Asked what mindset Oubre needs to embrace to become more consistent, Self referenced a conversation he had the previous day with former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, now scouting for the organization. In his playing days as a shooting guard for tough Chicago Bulls teams, Sloan was a rugged defender and a good shooter. He earned NBA first-team all-defense honors four times.
"To me," Self said, "with guys who are kind of stat-stuffer-type guys, be worried about making plays that give your team the best chance to have good possessions. You know, defensive energy, scouting report, things like that. And when you worry about the right thing, I think you make shots."
Self shared that Sloan told him that too many players have their minds twisted in the wrong direction, stuck in the wrong place.
Sloan, Self said, was, "saying that kids want to shoot good and then they’ll play good, but kids should want to play good and then it’s easier to make shots because they’re not focused on making shots."
Sloan speaks from experience not just as a player, but as the coach of Hall-of-Fame talents Karl Malone and John Stockton.
"I think that’s the one thing with Kelly that I want to see consistency with because he’s a good shooter, but that’s not who he is," Self said. "He’s a junkyard dog. He can do a lot of things, and when he’s worried about those things it just seems so much more natural for him to jump up and make shots."
