Cam Reddish Discusses the NBA Learning Curve, Atlanta's New Lineup, and More
Getting acquainted with life in the NBA happens differently for every player. Some rookies step into their teams’ systems without missing a beat, while others take a full season or two before truly becoming comfortable. For the young, rebuilding Hawks, De’Andre Hunter transitioned from college to the NBA fairly smoothly while Cam Reddish faced a steeper learning curve. The 20-year-old was – and remains – one of the least productive rotation players in the NBA, but has made gradual, discernible strides over the last month as he gets a better feel for the NBA game and how he fits into it.
Reddish is averaging 10.5 points per game on 49 percent true shooting since the start of December – by no means All-Star production, but clear improvement over his 7.1 points on 38.4 percent true shooting over his first 17 NBA games. He’s still liable to make the occasional baffling decision on a fast break or aimless foray into traffic, but Reddish is slowly rounding into a more refined – if still nascent – player.
Earlier this month, Sports Illustrated spoke with Hunter about his transition to the NBA, and on Thursday, SI caught up with Reddish to discuss his progress as a rookie, Atlanta’s lineup changes, and more.
Sports Illustrated: It’s been a few games now since coach Pierce changed up the starting lineup. Has that group set a slightly different tone for the team since the move?
Cam Reddish: It’s just something different, something refreshing, I feel like. Anything new is exciting.
SI: De’Andre [Hunter] has said that he started feeling more comfortable once he knew where his shots were coming from. Are you starting to get a better sense of that and has it made you more comfortable in the offense?
CR: Yeah, sometimes. I know they want us to be aggressive and assertive, and at the end of the day that’s what I’m trying to do. So I’ll continue to do that, and everything else will fall into place.
SI: How do you find the balance between being aggressive and assertive and playing under control?
CR: Just making the right play. Being aggressive doesn’t have to mean just run to the basket for a layup, it could be get to the basket and dish it out. So it’s just making the right play and being aggressive on both ends of the floor, and hopefully that carries over.
SI: You seemed to take to the defensive side of the ball pretty quickly for a rookie – making rotations, getting over screens, and staying in front of the ball. What helped you make that transition smoothly?
CR: It really started when I was a kid. I’ve always kind of had defensive instincts. My dad taught me that when I was really young, and that’s actually how I was when I was young. So defense has always kind of been there, and then offense developed as I got older. But I’ve kind of just had it.
SI: You’ve talked before about how much watching film has helped you slow down. What things in particular jumped out to you on tape?
CR: Just my pace on the offensive end. Just slowing down and not having to sprint through everything, and changing speeds. And then defensively, just watching myself getting over screens and stuff like that. So I’ll continue to keep watching film and I’ll continue to get better.
SI: What was the biggest surprise for you when you first entered the NBA?
CR: It’s really hard to win in the NBA. You can be up 20, and then in the last four minutes you’re down four. So I feel like how good other teams and other players are, the games aren’t over until the very last second.
SI: Speaking of which, you guys have been in that position a few times. What do you need to do to close those games out more effectively down the stretch?
CR: We just have to dial in, really. I feel like the more we’re in that situation the better we’ll become. Learning each other, our roles in that situation and stuff like that. I just feel like we’ve got to build up our chemistry, not only in that situation of the game, but in all the games. It’s just chemistry.
