Sam Mitchell on Nemanja Bjelica: 'He's probably never struggled like this before'
Nemanja Bjelica hasn't been making shots of late, and in what is probably a related story, he's not getting many minutes, either. Bjelica has averaged just 7.1 minutes per game over the Wolves' past seven contests, over which he also has a DNP.
Coach Sam Mitchell realizes this must be new for him, via Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune:
Bjelica hasn't even made a shot since Dec. 16, two weeks ago. This was after a pretty hot start to the rookie's career, too. He averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 23.8 minutes a night over his first 18 NBA contests. Meanwhile, he was dong it efficiently, shooting 47 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.
I guess even the older first-year players (Bjelica is 27) can hit the rookie wall.
“Well, he’s struggling right now, that’s obvious,” Mitchell said. “He’s probably never struggled like this before. He’s probably always been the better player on his teams or one of the better players on the floor. Now he looks out there and a lot of nights he’s giving up strength and quickness and size, so it’s a learning curve to play in this league. I think people get mistaken because he’s 27 and played in Europe, that it’s all going to be an easy transition. It just doesn’t work like that.”
