Johnson still searching for his shot
Forward remains determined despite misfires
For Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, shooting a basketball is not the same as riding a bike.
Most kids learn to ride a bike around the age of 7. Johnson has been shooting a basketball for longer than that.
“I have been doing this my whole life,” Johnson said.
Yet even the most accomplished cyclists sometimes crash.
From a shooting standpoint, Johnson’s November was something akin to a 12-bike pile-up.
In October, the fourth-year pro was the engine powering the Spurs 5-2 start, averaging 23.9 points in seven October contests.
He shot 45.5 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc, and all of this felt like the natural progression from his breakout 2021-22 campaign.
The the calendar flipped to November, where Johnson made only 83 of 231 field attempts, including 35 of 110 3point tries.
His mechanics seem off, with the high-arching moonball that typified his first two NBA seasons making an unwelcome return. Worse, he appears to be pressing, especially in the wake of the fouryear, $74-million extension he signed in the offseason.
If Johnson has indeed lost his way, he knows only one path forward.
“Keep shooting,” the 23-yearold said. “Eventually it will go in.”
Johnson and the Spurs could use “eventually” to arrive sooner rather than later.
Some of Johnson’s November shooting lines were enough to make James Naismith wish he had decided to become an accountant instead — 4 of 20 against the L.A. Lakers, 6 of 23 in a rematch with the Lakers, 5 of 22 against Oklahoma City.
He began December with a 7-of-23 performance against New Orleans that included 1-of-8 from the 3-point stripe. Two of those missed 3pointers were airballs, while one ricocheted off the top of the backboard.
Not all of this is Johnson’s fault. Spurs point guard Tre Jones calls Johnson’s recent poor shooting a symptom of larger issues plaguing the Spurs’ league-worst offense.
“When we’re not standing around, when we’re creating for others and getting into the paint and making extra passes, that will open it up a lot more for him,” Jones said.
Whatever the reason, the misfires have been piling up for Johnson. And he is growing more defiant with each clang.
“This is what I work on all summer,” said Johnson, who is still averaging a career-best 20.4 points.
“This is my job. This is my craft. When it ain’t working, I just keep going.”
Overthinking things, Johnson said, is no way to solve a slump.
“There is no amount of film that is going to tell me how to shoot a basketball,” Johnson said. “I have been shooting a basketball my whole life. For me to take steps backward, nah. You tweak it a little bit, but other than that, you just keep shooting.”
Spurs coaches admire Johnson’s determination. They are also adamant in helping him find a way out of his funk.
In Sunday’s 133-95 loss to Phoenix — the Spurs’ 11th in a row — Johnson led the way with 27 points.
His 3-point shot remained erratic, with a 1 of 5 showing, but he finished 11 of 23 overall.
It wasn’t the type of performance that will have anyone forgetting Steph Curry, but it did mark Johnson’s best shooting effort since going 9 of 17 for 29 points on Nov. 11 against Milwaukee.
That also happens to be the date of the Spurs’ most recent victory.
Against the Suns, Johnson did most of his work in the paint. This was by design.
“We tried to post him a little bit, let him play bully ball down there,” said acting coach Brett Brown, who was filling in for the
ailing Gregg Popovich. “I think he had a few timely moments, but you always want to help him have more.”
One of those moments came late in the first quarter, when the game was still competitive.
The Spurs came out of a timeout and ran a play designed to get Johnson the ball on the left block. He finished a tough jump hook over Phoenix’s Damion Lee to bring the Spurs within 27-24.
“My shot hasn’t been falling, so I have to impact the game in other ways,” Johnson said. “(Sunday), I got it going in the post and mid-range area. I stayed with that and made it work.”
Brown stressed again Sunday that Johnson is far from a finished product.
Though he has been in San Antonio longer than any current Spur not named Jakob Poeltl, Johnson’s game remains very much a work in progress.
The aim for Johnson is to blend that part of his game with the breakneck paint baskets.
“It’s part of the excitement of, how does he use himself as his NBA career unfolds?” Brown said. “The versatility of being a scorer, more than just a long shooter, is in his path.”
For now, all Johnson can do is continue to get back on the bike and re-learn how to ride.
“My teammates keep trusting me, and my coaches keep trusting me,” Johnson said. “And it will fall.
“But I will not stop shooting the ball. And I am confident it will go in every time it leaves my hand.”