Los Angeles Lakers rookie Tarik Black led the Lakers in their 80-73 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, registering his third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, not to mention plenty of dunks for his highlight reel. It was his fourth career 10+ rebounds game, and the second-highest point total of his career.
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After the game, head coach Byron Scott said if Black can continue to bring that energy every single night, he will be successful.
Tarik was exactly what he is, energy, played hard, a great job defensively, that’s what we expect from him every single night. I thought he played great tonight. The things that he can do are a lot of things our bigs can’t do, which is his athleticism and the way he communicates on the defensive end.”
Scott also mentioned that Black can add a new dimension to his game when he can knock down the 15-foot jumper and improve his post-ups. Black talked about his career-high night after the game, which also included six made field goals and agrees with Scott’s assessment.
I’m doing very well thus far without the post-ups, without the 15 foot jumpers so imagine when I get it, and I start using it consistently, how good I can really be. I think I have a lot of potential but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get to that.”
The Lakers have 15 games left on their schedule, next up is against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
[divide]VIDEO: Byron Scott Talks About Tarik Black’s Ceiling, Compares Him To Kenneth Faried