” I obviously wasn’t born then (but) being part of this club is truly a blessing. » The « club » to which AJ Griffin refers is that of the rare rookies to have signed several winning shots at the buzzer, in overtime, in the same season. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitutionhe is the first since Toni Kukoc, in 1993-1994, to achieve this feat.
His first feat of arms? About a month ago, against the Raptors. With four seconds left and two teams tied, the Hawks had surprised the Canadian defense and Trae Young had sent a simple lobbed pass concluded just before the buzzer to his rookie.
This night against the Bulls, the latter did much stronger because despite another extension and an almost identical score, the Hawks and him had more than one unfavorable factor: they were trailing by one point and above all, they still had 0.5 seconds left to score after a throw-in.
Rather than serving Trae Young who was coming out of screens at the head of the 3-point racket, Jalen Johnson sent a nice lob near the circle towards the rookie. The latter recovered the ball with his back to the basket, then twisted in the air to finish with an “alley-oop” as remarkable as it was improbable.
” I thought the same thing as on the last winning shot. The coach designed a great system (note: the assistant Joe Prunty in this case) and JJ sent a great pass “, qualifies the 19-year-old player, before making several references to the game of American football, Madden, with Jalen Johnson in the role of” quarterback “.
Beyond his gesture, the winger signed a solid match with 17 points (7/17 on shots including 2/11 from afar) in 40 minutes, which allowed him to increase his average to 10 units on the season.
“ He has confidence in himself, he works hard. When he’s on pace like tonight, you want to try and get the ball in his hands. He can shoot and create, that’s what he did tonight. This action at the end was the most important of the game tonight », greets Nate McMillan without surprise.
This trust placed in him? ” It means everything, really. I think that by making mistakes, knowing that the shot does not fit, you have to keep playing. (That trust never comes) not only from the coaches, but from all the players and the staff, to be able to encourage me “, Appreciates the 16th choice of the last Draft.
