Kenneth Faried has been very underrated when it comes to his overall talent. He’s compact and energetic. He can run the floor faster than most forwards, he can produce some beast blocks and grab a lot of boards.
The unfortunate thing is that he’s alright on a lot of things, but he’s not amazing at anything. Offensively he’s limited, the only way he can get points is either on an Alley-oop or by offensive rebound, he can’t shoot and he’s average on the post. Defensively he’s a little better, he’s a good rebounder but not elite and sometimes his height difference vs other power forwards can be to his detriment.
So Faried has taken the summer to get better at defence and possibly become elite like a DeAndre or Ibaka or Drummond.
“My defense, I’ve focused on that,” Faried said in a phone interview from Johannesburg, where he played in NBA Africa Game 2015 on Saturday. “I’ve been watching film on guys that I consider my toughest matchups, and I’ve been able to dissect them so that when the season comes around I’m able to guard those players — and become the player I want to be, and that’s hopefully defensive player of the year one day and first-team all-defense.”
Watching film is fine, but practicing footwork works too as well. I can watch hours and hours of Steph Curry film but it doesn’t mean I can guard him you know.
Faried has to use this year to truly show that he can get it done. And with Ty Lawson gone, he really needs to step up and lead the Nuggets.
