Mark Daigneault pointed at the action to make sure the referees didn't miss it. There was a little more than two minutes left to play when the technician, traveling to Utah with his team, asked Chet Holmgren to commit an intentional foul on Walker Kessler.
His team still led by two possessions, but he saw Lauri Markkanen and his gang pushing very hard to get back together, in particular by increasing the attacks in the circle. This fault was intended to break the opposing momentum and capitalize on the clumsiness of the Jazz replacement pivot who was struggling in this exercise.
Confirmation with this passage on the line where the 22-year-old player, with not very fluid shooting mechanics, will miss his first attempt, before converting the second. Since the start of the season, he has posted a very small 49% success rate (27/55). This is worse than his rookie year during which he shot 51.6%.
Need rehearsals
Like many other pivots before him (Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, etc.), Walker Kessler is thus targeted by this strategy of intentional fouling at the end of the match. His reaction to this “Hack-a-Kessler”?
“ I like this. This will allow me to take more free throws and God knows I need them. My percentage is definitely not very high, but I know I can shoot free throws. I'm shooting great in practice, I just need to get to the line more often and start seeing my shots go in “, show inside which takes less than two attempts per evening.
Easier said than done because the pivot, like Rudy Gobert before him, is not the most requested player in the Jazz attack.
Also, his playing time and his performance have decreased slightly since he came off his team's bench. Keeping an essential presence in the Jazz racket, the Atlanta native says “ Ready to take the challenge. If I want to be a basketball player and be on the floor in these situations, I have to be able to take advantage of them. »
| Walker Kessler | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2022-23 | UTH | 74 | 23 | 72.0 | 33.3 | 51.6 | 3.1 | 5.3 | 8.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 9.2 |
| 2023-24 | UTH | 36 | 24 | 64.8 | 25.0 | 49.1 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 7.7 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 8.5 |
| Total | 110 | 23 | 69.5 | 26.3 | 50.9 | 3.0 | 5.2 | 8.2 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 9.0 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
