04 October, 2022
14 May, 2023
0 Tj Shorts Ii (BONN)
12/10/2022
Game Report
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TJ Shorts continues hot start, leads Bonn to wire-to-wire win

 

BONN (Germany) - Shorts by name, but he was the biggest reason why Telekom Baskets Bonn got a double figure win and their first win of the Basketball Champions League season over Pinar Karsiyaka, 83-71.

 

Turning point: The moment Bonn got Shorts to sign a contract with them. Telekom Baskets jumped out to an early 19-11 lead after one quarter with Shorts leading the way, doing a little bit of everything (10 pts, 3 reb, 1 as, 1 blk).

 

Karsiyaka held a 29-23 advantage in the second quarter to cut their deficit to 42-40 at halftime, although they still never held the lead in the first half. Bonn didn't let Karsiyaka hold onto much momentum, as they opened up the third quarter on a 15-4 run. They eventually stretched their lead to 62-51 heading to the fourth, thanks to a running layup at the buzzer by Shorts (again).

 

Bonn iced the game behind the stellar play from Shorts as they pulled away for the 12-point victory.

Game hero: Is it too early to name TJ Shorts as Player of the Month for October? After tonight's performance of 28 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line with an efficiency rating of 37, he'll definitely be in the conversation as a frontrunner for the award.

The 24-year-old is the first player to combine for more than 25 points and more than 5 assists in consecutive games in the BCL.

 

Shorts obviously drew a lot of attention throughout the game, as noted at halftime by Karsiyaka's Errick McCollum.

"We just had to switch up the defense on TJ Shorts. I decided to guard him, and we decided to be a little more aggressive with the hedging and I think it took away some of his aggressivity," said McCollum.

Stats don't lie: Three-point shooting and free-throws were key differences in this game, as Bonn outscored Karsiyaka by 15 points from behind the arc (9-4), while Karsiyaka only converted 59.1 percent of their free-throw attempts.

Bottom line: Bonn improve to 1-1 in Group B and the German club will travel to face AEK in their next game on Tuesday October 25. This win snaps their four-game losing streak in the BCL.

Karsiyaka, meanwhile, are now 1-1 in the group and were led in defeat by McCollum who finished with an 18-point, 11-assist double-double. The Turkish club will host UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia in their next game on Tuesday October 25. They still have never won an away game in Germany in the BCL, as they are now 0-4.

They said:

"They just wanted it more today. I think they were really fighting, and we didn't do that. It's good that it's the beginning of the season, and we still have time to fix those things because we're a pretty new team. A lot of talent, but we still need to become more of a team than individuals." - Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Pinar Karsiyaka

"We made too many mistakes, especially in the beginning. We couldn't stop them. Especially with pick and roll defense we had a problem, and they found many easy scores." - Ufuk Sarica, head coach Pinar Karsiyaka

"A good win for us. They're a very high-level opponent, so just really proud of my teammates and coaches and the fight we showed tonight for 40 minutes, I think it was a good showing. Something to hopefully keep building on and take lessons from." - Finn Delany, Telekom Baskets Bonn

"It was a really gutsy effort from us throughout the 40 minutes against a really high-level opponent. I think we had a nice start to the game that started with our defensive energy. We are very early in the group stage, but for sure it was an extremely important win for us and especially the way that it came through very strong team performance." - Tuomas Lisalo, head coach Telekom Baskets Bonn