We have to believe that the Wolves waited until the last moment to decide. Wendell Moore Jr. was not even mentioned in the starting five posted on Twitter, prior to the meeting against the Grizzlies. But the 26th choice of the last Draft was a starter that night.
He who initially thought of spending another evening at ” encourage [s]are teammates “Finally benefited from his first consistent playing time of the year. ” Once I heard the news, I knew I had to change my mindset and be ready to go. », says the 21-year-old who played more in this match (20 minutes) than the rest of his season (three appearances for 7 minutes in total).
Ready to play and defend…on a certain Ja Morant. Not the easiest for the rookie’s first tenure. Fortunately, the latter had spent time studying his opponent on video. “ I watched their last games. I was trying to pick up on his habits anyway and really follow the game plan the coaches gave me and the trust my teammates had in me. “, Continues the former Duke player.
This confidence contributed to an honorable exit finished with 7 points (3/6 on shots), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 interception and 1 against while the Grizzlies point guard finished far from his standards with 24 points (8/20) and 7 lost balls.
An impact on Ja Morant
” Big impact tonight, all credit goes to him. He released some big counters that probably weren’t given to him. They thought it was for me, but it was him. It was huge », Qualifies Anthony Edwards. Where Chris Finch, deprived of Jaden McDaniels and Taurean Prince (injured) for this match, speaks of a ” very good defense on Ja Morant.
“ He had an exceptional position. He followed him, slowed him down, led him in the direction we wanted him to go. He didn’t try to put too much pressure on him or anything, he did a good job of containing him, and then he was physical near the circle “, develops his coach.
Wendell Moore Jr. says he received support “ unbelievable from his teammates. Of the kind “ ‘Be yourself. Be aggressive. Play your game, you’re made for it’ Hearing those words of encouragement from these guys made my job on the pitch easier. I didn’t have to think about anything “, Appreciated the rookie, promised to find the bench with the return of the injured and to evolve with the affiliated team in the G-League. At least he now knows what it’s like to start with Wolves.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Anthony Edwards | 22 | 36.5 | 46.2 | 34.5 | 76.6 | 0.6 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 22.9 |
| Karl Anthony Towns | 21 | 33.8 | 50.5 | 32.5 | 88.5 | 1.7 | 6.5 | 8.2 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 20.8 |
| D’angelo Russell | 22 | 31.3 | 42.5 | 31.8 | 75.9 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 14.4 |
| Rudy Gobert | 20 | 31.6 | 64.5 | 0.0 | 73.2 | 3.8 | 8.1 | 11.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 13.6 |
| Jaden Mcdaniels | 19 | 29.9 | 53.5 | 35.7 | 76.5 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 11.4 |
| Jaylen Nowell | 22 | 17.9 | 43.0 | 31.5 | 77.4 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 11.0 |
| Taurean Prince | 18 | 19.5 | 49.5 | 38.9 | 86.4 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 7.9 |
| Naz Reid | 16 | 13.5 | 52.7 | 30.6 | 65.2 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 7.6 |
| Kyle Anderson | 17 | 21.6 | 48.8 | 42.9 | 80.8 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 6.5 |
| Josh Minott | 1 | 4.5 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 15 | 15.8 | 43.4 | 24.1 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.9 |
| Bryn Forbes | 12 | 10.3 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| austin rivers | 12 | 12.8 | 35.7 | 22.2 | 90.9 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 |
| Aj Lawson | 1 | 1.8 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendell Moore, Jr. | 5 | 6.3 | 30.0 | 20.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| Nathan Knight | 9 | 2.7 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Luka Garza | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
