The Lakers and Mavericks game, after 48 minutes of regular time plus an overtime, was at one point infinitely close to playing another overtime. On the Lone Rangers side, Hardaway Jr. and Kléber continued to serve with tough three-pointers, vowing to defend the home American Airlines Center Arena. The final chance was on the side of the Purple and Gold Legion, and in the end, the calm Westbrook and Reeves, who showed his killer nature, jointly staged a sword-and-throat drama. Little people, there is also spring.
In fact, Wei Shao, who has hit three points before and helped the Lakers briefly gain a three-point lead, can completely execute the last shot himself - the Lone Ranger is very clear about Wei Shao's defensive strategy, even if you shoot too far, still put a step to prevent his breakthrough. Thankfully for the Lakers fans, Westbrook did not act according to the rhythm arranged by the Lone Ranger, he tore open the opponent's defensive formation, and successfully focused the Lone Ranger's attention on the attempt to attack him in the three-second zone, at this time, Westbrook calmly divided the ball to rookie Reeves. The 23-year-old white guy took a knife and hit a three-pointer, just like the four long-range shots he had hit five times on the outside.
Before this ball, I'm afraid few people would notice this slender white guy from Arkansas. In fact, he comes from a basketball family, his father Brian Reeves and his mother Nicole Wilkett both played at Arkansas State University, while his brother Spencer Reeves is at the University of Central Missouri and Northern Linville University, so basketball has long been a part of Austin Reeves.
Reeves was well known in high school, winning many state championships in Wichita and even scoring 73 points in a single game. However, in the country of basketball, there is no shortage of basketball talents who have become famous at a young age. But his high-profile performance in high school at least made it natural for Reeves to get into Wichita State university and was subsequently admitted to Oklahoma State University in a higher division. However, the unexpected injury forced him to give up his entire freshman season, thus falling behind other college star players.
Even so, with his own efforts, Reeves began to bloom his talent and energy on the basketball court after returning to the game, he was a reliable pitcher, shooting 42% from the field, shooting a steady 85% from the free throw line, and having scored a 28-point highlight against West Virginia State. But the problem that bothered Reeves was that as a shooter, his three-point shooting percentage was so poor, only 27 percent, and because of that, he lost.
Fortunately, the traditional giants Los Angeles Lakers extended an olive branch to him, a non-guaranteed contract, which means that Austin Reeves must return 120% of his efforts to impress head coach Vogel to have the opportunity to turn his 2021-22 930,000 yuan contract into full protection. So in the summer league, we saw a desperate three-man, Reeves in the summer league became the team's rebounding king, assist king, steal king and block king. It was this effort and determination that impressed the Lakers' coaching staff, so he averaged 22 minutes of playing time per game in the preseason. The problem is that his three-point shooting percentage in the summer league is still not optimistic, only 25%. No one knew where Reeves' future lay, after all, he was just a draft loser.
Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared, and in the preseason game, Reeves quietly improved his three-point shooting rate to 34.5%. As a result, the Lakers, who lacked major generals, decided to give the missing draft a chance, and in the second game of the regular season lakers facing the Suns, Austin Reeves ushered in the first opportunity of his career to play in the NBA. He shot 3-of-4, including 2 three-pointers, and scored 8 points, a performance that put him in Vogel's rotation. However, due to his short stature and lack of defensive experience, the coaching staff did not intend to let him play in the decisive moment of the game at the beginning.
But Reeves's hard work and the role of the projection end is like Caruso, who has moved to the Chicago Bulls, and it is this effort that has impressed Vogel - as you can see, in the final hours of the last few games, we will see Reeves appear, as an older and losing rookie, he adapted to the rhythm and confrontation of the NBA faster than many of the proud sons of the sky.
November was tough for Both Reeves and the Lakers, because of the hamstring injury, Reeves had to watch from the sidelines, which meant that some of the previous efforts had to be restarted; but the Lakers' difficult situation further highlighted the role of Reeves, in the 10 games he missed, the Lakers only handed over a 4-6 report card, as a comparison, when Reeves was able to play, the Lakers' record was 12-7. Stats don't lie, the lost draft has become an integral part of the old Lakers, as long as he can maintain the stability of the shooting, he can continue to inject energy into this somewhat lacking team and provide a scrappy defense.
In the past three games, Austin Reeves has averaged 11 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes per game, and has only made two turnovers in three games. He hit 7 of 11 shots from outside the three-point line, and the free throw line is a steady 6 of 6, for the "360 combination", whether it is James, Davis or Westbrook possession, there is always no mistake with space points like Reeves.
The only question is, will he be able to continue to improve his defensive ability? If he can reach Caruso's defensive level, there is no doubt that Reeves will be able to secure a rotation. By then, teams that missed him in the first 60 drafts will be frustrated.