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Basketball News

Rick Carlisle: ‘TJ McConnell is a player you only see once a decade’

The Pacers were trailing the Raptors 19-8 tonight when they made their first substitution, replacing rookie Andrew Nembhard, who scored twice with TJ McConnell. This will be the turning point of the match, because the bench of the Pacers led by Bennedict Mathurin (21 points) and this same McConnell (15 points) will completely outclass that of the Raptors: 54 points to 7. The five Pacers substitutes played at least 15 minutes and more, for a total of 37 shots attempted. A more than solid “second unit” which allowed Indiana to win against Toronto 122-114 and sign a fourth consecutive victory.

“I think it’s just a style of play” said McConnell after the game. “We have guys on this team who want to be on the court and run, who want to make the extra pass, go to the basket and make the right choice. When you have guys who all want to do the same thing, all five, it makes it so easy when we have to insert someone else into the starting five. It’s really simple when you have guys like that.

A new role accepted

Last night, McConnell signed only his fifth game with more than 10 points this season. Although he has not been a regular starter since his second year in the NBA in Philadelphia in 2016-17, coming off the bench is not a new experience for him. Except that he saw his minutes dwindle with two promising young playmakers in front of him. Tyrese Haliburton is playing at an All-Star level, while Nembhard keeps surprising game after game. As a result, McConnell posted the lowest averages of his career for playing time (17 minutes per game) and points (5.4 per game).

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Nevertheless, he remains satisfied with his impact on the game with averages of 4.3 assists, 1 steal and 2.3 rebounds per game. A new role validated by his coach.

“TJ McConnell is a player you only see once a decade” believes Rick Carlisle. “You don’t find guys like that who just have that boundless energy, that indomitable spirit, and can get the whole room going by causing a loss of the ball. He does it every night. So that was an adjustment for him. In his career, he has always played more than 20 minutes on average. He’s playing behind Tyrese, who’s doing amazing things, so his minutes are a little less, but he’s getting the most out of them. Tonight, he was the leader of this group.

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