Darius Acuff Jr. has three NBA Summer League games under his belt. The 7th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings is averaging 22 points, 4.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1 block in 26 minutes. Solid stat line for a guy the team wants to be its franchise point guard. And he’s shown his talent under those stats – the scoring, the vision, the passing, the ability to hit clutch shots, not being fazed by a bad play.
Under the flash and the stats is an efficiency issue: 32% from the field, 29% from three and 3 turnovers per game.
What is most important about this is what Acuff had to say after the win over the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday.
The team is winning and his stat line looks good for a rookie. He didn’t praise himself for the positives or reach for any excuses for the negatives. His teammates have missed a lot of shots that would have slotted in as assists for him. That isn’t getting stuck in his head, though.
He pointed a finger at himself.
“I think they’re doing their job, I think it’s me. If I played better, I think we’d be winning by a lot more points. So, I think those guys are doing their job. They’re playing great. I’ve got to be better on both ends of the floor, especially as a point guard,” he said. “Just trying to be more efficient. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m trying to get my assists up for sure.”
He said this is bothering him “a lot,” but he praised teammate Emanuel Sharp, who has indeed been impressive on both sides of the ball.
“Emanuel played great again tonight. I think that’s his third game in a row he’s been, in my opinion, our best player,” Acuff said unprompted. “Everybody is just playing great, so definitely want to pick that up with them.”
Self-awareness? Check.
Leadership? Check.
Accountability? Check.
And in a short sample size, Acuff has already proven he can make adjustments, and fight through adversity.
In the first game of the California Classic, his first half was rough. He couldn’t break free of defenders, was missing shots, did not look comfortable. In the second half of that game, he settled down and looked more fluid on offense and under control, despite the poor shooting percentage. In his second game, he shot more efficiently – 44% from three and 36% from the field. In his third game, he tallied 7 assists, compared to three in each of his first two games. He was a -10 in game 1, +4 in game 2, and +3 in game 3.
This may just sound like a silver lining in the middle of poor shooting efficiency and a high turnover rate (which shouldn’t be ignored), but a player who self-diagnosis and has the ability to move levers in his own game on the floor in a short period of time is a very good signal.
The buckets are there as expected. The question is – can a high-volume college scorer make his teammates better, think like a floor general, and own the performances when he does not?
The first real example of this is in and it is pointing the right direction.
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