Defensive Weaknesses
McClung needs to work on closing out on players under control consistently, and being more aware when he is guarding players who don’t have the ball in their hands. Last season, there were times where players would backdoor him because he didn’t have his head on the swivel, but I think that as long he continues to find a balance between focusing on the current ball handler (which he does too much sometimes), and ensuring that his man does not take advantage of his occasional lack of off-ball attentiveness defensively, he won’t have much of a problem fixing that issue.
As it relates to closing out under control (which is funny because he takes advantage when his opponents don’t do this), McClung knows that he is a quick and explosive leaper, so sometimes that causes him to go for the highlight reel blocks, instead of going back to the basics and closing out with a high hand. I know that McClung may be able to get away with that every now and then, but he would be better off making his opponents do more than just pump fake, in order to get him out of defensive position.
As I pointed out earlier, McClung does stay on the bench for extended periods of time and that is mainly attributed to his excessive ticky-tack fouls. He doesn’t take a lot of major gambles defensively, but instead of simply getting back and defending his man, McClung will sometimes stay behind, and see if his opponent will give him a hand wrapped gift. When that doesn’t happen, he tries to bump them slightly while they are heading up the floor and instantly gets called for a foul. McClung is too valuable of a player to get in foul trouble early on in games and miss a good chunk of first halves. It may be tempting sometimes to see if your opponent will make a mistake on their own in the backcourt, but it is not worth picking up a few cheap fouls and hurting your team in the long run.
He has no problem helping out his teammates when they get beat off the dribble, but he would benefit from stunting and recovering more often. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about having to sprint at full speed to close out on his man at the very last second, and possibly giving up a semi-open three. Don’t get me wrong, McClung definitely has the athleticism and closing speed to pull this off regularly, but having to do this over the course of a game may wear him out on the defensive end, which will, of course, affect his productivity on the offensive end. This tactic would also force his teammate’s man to make a pass sooner than he would probably like to, which may lead to a turnover if his hands are active.