Hype for Anzejs Pasecniks, which had reached a fever pitch in Latvia and probably maybe existed a little bit in Washington DC as well (or not), completely fizzled out when he had a string of four games that looked like this:
4 points, 1-of-4 shooting vs NYK
2 points, 1-of-2 shooting vs MIA
4 points, 2-of-8 shooting vs ORL
4 points, 2-of-7 shooting vs POR
I was observing this series of low-scoring games from afar and thinking to myself, “Well, that’s it. Defenses have figured out Anzejs Pasecniks. He’s never going to have a good game again.” But I forgot that he would eventually get to go up against Nikola Jokic, and since they are both slow, there was the possibility that Pasecniks would be able to outmaneuver Jokic in a way that he can’t outmaneuver certain other centers in the NBA.
Well, that didn’t happen either because five of these six buckets, plus the shooting foul, came while Mason Plumlee was manning the center position for the Nuggets and was therefore the primary defender for Pasecniks. Plumlee’s supposed to be a speedy, athletic center, and Pasecniks looked like his same old slow self, so I’m going to attribute Pasecniks’ success in this game completely to Ish Smith. Completely. Without Ish, Pasecniks might have scored once or twice.
I’m not sure if Pasecniks is aware of American customs, but it is customary in this situation for Pasecniks to get a thank you card from the store, write a heartfelt thank you message in it, and leave it in Ish Smith’s locker. That is the only way that proper thanks can be conveyed.