There was early talk that rookie Ebuka Okorie could eventually take Daniss Jenkins’ spot in the Detroit Pistons rotation, but someone forgot to tell Jenkins, who is not about to hand over his spot so easily.
Jenkins has been on fire to start the season, averaging 12/4/4 on 50/47/84 shooting splits while only turning the ball over 1.6 times per game.
It’s precisely what the Pistons need from Jenkins, who has played both scorer and facilitator in the young season, but it’s the way he’s scoring that should have the Pistons excited.
Daniss Jenkins becoming more of a 3-level threat
Last season, Jenkins relied heavily on hot 3-point shooting for most of his big nights, and he’s off to a scorching start this season, hitting over 47 percent on 3.4 attempts per game.
Jenkins isn’t going to shoot 47 percent from long range for the whole season, but the good news is that this year, his game is better equipped to handle the nights when his 3-point shot isn’t falling.
Jenkins was bad around the rim last year, hitting just 50 percent of his shots from within five feet and 30 percent of his shots in the floater spot between 5-9 feet.
These are important areas for Jenkins, as he can get to these spots at will, but it doesn’t matter much if he can’t finish.
So far this season (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE DISCLAIMER), Jenkins is shooting 63 percent at the rim and 60 percent from 5-9 feet, which has opened up other parts of his game.
We saw it last night, when Jenkins briefly took over the game in the second half, got the rim several times and was able to finish. Every time the Hornets pressed up on Jenkins, he beat them off the bounce and made them pay with bunnies at the rim or with kick outs to the shooters.
When the Hornets eventually backed off him, Jenkins was able to shake loose for a couple of late 3-ball daggers that stopped Hornets’ runs.
Jenkins certainly has the big shot gene, as he is not afraid of the moment and has hit some important ones, including a gutsy long ball against the 76ers that essentially sealed the game.
It’s still very early in the season, so the sample size is small, but if Jenkins can continue to hit shots at the rim and in the floater spot, he’ll be a far more effective weapon for the Pistons, who need players other than Cade Cunningham who can get to the rim and finish.
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