Jordan Nwora is not usually a man of many words in front of reporters.
Then again, it depends on the subject.
At the start of a new Crvena Zvezda season, there are plenty of unknowns for everyone – Nwora included.
Last season, the Nigerian forward flourished in red and white after a difficult spell with Anadolu Efes. He finished as the EuroLeague’s sixth-leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, and naturally, he expects even more from himself now.
Makes sense.
But there is also a new head coach in Ibon Navarro, and a very specific system to adjust to.
There are parts of Navarro’s philosophy Nwora may enjoy less. For starters, he is unlikely to average the 27 minutes per game he played last season.
On the other hand, Nwora enjoys playing at a fast pace. And as we already saw during the preseason, the coaching staff have shown they have ways of making life easier for him offensively.
“I don’t think it’s particularly difficult to adjust to his system,” Nwora said. “I think the system is great. Obviously, I have to get used to playing a little more without the ball, the rotations and everything else. He’s a great coach. It just takes time.
“And it’s not just me. The whole team is going through the same thing, but we’re doing it for a reason – we trust the coach.”
Learning to Share
As we also saw last season, though, Nwora does not always enjoy being taken out of games.
Against Žalgiris, he shook his head in frustration when he was substituted midway through the first quarter.
“I don’t think I even touched the ball in the first five minutes of the game,” Nwora said, pointing toward one of the potential challenges Zvezda will have to manage this season.
But in his very next sentence, he offered the solution – and the kind of attitude everyone will need if this team is going to reach its potential.
“But that’s OK. Chris [Jones] was able to get into a rhythm. Obviously, it made it difficult for me to find my rhythm, but we had other guys who had it going.
“That was part of the game plan. They were playing drop with Valančiūnas out there, so it was basically two-on-two. It worked in the first quarter and that’s OK. Those things happen, and they’re going to happen again throughout the season.”
No More Creating From Scratch
Last season, a large part of Nwora’s offense came from isolation. Once he gets downhill and close to the rim, he can absorb contact and finish, while difficult shot-making has never been a problem.
But there were possessions when creating for himself came at a cost – a turnover, or an offense slowed down so much that there was little time left to get into anything else.
Under Navarro, there are more actions designed to get Nwora the ball on the move.
He can come off screens for catches on the wing, or receive the ball already in position to attack, with the screening action giving him half a step on his defender.
He does not have to create everything from scratch.
“I definitely think it’s going to be easier for me to score,” Nwora said. “Maybe against Žalgiris I should have put myself in more situations where I could get the ball and create, like I did last season, but that’s more on me. There were moments in that game when I wasn’t aggressive enough.
“Offensively, it’s great. It’s easier. When your teammates are setting screens for you and you’re coming off them, it’s much easier to get a shot than having to make a million different moves to create something yourself.”
In many ways, Nwora embodies both sides of this Zvezda team – their enormous potential to reach the playoffs, but also the potential for things not to go according to plan.
Finding the right balance will be delicate, which is why Zvezda need wins while they are still building cohesion.
Starting with Hapoel.
