Travers Shooting His Way to NBA

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Cleveland Cavaliers NBA draftee Luke Travers has been shooting the lights out for the Perth Wildcats ever since Cavs General Manager Mike Gansey came to town.

Gansey came to watch Travers during round 10, while also spending time with the youngster off the court.

Travers has been one of the Wildcats’ best shooters since the visit, dismissing concerns about his poor three-point shooting.

Last season, Travers shot just 25 per cent from the perimeter. In the last seven matches this season, Travers has made 17 out of 29 of his three-point attempts, with a success rate of 58.6 per cent.

Wildcats coach John Rillie noticed the change in Travers’ behaviours and habits after the Cavaliers GM made a visit.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coach Rillie praises Luke Travers on the work he is putting in this season. <br><br>Full presser: <a href="https://t.co/sGPbVNvEfh">https://t.co/sGPbVNvEfh</a> <a href="https://t.co/Jf1gPiKIVI">pic.twitter.com/Jf1gPiKIVI</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1615960509207187457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He’s made several big three-point shots throughout the course of the season. To me, that shows his confidence in his shooting to make, and take, those shots,” Rillie said.

“Mike Kelly is doing a terrific job with Luke. I think he’s ingrained some confidence. He’s putting in the work to get the results. At the end of the day, you have to put in work and he’s seeing that work coming to fruition right now.

“Shooting all starts with your footwork. What you would see is consistency within his footwork when he approaches shooting. Before it actually gets to the ball releasing out of his hand, he plays with a stronger base.”

Travers was pick number 56 in the NBA draft in 2022. Travers played in the Las Vegas Summer League for the Cavs before Cleveland sent him back to the Wildcats to continue developing.

The Wildcats play the Illawarra Hawks on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT.