due to his offensive struggles. Why has he been struggling? Based on the film, defenses have really made it a vocal point to not let Walter get any easy shots off and force him to be a playmaker rather than a scorer. This has resulted in him really struggling with his shot selection and overall decision-making which has led to some poor shooting nights.
It’s clear that Walter is a very good shooter and enticing scorer but regardless of how talented a player is, they will always go through a spurt of games where they struggle. If the scoring wing can improve his overall offensive decision-making and let the game come to him a bit more naturally then we should see him get back to his elite scoring ways.
As of right now Walter leads the team in scoring at 14 points per game, but he’s shooting 38% on the season, which is far below where you would like it to be out of a projected top ten pick. This Saturday, Baylor faces off against Kansas in what will be one of the biggest games of the season for the Bears. Walter needs to answer back with a massive game in hopes of getting his confidence back and also get in a much better rhythm as we enter the middle of February.
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