Welcome back Jordan Clarkson! Although he didn’t shoot the ball well, he was absolutely our best playmaker tonight.
This was another gritty all around team victory. I like how with Lauri out, it becomes everybody’s responsibility to score, and get it done. We did that tonight, and we did that Saturday as well.
Let’s start with Keyonte George. He had 12 points at halftime, and cooled off the second half. This was one of the worst playmaking games I’ve seen, highlighted by a bad pass on a fast break, and I think it is because he feels the pressure to score with Lauri out. His defense was great in the first half, even getting a few stops on Ingram and a few steals. He finished with a team high (and career high) 19 points on 6-14 shooting, 3-8 from deep, 4-6 from the line. 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 5 rebounds tonight.
Simone Fontecchio was very impressive tonight. While his stats don’t jump out at you, he was looking to bother Ingram all night, and it was relentless. Offensively, 4-9 shooting, 3-8 from 3, 3-4 from the line for 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals in 28 minutes. I’m really glad that Fontecchio is getting his moment to shine, and his defense looks much improved from last year. He was playing like a dog out there
John Collins looked more involved than he did Saturday. It seemed like Hardy was trying to get him involved in sets, and get him a few early shots. It worked, and he hit both of his 3’s in the first quarter and overall looked more comfortable and fluid in the offense. He ended up with 12 points on 4-9 shooting (2-3 inside the arc), 2-6 from deep, and 2-3 from the line. He didn’t light up the glass like he has earlier in the season, but it’s nothing to worry about in my eyes.
Jordan Clarkson came back from his sickness, and looked great from a playmaking perspective. Shooting, not so much, although he hit some clutch buckets for us. 4-16 shooting, 2-9 from 3, 6-6 from the line, 16 points, 10 assists(!!!), 1 turnover (!!!), 4 rebounds. He had probably the best playmaking game of his career, and it really elevated us when our offense was going stale in the third quarter especially. I’m proud JC is able to make those plays when needed, hopefully he is able to use this as a catapult into a great season.
Omer Yurtseven got the start over Walker Kessler again, but I don’t know how much longer Hardy can keep Kessler out of the lineup. Omer looked pretty good, and provided some good defense on Valanciunas which is all you can ask for. 7 points, 10 rebounds (5 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks in 22 minutes tonight. He has surprised me with his toughness since he got inserted in the lineup. I’m a fan of his and I hope that he continues to get minutes when our lineup gets more set.
Kessler was an absolute monster off the bench. Whatever injury he had must’ve been terrible because he looks like a whole new player since coming back. To start the season he was sluggish, couldn’t handle the ball, and struggled to box out. Now he is doing it all. 14 points on 7-9 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks. I’m glad he is back to his normal self on both ends. His impact defensively is huge.
Ochai Agbaji has looked great offensively the last two games, again proving me wrong. I haven’t been the highest on him, but his shooting and offensive decision making these last few games have been hard to ignore. Looking at the box score, you only see 12 points on 4-7 shooting, 3-6 from 3, 1-1 from the line, but his impact goes beyond the boxscore. He provided good defense and was ready to shoot whenever he got the ball. Still need to see him handle the ball more, but I’m glad he was willing to shoot and was hitting his shots.
THT didn’t have the best night shooting, but was such a great playmaker tonight. 2-9 shooting, 0-3 from 3, 1-1 from the line, but 7 assists with NO TURNOVERS! That is the improvement we need. While we desperately need his shot to start falling, his playmaking was great tonight.
Kelly Olynyk didn’t do much scoring, but finished with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 points, and 5 fouls lol. Love Kelly. He fits his role nicely. His connection with Kessler is great, they connected with another alley-oop tonight.
Collin Sexton had such a great game Saturday, it was sad to see him go back to his mediocrity so quickly. While he shot 4-9 and 3-6 from 3, He had no assists with 4 turnovers. His defense was great, snagging two steals and doing a good job on Dyson Daniels and on switches, but the inconsistency is his biggest knock right now. At least THT was handling the ball well.
GAME NOTES:
Welcome back Jordan Clarkson! Although he didn’t shoot the ball well, he was absolutely our best playmaker tonight.
This was another gritty all around team victory. I like how with Lauri out, it becomes everybody’s responsibility to score, and get it done. We did that tonight, and we did that Saturday as well.
Let’s start with Keyonte George. He had 12 points at halftime, and cooled off the second half. This was one of the worst playmaking games I’ve seen, highlighted by a bad pass on a fast break, and I think it is because he feels the pressure to score with Lauri out. His defense was great in the first half, even getting a few stops on Ingram and a few steals. He finished with a team high (and career high) 19 points on 6-14 shooting, 3-8 from deep, 4-6 from the line. 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 5 rebounds tonight.
Simone Fontecchio was very impressive tonight. While his stats don’t jump out at you, he was looking to bother Ingram all night, and it was relentless. Offensively, 4-9 shooting, 3-8 from 3, 3-4 from the line for 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals in 28 minutes. I’m really glad that Fontecchio is getting his moment to shine, and his defense looks much improved from last year. He was playing like a dog out there
John Collins looked more involved than he did Saturday. It seemed like Hardy was trying to get him involved in sets, and get him a few early shots. It worked, and he hit both of his 3’s in the first quarter and overall looked more comfortable and fluid in the offense. He ended up with 12 points on 4-9 shooting (2-3 inside the arc), 2-6 from deep, and 2-3 from the line. He didn’t light up the glass like he has earlier in the season, but it’s nothing to worry about in my eyes.
Jordan Clarkson came back from his sickness, and looked great from a playmaking perspective. Shooting, not so much, although he hit some clutch buckets for us. 4-16 shooting, 2-9 from 3, 6-6 from the line, 16 points, 10 assists(!!!), 1 turnover (!!!), 4 rebounds. He had probably the best playmaking game of his career, and it really elevated us when our offense was going stale in the third quarter especially. I’m proud JC is able to make those plays when needed, hopefully he is able to use this as a catapult into a great season.
Omer Yurtseven got the start over Walker Kessler again, but I don’t know how much longer Hardy can keep Kessler out of the lineup. Omer looked pretty good, and provided some good defense on Valanciunas which is all you can ask for. 7 points, 10 rebounds (5 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks in 22 minutes tonight. He has surprised me with his toughness since he got inserted in the lineup. I’m a fan of his and I hope that he continues to get minutes when our lineup gets more set.
Kessler was an absolute monster off the bench. Whatever injury he had must’ve been terrible because he looks like a whole new player since coming back. To start the season he was sluggish, couldn’t handle the ball, and struggled to box out. Now he is doing it all. 14 points on 7-9 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks. I’m glad he is back to his normal self on both ends. His impact defensively is huge.
Ochai Agbaji has looked great offensively the last two games, again proving me wrong. I haven’t been the highest on him, but his shooting and offensive decision making these last few games have been hard to ignore. Looking at the box score, you only see 12 points on 4-7 shooting, 3-6 from 3, 1-1 from the line, but his impact goes beyond the boxscore. He provided good defense and was ready to shoot whenever he got the ball. Still need to see him handle the ball more, but I’m glad he was willing to shoot and was hitting his shots.
THT didn’t have the best night shooting, but was such a great playmaker tonight. 2-9 shooting, 0-3 from 3, 1-1 from the line, but 7 assists with NO TURNOVERS! That is the improvement we need. While we desperately need his shot to start falling, his playmaking was great tonight.
Kelly Olynyk didn’t do much scoring, but finished with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 points, and 5 fouls lol. Love Kelly. He fits his role nicely. His connection with Kessler is great, they connected with another alley-oop tonight.
Collin Sexton had such a great game Saturday, it was sad to see him go back to his mediocrity so quickly. While he shot 4-9 and 3-6 from 3, He had no assists with 4 turnovers. His defense was great, snagging two steals and doing a good job on Dyson Daniels and on switches, but the inconsistency is his biggest knock right now. At least THT was handling the ball well.
2 wins in a row!!!
6-11 BABY!
Fontecchio is a dog, i hope he gets even better