Devin Harris [Diary

[dude1394]

You have to wonder why devin hasn't been working late all year. Maybe dirk/jason's work ethic is finally getting into his head.

DEVIN HARRIS DIARY
Working to make jumper a weapon

Third-year Mavs guard Devin Harris talks about his strengths as a player and what he needs to do to improve, as told to Star-Telegram staff writer Art Garcia.

It’s no secret, I get to the basket probably the quickest around the league, push the ball extremely well, and make some pretty good passes. I’m working on getting my assist numbers up. Obviously, my [shooting] range is improving. I’ve been hitting the perimeter jump shot a lot more recently. Defensively, I keep guys in front. I probably lead the league in [taking] charges. That’s probably one of the better things [I do].

I didn’t really know until the playoffs last year that I was quicker than most everyone else. I just felt quicker than everybody else. The first couple of years, you don’t really notice you’re fast until you’re driving by guys. When you really figure it out, you can really use it as a weapon.

You’ve got to mix in the jumper, though. Tony Parker went through this, too. When guys figure out you’re a driver, they start to play you differently, and it’s harder to get to the rim. I struggled for a point when I wasn’t hitting my jump shots. I struggled to score because guys can take away [the drive] by playing off you. When you hit that jump shot, you can spread it out even more. I’ve been hitting my 3s a little bit more, too, and that really opens up everything.

Guys are still going under the screens, but right now I’m in a groove where I can still get to the rim whenever I want. I’ll still shoot the jump shots when they’re there and mix it in, but for the most part I’m just reading the situation.

If I can space it out to the 3 and hit that at a consistent rate, there’s really not much they can do. It’s really going to be tough then. Tony Parker is a good model, but he’s still not shooting 3s. He takes it out 18, 19 feet, but he still gets to the rim in transition. He’s making a living off that right now.

I can still improve on things during the regular season. The last 10 games I’ve probably been hitting a higher percentage of shots than I have all season. I’ve been coming in with [assistant coach Joe Prunty] to work out late at night and get that feeling and confidence up.