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!
GAME NOTES:
Damn. That was such an ugly game. The first quarter wasn’t bad, we were clicking on both ends of the floor, and assisted all 8 made field goals in the quarter. Even though we only scored 25, we gave up just 24 points. We were moving the ball, everybody was getting touches, and our offense was flowing. Then shit hit the fan. Fewest points scored in a game by us in 20 months lol.
The biggest discrepancy was points in the paint. Big credit to Jaren Jackson Jr for disrupting our flow all game. Buddy had 6 blocks on us, and was everywhere. We were heavily outscored 58-36 in the paint.
Another big discrepancy was fastbreak points. Although the turnover battle was fairly even, the Grizzlies ran, and they ran fast. 23 fastbreak points compared to just 9 from us. Pitiful.
John Collins had a great game. He was absolutely killing it in the first half, scoring 15. It was pretty frustrating to see him no longer be involved in our offense in the second half. Again, credit to JJJ for shutting it down, but he was our only consistent option. We needed to find a way to get him involved throughout the game. Collins finished with 17 points, 7-14 shooting, 3-5 from 3, 4 rebounds.
Credit to Simone Fontecchio too. Although he shot 4-13, all of his made field goals came in the second half. Compared to last year, his shooting and defense has come a long way. 4-8 from 3, 4-13 from the field, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 12 points for him. His defense on Desmond bane was pretty good, forcing him to pass a lot more than Bane probably wanted to.
Keyonte George has really struggled with Lauri out. I think he feels more pressure to perform as a top option, and is forcing things. He looks more smooth when he is able to play with Lauri. Keyonte finished with 8 points on 2-6 shooting (2-4 from 3), 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 rebounds. Not a good game from him tonight.
Jordan Clarkson played an alright game. I would’ve liked to have seen him keep up the playmaking skills he showcased last game, but that is wishful thinking. 4-10 shooting, 2-5 from 3, 12 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers. He was forcing some bad passes out there, and dribbled off his foot twice I believe, but only once for a turnover.
Yurtseven was getting eaten alive down low. Really tough game from him on both ends, although he did have a great putback dunk on a wild THT layup. 4 points, 4 rebounds in 15 minutes for Omer.
Walker Kessler came off the bench again, although he played 28 mintues. I think it is because he plays really well off of Kelly, and with Lauri still out it makes more sense to have him with floor stretchers and other playmakers. Kessler struggled around the rim, going 4-9 from inside the arc, and went 0-2 on his 3 point attempts. Both of them were deadass, so take that as you will. 7 rebounds, 6 blocks, 9 points. His defense down low was good, but one guy can only do so much.
Our bench unit was terrible. 38 points from the bench, which a lot of it came in garbage time. Our bench play was highlighted by an incredibly inefficient night from our bench backcourt of THT & Sexton.
THT looked absolutely terrible. One of the worst games I’ve seen from him. 2-12 shooting, 1-5 from 3 for 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers in 24 minutes of action. The amount of times where he would hold the ball for 16+ seconds in a possession and then put up a terrible shot triple teamed in the paint was too many to count.
Sexton was not much better. 9 points on 3-10 shooting, 1-4 from 3, paired with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers in 22 minutes. He would just attack and attack the paint but he wasn’t getting calls, and wasn’t scoring, and definitely wasn’t passing out. I don’t know what he was doing out there.
Kelly Olynyk looked good offensively, but couldn’t stop anybody 1-on1 defensively, or even help out on drives. 2-2 shooting, 1-1 from 3, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. His two steals were good, but that doesn’t minimize a poor defensive effort from him.
Ochai Agbaji played pretty good. I was ragging on him hard early this season, but the last 5 or so games he has turned it around. 2-5 shooting, 1-4 from 3 for 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and just -1 in 21 minutes. It felt like he was active in our offense, active on defense, and disrupting the rhythm of Memphis a bit.
Lastly, Luka Samaic got 6 minutes of garbage time, and was the only jazzman to finish with a + +/- tonight, with +6. 2-2 shooting, 1-1 from 3 for 5 points.
This was such an ugly game from the second quarter on. We were getting absolutely hammered inside, and couldn’t attack the paint. Again, major props to JJJ & Bismack Biyombo for stopping all of our efforts. Those two had more blocks than our entire team combined.
Anyway.
6-12. Hurry back Lauri