The art of the midrange lives on in young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. No one told him that the cool kids only shoot threes now. He does what he wants, and what he wants is to worm his way in to about 14 feet from the basket and take a jumper. His name is long, but his midrange jimbos are short.
The first few clips of this video are a testament to his artistry. He branched out enough to get a career-high 24 points, because even the best midrange gunners have to take layups sometimes, but he did a nice chunk of his damage by shooting the equivalent of defended free-throws. Former Clippers great Shawn Livingston would be so proud.
It’s exciting to see a rookie who wasn’t maybe the highest pick ever come in and do things right away. He’s a starter for a playoff team (but for how much longer, talking about the playoff team part not the starter part), how many other rookies can say that? But while he’s doing great, the other Clippers rookie, picked just two picks later, is hardly doing anything. Jerome Robinson is his name, and I bet he’s getting really jealous right now.