What is the origin of the Nuggets X factor? This is the story of Strauser. He was once scared and refused to appear but he was a big heart.

Today, Strauser still remembers the embarrassing incident that happened in the first official game in his life.

When the coach called Strauser's name to let him play, he was unwilling to appear because of his nervousness and fear, and let his parents shout anxiously in the stands, and he sat on the bench and cried.

But don't define Strauser as "timid". He was less than 5 years old that year and was at the age of needing adults to coax, but he was surrounded by a group of 6-8-year-old children. And judging from Strauser's later experience, he is a typical big-hearted player.

Facing UCLA in the 2023 NCAA Sweet Sixteen, when Gonzaga University was behind in the last moment, Strauser dribbled 35 feet out and made a long three-pointer. The ball cut through the starry sky like a dazzling meteor, killing him with one blow, and he also became famous.

In the G6 of the Western Conference Semi-finals this season, when the Nuggets and the Thunder tied at 80 in the end of the third quarter, Strauser, who scored only 14 points in the first five games of the series, suddenly shone brightly, using two three-pointers and an all-connected and turned layup to score 8 points in a row to change the game trend, scoring 15 points in the whole game significantly narrowed the firepower gap between the bench lineups of both sides.

Straussborn is regarded as the "legacy" left by the dismissed manager Booth, which symbolizes his failure in operation, but he is the one who plays the role of the Nuggets X factor in life and death.

Strauser was influenced by his father since childhood and fell in love with basketball. He has good talent and is more skilled than many older children. Strauser practiced for several weeks before the first official game, and his performance was remarkable, but unexpectedly, he was frightened when he was on the court and was scared to death.

After returning home, Strauser's parents decided to use some tricks to "force" their son. They put away all the plastic baskets and basketballs in the house and "scared" Strauser and said: "The God of Basketball came here yesterday and took away all the balls. He said that since you don't want to play, there are other children who want to play that need these balls."

Struser, who was "forced" back to the court, found that there was nothing scary about playing on the court, and after getting used to it, he found the fun of actual combat. Strauser didn't get much attention when he was in junior high school, but in the summer of his first year and second year of high school, he suddenly made his mark and once rose to 12th place on ESPN. At the end of high school, Strauser left a school history score record of 2,252 points. As a four-star high school student, Strauser received about 26 college scholarships, and he screened out 10 of them for final commitments to join Gonzaga.

Strauser chose Gonza overtime and was ready to settle here for at least two years. In addition to Sargers and Homgren a few geniuses, Sabonis Jr., Nemhard, Hachimura Shizuki, etc. have played here for at least two years before participating in the NBA draft. Here, most players need to patiently polish their skills and gradually improve their tactical status.

Strauser is no exception. He averaged 3.4 points per game in his freshman year and scored 3.4 points per game in his sophomore season. His average playing time increased to 26.8 minutes, and his data also rose to 11.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. In his junior season, Strauser became the absolute main player to play 31.2 minutes per game and contributed 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, with a three-point shooting percentage of 40.8% in a career high.

As a wing with a height of 1.98 meters, Strauser initially wanted to develop in the direction of a small forward. He admired LeBron James the most, and also studied a lot of game videos of Tatum and Cameron Anthony. Strauser believes that he can play from No. 1 to No. 4, but after taking a higher level stage, Strauser found that the most suitable role for him is the "no ball shooter", and he wants to be an elite 3D player like Klay Thompson.

Strauser said: "I am a top scorer, which is the label I brought when I left Gonzaga. I want to show my shooting stability and ability to open up space. In today's NBA, this is a valuable skill pursued by many teams."

data shows that Straauser's three-pointers reached 42.1% in his junior season and 36.4% in his three-pointers at 25 feet away in his 27 feet away in his 36.4%. Sports Illustrated commented on Strauser as a "high-level shooter" and praised him for "having an NBA-level shooting range and projection skills are enough to establish himself in the NBA."

Strauser received a trial training from the Warriors, Pacers, Eagles and Hornets, and is expected to be selected in the second round. Booth, who was then general manager of the Nuggets, decided to take the risk of winning Strauser in the first round because Strauser ranked 17th in his mock draft list, perfectly meeting Booth's requirements for body shape, projection and experience.

The Nuggets won Strauser with the No. 29 pick in the 2023 draft. Booth believes that Strauser can become a good helper for Jokic and Murray by relying on his shooting ability. Booth believes that Strauser and Braun are extremely complementary to each other on the offense and defense, saying that "Struser is the offensive version of Braun."

Both forced Michael Malone to several young players. At first, Malone had high hopes for Strauser. He recognized Strauser's shooting ability: "He has strong shooting ability. Hubby Brown said that shooting can make up for many shortcomings. He has a long range, is confident in shooting, and is very efficient."

But as the schedule deepens, Malone lost trust in Strauser. Strauser averaged 4.5 points per game in his rookie season in the regular season with only 10.9 minutes per game, with a 29.7% three-point shooting percentage. The reason why Malone distrusts Strauser is very simple: Strauser wants to attack but not attack, and has to defend but not defend. His three-point shooting percentage was only 29.8%, and his three-point shooting percentage was only 29.4% in absolute open position, which had nothing to do with the positioning of "elite shooter". Defensively, Strauser lost 115.4 points in a hundred rounds on the court, and when he was not present, he dropped to 111.3 points.. After Pope left the team, Strauser competed with Braun for the starting second position. For the sake of balanced offense and defense, Malone chose Braun. He planned to establish Strauser as the sixth player in the scramble, allowing Strauser to increase his three-point shot. Even Westbrook was willing to make a wedding dress for Strauser: "One of my tasks is to speed up the progress and give Strauser the opportunity to make three-pointers at an open position."

The Nuggets gave Strauser the stage, but most of the time he did not seize the opportunity. This season's regular season, Strauser received the ball and shot 35.8% of his three-pointers, and was only 36.7% in absolute open position. He made progress, but it was still not ideal, especially his stability. As for the defensive end, Strauser did not fulfill his bold words of "improving single defense ability", and his counterattack defense data declined compared to the rookie season.

Even Booth, who originally supported him, lost trust in him. Before the start of the season, Booth believed that nine players in the Nuggets could enter the core rotation, including Strauser. But after the trade deadline in February, Booth changed its words and said, "We only have 6-7 players reach the starting level, and the level of players has dropped significantly after that." Strauser does not belong to the "6-7 players".

"This is not an offense to Strauser or other players, that's the truth," Booth said.

After Booth and Malone were rarely fired together at the end of the regular season, ESPN once reported that the conflict between the two was irreconcilable, and one of the main reasons was that Malone refused to use the young players selected by Booth. The "young players" here actually refer specifically to Payton Watson. In Booth's eyes, he is one of the 6-7 players who are capable of starting.

Adelman Jr. did not reuse Strauser after becoming the acting coach. This year's playoffs, the game he played the most time was G2 with the Thunder. At that time, the Nuggets lost 43 points and the main player left the game early, but Adelman Jr. did not let Strauser go away in that game. He played 7 shots in 14 minutes and 15 seconds and scored 9 points. Most of the time, Strauser's role is just to go up and get his head to take a breath from the starter. Being able to lose less points on the court is a great achievement.

But in G6, Strauser finally showed the style of "Key Mr." and "elite shooter". He became another little person who played extraordinary influence in the playoffs, touching people's hearts with his unique story. In this game, Strauser's catch and shoot was extremely accurate, and he also used his impact to win free throws. He also used his energy to cause trouble for the Thunder on the defensive end, which was praised by the whole team after the game.

"I never escape critical moments or important matches," Strauser once boasted.

Why?

"Because I can score! Born."

tiebreak, the Nuggets need Strauser to do it again.