Alexey Shved has many transitions to make before the start of the NBA season – NBA News
As Alexey Shved prepares to make his NBA debut with the Minnesota Timberwolves this coming season, he has to adjust to a new responsibility and role apart from all the transitions he is dealing with. And that is playing at the
point guard position. The Russian born Shved is a shooting guard at 6 foot 6 inches, and is not used to playing the one guard. However, in the absence of Luke Ridnour who is healing from a stiff back, the Wolves Head Coach Rick Adelman is unsure if he will
be available for the Wolves preseason opener against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, and wants Shved to help out in the backcourt.
“He's more comfortable at the 'two' (shooting guard), but he's really a smart player and reads situations well. It'll be a process for him. We want to see what he can do and how he handles it,” said Adelman.
Shved is getting a crash course in point guard basics in order to back-up J.J Barea. Although he has many transitions to make at this point as he slowly settles into his new team, he personally believes defence to be his main area
of concern.
"Defence has been the hardest thing for me. Everybody can play offense. Not everybody can play defence. I want to work on that. Maybe in a couple of months, I hope to be playing (defence) better,” said Shved.
Shved has been an important player for the Russian side over the past few years, and shined brightly this year in the London Olympics. He had 16 points and 13 assists against Great Britain and a game high 25 points in the Bronze
medal game against Argentina, which Russia won. Although he is a great shooting guard with point guard capabilities, the transition to the NBA has been a tough one and he is still lagging in the aspect of on court communication. He might be asked to deliver
point guard duties with Barea till the time Ricky Rubio returns from injury, and hence needs to become a good communicator as soon as possible.
“He hasn't shown it yet. I could understand Ricky more when he first came here. Alexey is shy, but he's like Ricky. He loves the game and knows how to play. If we can get him to talk more, he's going to make big strides,” said
Kevin Love when asked if Shved communicates effectively as point guard of the team.
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