Thoughts on the G-League Ignite’s Close Win over the Canton Charge
February 28th, 2021
By Alan Lu
Yesterday, I took the time to watch Jalen Green and the G-League Ignite play against the Canton Charge in a highly competitive, basketball game. It was a hard fought match that went all the way down to the wire. The G-League Ignite played well collectively and led for most of the game, but Canton was able to string together a comeback attempt late in the fourth quarter. The G-League Ignite were basically on the ropes when Brodric Thomas scored on a mid-range jumper off of a broken play to put Canton up with less than 5 seconds left. It was then when the G-League Ignite were able to fight back, and 6-10 forward, Isaiah Todd scored on a game winning, fadeaway long two-point shot, as he banked it in to get his team the win, 113-112 over Canton.
This was a good win for the G-League Ignite, and this helped them improve their record to 7-4 on the season. Jalen Green led all scorers with 26 points, and he made 6 threes in this game. Here are my thoughts on how Todd, Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Daishen Nix fared, as well as where they may currently rate as prospects for the NBA. Also, for those that are interested in the box score of this game, the link is here.
(Photo: Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Isaiah Todd had a strong showing in his team’s win over Canton. He scored 17 points, made 3 three-pointers, and he also had 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists, and he also made the game-winning shot to help his team get the victory.
(Source: Twitter/@nbagleague)
Todd shot the ball very well in this game, and he did a terrific job of providing floor spacing for his team on offense. He showed a knack for making quick, spot-up threes off the catch. He also showed a knack for making face-up mid-range jumpers. Plus, he also used a shoulder fake to score on a clutch, one-legged, fadeaway turnaround long two-point shot from the baseline, as he managed to bank it in to score on the game-winning field goal.
He also excelled at scoring on hustle plays. Todd ran the floor to score on reverse layup in transition. He also tried to score in the low post, but he ended up missing on fadeaway jumper from the baseline midway through this match.
Also, he displayed fairly good playmaking skills in this game. Todd passed the ball well from the post, and he would find cutters to set up scoring chances for them. He also would look to find the open man to get his teammates the basketball. He also managed to set a firm, on-ball screen to help a teammate score on a drive to the hoop. However, sometimes he would throw hasty passes that would get intercepted. Adding to that, he also did a fairly good job of rebounding the basketball. He would tend to leap up to get plenty of defensive boards to help his team on the glass.
Plus, Todd also played solid defense in this game. He would rotate to block shots hard off of drives, and he would tend to swat them to his teammates. He also was able to deflect passes to nearly get steals, and he also poked a ball away out of bounds to nearly force another turnover. Todd also would contest threes to force misses, and sometimes he would be able to hold his ground when defending in the post to force some misses. Sometimes though, he would get beat on moves to the hoop, which would lead his team to allow scores around the basket. Another time, he was in the area to rotate to a cutter, but he didn’t try to contest the shot that time, which led his team to give up a dunk that time.
In summary, Isaiah Todd played very well on both ends of the floor, and he had a strong all-around game to help his team get the win. He also made the biggest bucket of the game, as he was able to make the game winner by banking in a long two-point shot off the glass to score the final basket. Todd is a very athletic, skilled big man that has played a key role for his team, and he’s had some very good games this season. He is a talented prospect, and he could be a solid pick for an NBA team in the late first round range of the upcoming draft.
(Photo: Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Jalen Green also had a strong showing in his team’s win over Canton. He really excelled as a shooter and scorer on offense, and he also made some defensive plays to help his team in this game. Green scored 26 points, and he made 6 three-pointers to help his team get the victory.
(Source: Twitter/@nbagleague)
Green did a terrific job of knocking down threes to provide floor spacing for his team on offense. He showed a knack for making them off the catch, dribble, as well as when he would run off screens to get them, and he also has a lot of range on his shot. He also managed to use a spin move to score on a fadeaway, mid-range jumper, though he struggled a bit more to make mid-range shots off the catch.
(Source: Twitter/@nbagleague)
Plus, he also did a good job of scoring off the dribble. Green has a lightning quick first step, and he was able to score on an acrobatic, double pump layup in traffic, and he was able to get a lot of hang time to score at the rim that time. He also scored on a speedy finger roll layup. He also was able to draw free throws after using a hesitation move on a quick drive in transition. He did have his shot blocked once, but Green generally excelled at making shots from all over the floor.
He also displayed adequate playmaking skills in this game. Green can throw crisp, accurate interior passes, and he would find teammates on the move to set up scores for them. However, sometimes he would telegraph his passes, which would lead them to get intercepted. He also had a ball ripped away when handling it another time, as he had over-dribbled early on another possession. Though he didn’t grab many rebounds in this game, Green was able to leap up to get a defensive board once.
Defensively, he looked to be about average at best. For the positives, Green was able to block a shot in the post to himself due to possessing very good athleticism and timing. He also was able to deflect a pass out of bounds to nearly get a steal. Also, he managed actively contest a three-point shot to force a miss once. There also would be times where he would actively look to stay in front of his opposing ball handlers to force them to pass the basketball, and he also pressured an opponent to force his man to step out of bounds another time. However, he had a tendency to get beat off the dribble, which would usually lead him to allow scores. Other times, he would tend to over-help in the paint, as he would be late to rotate back to his man, which would cause him to allow opponents to score on open three-point shots.
In general, Jalen Green played very well to help his team get a win over Canton. He especially excelled as a shooter and scorer on offense, and he made plenty of highlight reel-worthy plays to help his team on both ends of the court. He has been building his case to be considered the top pick for the upcoming draft, and he looks to be a lock to be a top 5 pick. He is a very talented prospect, and he could end up being a multi-All-Star in the NBA.
Jonathan Kuminga also put forth a fairly good performance in his team’s win over Canton. He scored 20 points and he also had 13 rebounds in this game. He did make two three-pointers, and he also made a couple of solid defensive plays, but he also seemed to make a litany of mistakes on the defensive end as well.
(Source: Twitter/@nbagleague)
He also excelled at scoring on hustle plays. Kuminga ran the floor, and he caught a lob to score on a layup on the break. He also drove the ball up court, and he was able to pass and then get the ball back to score on a dunk off of a give and go. Plus, Kuminga also managed to score on a roll to the rim another time.
He also shot the ball fairly well in this game. Kuminga was able to knock down a couple of deep threes off the catch, but he was fairly streaky with his outside shot. He also used a crossover to make a smooth, pull-up jumper from the mid-range on another play.
Also, Kuminga flashed the ability to score off the dribble. He would tend to favor going to his left, and he would score on layups around the basket. He also used a spin move to score on a finger roll, layup. However, sometimes he would get his shots blocked, and he also would sometimes struggle to score in traffic, especially when he wouldn’t get foul calls. He was able to draw free throws when looking to score from the post once, but Kuminga generally had trouble scoring from the block in this contest.
On the downside, he was fairly turnover prone on offense. For the positives, Kuminga is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass to keep the ball moving, and he passes the ball well out of the post. He can find cutters to set up scoring chances for his teammates, and he also will get the ball to shooters. He also was able to set a good, on-ball screen to help a teammate score on a three-point shot. However, sometimes he would play too recklessly, which would lead him to commit a slew of ball-handling turnovers. He ended up committing a couple of charging fouls when driving to the basket. He also threw a pass from the post that got intercepted another time. On a separate play, he tried to barrel his way to the hoop, but had the ball poked away to commit another turnover.
Plus, Kuminga did a great job of rebounding the basketball. He especially excelled at crashing the glass to help his team get defensive boards, and he was able to bring the ball up once after getting a defensive rebound.
However, he struggled defensively in this game. For the positives, Kuminga was able to rotate to alter a shot off of a drive due to possessing good timing. He also managed to get his hands on a pass to get a steal. He is an athletic, rangy defender that can help his team get steals, blocks, and deflections. On the downside, he would tend to sag too far off of shooters, and he would tend to be late or not contest shots at all, which would often allow opponents to score on jumpers. Sometimes, he would get beat off the dribble by opponents that should not get by him.
Overall, Jonathan Kuminga played fairly well in his team’s win over Canton, and he showed off versatile scoring skills, and strong rebounding prowess to help his team get the victory. However, he did not seem to give his best defensive effort, and while he would sporadically make a good defensive play every once in a while, he would tend to have too many lapses on the defensive end.
Also, his tendency to try to score in the post ended up hurting his team in the fourth quarter, as it stilted the flow of the offense and reduced the ball motion, and Kuminga ended up missing shots and turning the ball over from the post late in this game, which helped lead Canton to rally back to almost win. Still, his team was able to make enough solid plays down the stretch to hold off Canton to get the victory. Overall, Kuminga is a very talented prospect, but he will need to improve his outside shot and focus defensively. Even still, he projects to be a very good forward that could really excel on both ends of the court, and he could end up developing into a very good player in the NBA.
Daishen Nix also had a fairly good showing in his team’s win over Canton. He did a terrific job of passing the basketball, and he also showed a fairly good ability to attack the basket. Nix showed a fairly good ability to score off the dribble. He was able to use a Euro-step move to his left to score on a strong layup off the glass. He also was able to score on a powerful drive to the hoop another time. He also managed to score on a tough, powerful bank shot off of another drive. Sometimes though, he would take tough, off-balanced shots in traffic, which would occasionally lead to misses. Also, he also was able to score on a backdoor cut to the basket. Nix struggled to knock down outside shots though, as he missed all of his three-point shots, and he also missed on an awkward mid-range shot another time.
(Source: Twitter/@nbagleague)
Plus, Nix showed very good playmaking skills in this game. He did a great job of racking up assists, and he has good court vision as he sees the floor well. He can make an assortment of passes off the dribble to get the ball to his teammates. He also would throw accurate lobs, and he throws crisp, interior passes to set up scores for his teammates. He also threw a nifty, no-look, behind-the-back pass to help set up a score for a teammate on the break. On the downside, he threw an inaccurate alley-oop pass off the glass that got intercepted. He also had a ball taken away from a defender that led to another turnover.
Also, Nix did a fairly good job of rebounding the basketball, and sometimes he would push the ball up the court afterwards. Plus, he also played satisfactory defense in this game. Nix has continued to defend well lately, and he’s consistently given forth solid effort ever since his team’s double-digit loss to Long Island. Nix would contest threes to force misses, and he would stay in front of his man and contest drives to force misses. He also has good strength, so he doesn’t get outmuscled when he defends opponents off the dribble. On the downside, sometimes he would get beat off the dribble by quicker guards, which would lead his team to commit fouls and allow scores. On another play, he over-helped in the pant and was late to rotate back, which led his team to allow a three-point basket.
Overall, Daishen Nix played well in his team’s win over Canton. In this game, he scored 8 points, dished out 9 assists, and he also finished with a +11 in the plus-minus column. He will still need to improve his outside shot, and he will need to continue to defend well, as he has been putting forth good effort on the defensive end lately. Nix is a tough, gritty playmaker that has a solid basketball IQ, and he could be a solid pick for an NBA team in the late first to the second round range of the 2021 draft.
Other News:
(Source: Twitter/@BleacherReport)
Also, Oklahoma State’s 6-8 point forward, Cade Cunningham scored 40 points in his team’s overtime win over Oklahoma in an in-state rivalry game. Cunningham also made 3 threes, and he also had 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks to help his team get the victory. Currently, there is a battle amongst prospects for the top spot, with Jalen Suggs and Jalen Green in the mix for the top pick conversation, and Jonathan Kuminga and Evan Mobley are also being consensus top 5 prospects. That said, Cunningham is currently the favorite to be the number one overall pick in the 2021 draft, as he is a very skilled, all-around playmaker that has been consistently reliable, and he put forth a tremendous performance to help his team get the victory.
Other Notes, Part II:
Among Canton’s players, Chicago Bulls’ assignee and rookie point guard, Devon Dotson looked to have played the best amongst players on his G-League team, as he showed off very good speed, and strong shooting and scoring skills. Dotson scored 21 points, as he made 7 of 9 shots from the field, 2 threes, and he also had 3 steals and 2 assists. Marques Bolden showed off some low post scoring skills, and he also rebounded the ball well, and he scored 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for his team.
Sheldon Mac had 21 points, Brodric Thomas had 18 points, and Antonio Blakeney scored 16 points for Canton, and they are athletic shooters that have all played in the NBA. Surprisingly though, former Syracuse guard and former NBA first-round pick, Malachi Richardson scored zero points off the bench for Canton in this game.
For the G-League Ignite, Jarrett Jack really impressed, as he scored 16 points on 8 of 12 shots, he made plenty of tough shots off the dribble, and he dished out 5 assists. He came up big for his team, and he proved to be instrumental in helping his team get the victory. Also, Amir Johnson scored 11 points, and he was also perfect from the field in this game.
The Raptors 905’s forward, Alize Johnson scored 36 points, as he also had 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and he made a three-point shot in his team’s win over the Westchester Knicks.
Also, Philadelphia 76ers’ assignee and rookie big man, Paul Reed scored 35 points, as he made 5 threes, and he also collected 7 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 steals, and 2 assists in his team’s loss to the Oklahoma City Blue.
