If you include his assists (which were actually pretty good for a big guy, next Jokic??????), Eric Paschall accounted for almost half of the Warriors’ points tonight. Imagine if he hadn’t been around, or if the Warriors had drafted the average player drafted 41st overall (who would’ve scored, like, 5 at most). This was already an extremely bad loss to the extremely bad Hawks, and without Paschall, it turns into a franchise-disbanding type of loss. If the NBA had a relegation system like those crazy Euro soccer leagues, the Warriors would be relegated for sure.
Luckily, Paschall was around to keep the offense from being totally inept. He’s turning into the kind of player you can just give the ball to, and he’ll make something happen. It might not be a good happening, but it’ll be something. The more I think about it, the more I like that seemingly facetious Jokic comparison I made in the first paragraph. There’s no reason (okay, that’s an exaggeration) that Paschall can be a short black Jokic.
-Passing ability? Check.
-Fat? Check.
-Scoring ability? Check. Actually, double check, because he’s averaging MORE than Jokic (who was supposed to be an MVP candidate this year) right now.
-Defense?
-Plays in the NBA? Check.
-Serbian? Tentative check. If Frank Kaminsky can be Serbian, so can this dude. If you think otherwise, I’m sorry to say it, but you’re a total racist.
Remember, Jokic didn’t impact winning very much until his second year in the league. We just need to give Paschall some time to refine his game even further, and he can come into next season ready to be the real superstar while Stephanie Lurry and Klame Thompbum play second and third fiddle.