There were no signs of rust for Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe as he made his season debut Thursday night in San Antonio, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Sharpe had been sidelined since early October after suffering a labral tear in his left shoulder during training camp. He entered the game late in the first quarter and contributed 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
“I was worried that he would be a little antsy,” coach Chauncey Billups said. “And kind of do some things, just because he was just getting back, that would be uncharacteristic of him. But he never did that. He looked great. I thought his shot selection was good, for the most part. Defensively, I thought he was sound.”
Fentress notes that the Blazers are counting on Sharpe to spark an offense that currently ranks 25th in the league at 107.8 points per game. He has the ability to create his own shot and is equally dangerous from beyond the arc or driving to the basket.
Sharpe admitted feeling some nervousness about his first game of the season, but added that it didn’t last long.
“Two up and downs and I was straight,” he said.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Jazz are emphasizing player development this season, but coach Will Hardy relied heavily on his veterans in Thursday’s loss at Milwaukee, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier and Brice Sensabaugh all found themselves out of the rotation as Utah slipped to 1-7. “I have the long view in mind for all of these guys. The reality is that we can‘t play every young guy every night. That’s not how this is going to work. This is the NBA, and there is a level of earning minutes that has to happen,” Hardy said. “I think this notion of like, just getting minutes helps you get better is not true. Just playing for playing’s sake doesn’t just make them better. That’s why we have practices. That’s why we have the G League. There’s so many ways that we’re going to use all of our resources to help all these guys get better.”
- The Timberwolves took over Thursday’s game at Chicago, but not before allowing 65 first-half points to a Bulls team that was missing Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball. Anthony Edwards told reporters, including Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, that the lack of early focus on defense is becoming a problem. “We ain’t taking no pride in stopping nobody right now early in the game,” Edwards said. “That’s troubling. That’s scary. We’ve got to figure that part out. We’re terrible until we get down. When we get down, that’s when everybody wants to play defense. But if we play from the beginning, we’ll be the best team.”
- With 14 points and 11 assists Thursday, 37-year-old guard Mike Conley became the oldest player in Timberwolves history to post a double-double (Twitter video link from Dane Moore).
Tough showing last night. 3 quarters they played well, but the cream rose to the top. Minnesota just blitzed them in the 4th. You can see the lack of talent and chemistry this team possesses with the crazy amount of turnovers and terrible rotations on defense. Zero communication or trust within these players.
Joe Ingles was really funny to Conley. “Mike, hey, Mike, do you know you’re the oldest person in Timberwolves history to have a double-double? You’re old as f—!”
Despite being I think nine days older than Conley. Now I want to see Ingles do it in a game and get the same treatment from Conley.
Oh that Aussie irony… lol
Shaedon Sharpe is the next great NBA superstar and a future MVP! How the league isn’t promoting him is crazy! He’s not sold out to league mandates and endorsing their horrible ideologies. The league should be protecting him from hackers who use violence to stop him. I finally see Billups pleading refs for him. Him playing with Cling-Kong for years will help form New Lob City in Rip City!
Usually MVPs aren’t coming off the bench in their 3rd year. He needs to prove it to his own coach before anyone else will believe it.
Right you are, however if you watch the Blazers: they play a pay-scale offense since they’re shopping Grant, Ayton, Simons and Thybulle. Scoot, Sharpe and Clingan are not afforded the favoritism stars like Lillard (zero defense or leadership), in starting from day one. Sharpe and Scoot should be starting and Simons should sit.