3 goals for Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie heading into training camp
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has an interesting history with the organization. He is with the Nets for the second time in his career and coincidentally enough, Brooklyn was in a similar position then in a competitive rebuild of sorts.
Dinwiddie is also one of the players that Brooklyn will be relying on to help the team get back to the playoffs to try to make something happen. Coming into training camp, it seems that Dinwiddie will be competing with Ben Simmons for the starting poing guard spot to start the season.
Simmons is now healthy after spending much of this summer rehabbing from the nerve impingement in his back that ended his 2022-23 season in March. So, Dinwiddie has his work cut out for him to be the starting lead guard. With that being said, here are three goals for Dinwiddie to strive to achieve if he wants to put himself in position to start this season:
Improve Three-Point Shooting
Dinwiddie played well overall for Brooklyn after coming back to the Nets as a result of the Kyrie Irving trade to the Dallas Mavericks. Dinwiddie not only averaged 9.1 assists per game, a figure that would have put him fourth in the league in the category if done over the course of the entire season, but he also showed that he still had his ability to be the lead guard and score as well.
However, his three-point shooting suffered, most likely as a result of having to handle the ball so much. It’s possible that if Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson take on more of the ball-handling duties that Dinwiddie’s long-range shooting could get back to his career average.
Get Better At Dealing With The Refs
Dinwiddie is one of the better players on the team and as such, he needs to do what he can to keep his head in the game and stay on the floor. While he has rarely pushed his luck to the point of getting technical fouls and threatening his ability to keep playing, there were a number of times last season where Dinwiddie was visibly frustrated with the refs and it appeared to take himself out of the game for a short moment.
If Dinwiddie can limit how many times that happens, he may find that he will eventually get the calls that he clamors for. Other than that, as one of the leaders on the roster, if Dinwiddie keeps a cool head so will the rest of the team and that can help in pivotal games that Brooklyn has to win throughout the season.
Take More Shots At The Rim
This goal will be dependent on how Brooklyn deploys Dinwiddie within the offense, but assuming that he will be one of the main ball-handlers/creators, Dinwiddie will have to find a way to generate more shots at the rim for himself. One thing that Dinwiddie has been able to do consistently well throughout his career is finish at the rim and last season was no different.
There is only so much to go off of last season because most of the roster was learning how to play together on the fly. Whether Dinwiddie is starting or coming off the bench, taking more shots at the rim or getting more plays ran for him going downhill is something for Brooklyn to look into when it comes to getting Dinwiddie more scoring opportunities.
