Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
CLEVELAND --- Dalen Terry was likely to appear in his 35th game Wednesday night, just three shy of his total from his rookie season, and, at 10.1 minutes, is averaging 4.5 more per game than last season.
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“It’s been a helluva experience. Obviously, last year I played two or three minutes at the end of the game, garbage time. Now me being in the mix, I see what certain guys do and am learning different tendencies,” Terry said following the morning shootaround. “I was just saying the other day, ‘We’ve played Cleveland a couple times. I know what some of these guys do.’ It’s kind of giving me a feeling of how it was in college when we played a certain team and I knew what guys did.”
Speaking of college, Terry would be a junior at Arizona had he not surprisingly declared for the NBA draft in 2022. The 6-foot-7-inch guard doesn’t turn 22 until July.
“I think I’m still really early in my development process,” Terry said. “When I hear people count out guys in my draft or even this year’s draft, I’m like, ‘They’retoo young for that.’ Some guys are late bloomers. Some guys pop whenever the time is right.
“The way I work now and the way I work in the summer, it’s just the beginning of the development process. It’s going to be a real big year for me next year.”
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Terry entered Wednesday’s game with modest averages of 2.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists. While he has stepped into 3-point shots with confidence---sinking one open look in Monday’s victory in Atlanta---he’s still shooting just 23.8 percent on 1.2 attempts per game.
Terry cited his shooting as his biggest focus for improvement.
“Most of the time, I’m an energy guy, a guy who sparks things off the bench. Playing with guys, connecting with passing,” Terry said. “But Coby (White) yells at me if I don’t shoot. At this point, I have to listen to my teammates.”
Another prominent voice in Terry’s ears is veteran Torrey Craig, helping him with everything from defensive schemes to opponent’s tendencies.
“This season I feel I improved a lot on my discipline, just realizing that sometimes my fouling gets me out of the game,” Terry said. “My confidence level is just so much different than it was last year. . . . My rookie year, sometimes I was out there and I was like, ‘Man, everything is going so fast.’ It just happened. Now I can see stuff happen before it happens. That’s been the easiest part to me.”
Injuries to Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams have helped pave Terry's way to more playing time. He's trying to take advantage.