I could’ve guessed that this was going to happen. “This” being the fact that Rui Hachimura had a very solid 12 points in the first half but finished with only 16. Normally I allow myself to get overhyped in such situations, when a role-player has an unexpectedly stuffed first-half statsheet. It happened again this time, but with the game being so close almost the entire way through, I knew in the back of my mind that Washington would stop letting him take all the shots he wanted and instead try to win the game using proven offensive talent like Ish Smith and Davis Bertans.
That whole paragraph probably didn’t make a ton of sense. But anyone who has watched the ‘Zards first two games has kind of sensed that Hachimura gets to take a lot of forced shots. And when the game gets tight in the fourth quarter, it’s not usually a good idea to let your raw rookie take a low-value off-balance midrange jumper. Hachimura notched only an assist and a turnover in the final quarter of this one, not even a shot attempt to his name.
In the face of this lackluster second-half performance, I’m forced to wait on the grand unveilment of my new nickname for him. Believe me people, this is one of my finest nickname creations yet. I’ve been working for MONTHS on this one, pretty much since the day he got drafted I’ve been hard at work with my trusty pen and notebook. You should see the pages and pages of rejected ideas, drafts, and random doodles. Perhaps, one day, when I’ve passed on to the great YouTube in the sky, those notebooks will be released for scholars to analyze. But for now, you have to wait a few more days before I show the world the masterpiece of monikercraft that is Hachimura’s new nickname.