I want to get ahead of everyone here and first mention that I had no idea which words to capitalize in that title. I also want to mention the fact that I have been telling you all for over 2 years now. TJ McConnell is a misunderstood basketball genius who probably sleeps in a racecar bed. I love him with my all of my heart and soul. I would probably pay a 4-figure sum of money if it guaranteed that he would be on the Pacers for the rest of his career. I am not kidding. He has climbed the ranks to my second favorite basketball player of all time. Also not kidding.
But I am not here to explain to you why I fell in love with his short corner jump shots the second he started playing for the Pacers. That is a story for another day. I am here to highlight the fact that our young Timothy John just had the best road trip of his career. I am dubbing this four game stretch “TJ’s Magical West Coast Extravaganza.” He was outstanding the last four games on the road. After his rough shooting start to the season, it is fair to say that my baby boy is back firing on all cylinders.
Over the last four games the Pacers have been traveling along the west coast. They lost a couple of games that I expected them to win, but they got a huge win in a game that I expected them to lose. They lost to a Denver team that was missing its three best players. That was tough. But the very next night they beat a fully healthy Utah team that is one of the best squads in the league, and it was the biggest win of the season so far. Malcolm and Myles both played great, but we aren’t here to talk about them. We are here to talk about the short guy with the fat dumper.
Over these last 4 games, McConnell averaged 18.5 points a game on 67/67/67 shooting splits (he only shot 3 free throws, give him a break). He was a wizard when it came to efficient scoring. Almost 19 points a game on 67 percent shooting from a 6-foot point guard is incredible. And I know what you’re saying. Well Jellis… if he is scoring so many points at such an efficient rate, surely he didn’t find time to pass the ball ever right? WRONG, you stupid naïve reader.
McConnell averaged 5 assists a game over this 4 game stretch, which is honestly not super high by his standards. But he did it while having a 2.86 assist to turnover ratio. Pretty goooooooood. Pretty, pretty good. But he wasn’t just scoring and assisting. This behemoth was hauling in boards like they were food rations on a dystopian planet. He averaged a monster 6.3 boards a game. TJ! You dawg! Honestly after I saw him successfully box out and get a rebound over Giannis a few games back, I will never question his rebounding again. It was one of the greatest athletic feats that I have ever seen in my entire life. Boxed him right out of the paint I tell ya!
The only slightly disappointing number from TJ’s Magical West Coast Extravaganza was his steals per game. He ONLY averaged one steal a game. Which in and of itself is pretty crazy that when he averages one steal a game, we have to put the word “only” in front of it. The king of the off-the-television-screen inbounds steal has slowed down a bit this season. I imagine it is because coaches got tired of smashing clipboards over water boys’ heads and decided to actually gameplan for it. But nevertheless, one steal a game is still great.
I am not kidding when I say that I love TJ McConnell with all of my heart. One day I will write a blog that goes into further detail about why I love him so much. But for now just know, TJ McConnell just had the best road trip of his life.
