905 Turning Over a New Leaf
They’re 1-0 in the regular season, and it’s tempting to say they’re scary when healthy.
The 905 defeated the Westchester Knicks 140-105, but they didn’t exactly defeat the Showcase Cup championship roster from December 22nd.
Westchester was missing their Winter Showcase MVP Brandon Goodwin (as well as Dylan Windler, Isaiah Roby, and Dmytro Skapintsev).
The 905 had all their two-way players – Javon Freeman-Liberty (‘JFL’ from hereon in), Jontay Porter, and Markquis Nowell – and Westchester had two-way players Jacob Toppin and Charlie Brown.
Westchester got off to a 11-0 run, but the 905 brought the first quarter down to parity.
When your team can shoot 3s, the game changes. The 905 were +12 points from three-point territory by halftime, and had a nine-point lead. After a seven-point play on one offensive possession (two 3s were made plus a free throw) in the second quarter, the 905 not only maintained the lead, but stretched it to 23 by the end of the third quarter. The 905 made 17 of their 37 threes (46%) in the game, and by the fourth quarter, the lead ballooned to 38 points at one point.
It’s the first of 34 regular season games, but the 905 sent a message league-wide: they’re back.
Six 905 players finished in double-digit scoring (JFL: 27 points, Mo G: 20, Nowell: 17, Simmons and Winslow: 16, and Obanor: 14).
Two-way watch
Jontay Porter, who was named All-Showcase Team, had only four points, but finished with seven assists and 12 rebounds. After establishing himself as a G League premier big man, he showed off his point forward skills last night.
In the first quarter, he had two hit-ahead bounce passes. He threw one to Nowell after stealing the ball, and Nowell passed it through his legs to a trailing Mo G, who drew the foul. Porter had another one to Jaysean Paige in the left corner.
Porter had five assists in the third quarter. He showed off his baseball arm with a cross-court assist to Nowell for a deep two. He also had an impressive pass to a cutting Winslow, where he took the extra dribble to time the right pass.
Markquis Nowell was one assist shy of a double-double, finishing with 17 points and nine assists. Nowell led the G League in assists (10 per game) during the Showcase Cup season, so I won’t state the obvious here. Last night, there were three specific plays that don’t show up on his stat line.
He’s a whole foot smaller (or even more) than some players, but he makes height a non-factor. At the end of the second quarter, Nowell took one dribble and threw a pass to JFL in the right corner for a great look. JFL missed, but Nowell drew a charge from Jacob Toppin at the end of the second quarter, with the 905 up nine points. When your 5-foot-7 guard is sacrificing his body that early, it sends a message to the rest of the team. In the third quarter, Toppin tried to post up Nowell, but the latter’s forearm and core strength were too strong.
Then offensively, there’s this. What was supposed to be an alley-oop assist by Porter turned into a perfectly modified one-handed pass to JFL in the wing for an even better shot: a catch-and-shot three.
JFL led the 905 in scoring with 27 points on 11-for-16 shooting (5-for-8 from deep), but a lot of his scoring wasn’t self-initiated.
Quick notes
Like Nowell, Kobi Simmons can set the tone by making the right plays. In the first quarter, Simmons had a solid closeout, Westchester missed their shot, and Simmons leaked out to throw an alley-oop pass to Mo G. Such good-offense-starts-with-defence plays are pivotal in boosting team morale.
Kevin Obanor made only one three; he shot 1-for-8 from downtown. But his shooting confidence is so unshakeable, he may just have short-term memory loss like my aging pops.
Down 36-32, Obanor missed a pass from Simmons, and Westchester put two more on the board, 38-32. In the following offensive possession, Obanor made the three on a flagrant foul, made his free throw, and in the ensuing inbound play, Drake Jeffries hit a triple.
Seven points in one offensive possession helped the 905 gain a one-point lead in the second quarter. Obanor’s ballsy-ness initiated this turning point for the 905, and they never gave up a lead from that point on. After Westchester missed a triple in an attempt to respond to Jeffries’ triple, Obanor had the chutzpah to launch an ill-advised, step-back 3 with 15 left on the shot clock. His fearlessness to take shots (even when they’re not great ones) shows why he dropped 29 points in front of scouts and GMs in Orlando’s Winter Showcase.
Honourable mention
Obadiah Noel had 33 points and eight boards. He had his first pro contract with the 905 after playing mid-major ball for UMASS Lowell in the American East.
Last night, he was simply incredible. He attacked every 905er fearlessly. He led all players in free throw attempts (six) and free throw points (eight). He went at Obanor a couple times. When he attacked the baseline with two hard dribbles, drew contact, and missed, he grabbed his own rebound and scored.
He drew offensive fouls on Mo G, and took contact from Winslow and finished. He drew a three-point shooting foul from Nowell in the first half, and a regular one in the third. Off a BLOB play, Winslow switched onto Noel, the latter took him out to the three-point line, and buried a jumper in his face from the right corner three.
Half of the 905’s 18 personal fouls were on Noel – he drew nine of them.
Great to see hidden gems like Noel, who came up through the 905, find success.
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