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Guerschon Yabusele Gives Advice to Young Knicks Forward
New York Knicks forward Guerschon Yabusele warms up before the game against the Washington Wizards. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Guerschon Yabusele is going into his first season with the New York Knicks, where the team is relying on him to be a leader off the bench.

Yabusele is the captain of the French men's basketball team, which gives him an opportunity to showcase his leadership skills. Someone Yabusele is getting close with is fellow Frenchman Pacome Dadiet, who is entering his second year in the NBA.

Yabusele gave some advice to Dadiet on how to stay relevant in the league.

“Keep shooting. That’s the best part about it. Whether you want to take it or not, the shot’s going to be there and you’re gonna be open. And the teams will make adjustments," Yabusele said via Newsday reporter Steve Popper.

“In this league, if somebody thinks you’re not a shooter, they’re going to leave you wide open. So you got to prove to them that you’re a shooter. You got to prove to them you have confidence. I remember being in this spot when I was in Boston and I wasn’t really playing, so I kind of get it, where he is right now. But you got to push. You got lots of guys here to learn from and talk to guys so we just try to give him confidence and make sure when he goes there he doesn’t think about nothing.”

New York Knicks forward Pacome Dadiet dribbles during the first half against the Washington Wizards Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Yabusele Urges Dadiet to Play With Confidence

It's hard to build confidence as a young player in the NBA without getting too many minutes. That's why the Knicks have given Dadiet heavy minutes during the preseason so they can develop him without having to sacrifice someone else's spot on the floor.

The Knicks like Dadiet, but it appears he will spend most of his second season in the G League with Westchester because the team doesn't have much room for minutes with his name on it.

“Just getting minutes, getting minutes," Brown said via Popper. "I think the G League is fantastic for anybody so whether he’s getting minutes there or he’s getting minutes with us, just getting minutes in general is going to be great for him because he’s a really young guy. He’s got a chance to be really, really good — especially at his size, you can do a lot of things with it and so just getting playing time.”

Dadiet will have one final preseason game to prove himself before the Knicks get ready for the regular season, giving him a chance to showcase his skills that will determine how much the team trusts him going into the year.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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