Basketball
Demin played at the level of an NBA star! Americans are delighted with the Russian’s three-pointers
Another powerful match performed by a native of Moscow.
Just a year ago, only fans deeply immersed in youth basketball knew about Yegor Demin. The Russian played for a not-so-famous American university and did not stand out much against the general background. Now, all of America is talking about the 19-year-old defender, who makes spectacular three-pointers.
Buried the favorite with accurate three-pointers
Last night, Demin’s Brooklyn met in an away match of the NBA regular season with one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia. Two previous matches with this opponent this season ended in fiasco for the Nets. This time the situation also seemed obvious, but the guests managed to organize a sensation (114:106), also thanks to the actions of the Russian player.
Demin set his personal scoring record in the previous match with Fila, scoring 23 points. This time he almost repeated this result, stopping at 20 points. Egor’s main offensive weapon is well known – three-point shots from different positions. He confidently attacks the basket both from the corner and in the center. In the first quarter, his attempt with resistance achieved success. In the third quarter, two threes in a row allowed his team to organize an important breakthrough. Moreover, in one case he managed to hit the basket, despite a foul from Tyrese Maxey.
The bombardment from Demin continued in the final quarter. It was precisely his two accurate long-range hits in a row that prevented the favorite from raising his head. In addition, Egor made three free throws out of three and scored an effective pass at the beginning of the match. In total, the Russian spent 33 minutes 28 seconds on the floor, setting a new personal record for time in one match. It is significant that Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez increasingly trusts the newcomer, with whom the team finds optimal balance.
Together with Demin, the entire team, led by Michael Porter, is progressing in recent matches. One of the best three-point shooters in the league, he averages 25.7 points per game and is clearly influencing his young teammate’s growth. Participation in training with such a master is beneficial for Egor, who has greatly improved in the implementation of long-range attempts – 9 out of 17 in the last two matches.
Brooklyn at the beginning of the season and in its current state are like two different teams. In the first 19 matches they managed to win only three victories, but in the next eight they won six. It is gratifying that Demin became an important component of this success.
Demin forced me to change my opinion about myself
Making three-pointers is far from the only strong point of the Russian. There are plenty of quality long-range shooters in the league, but there are far fewer universal players who can do more than just shoot at the basket. Egor, who provided five assists in the last game, falls into the category of such versatile basketball players.
Vision of the court and the ability to pass a shot are especially valuable to any coach. In terms of assists (3.5), he is third on the team, and in interceptions (0.9) he shares first place with several players. If we take the average number of points scored (9.4), then Yegor has the fifth best result among all Brooklyn players, which can be considered a success for the first season.
Enthusiastic reviews of Demin on various social networks are left by both specialized journalists covering the NBA and ordinary fans. After the draft, some Brooklyn fans were skeptical about the choice of the Russian at number eight, but now there are no longer any dissatisfied with his performance.
“Egor is really starting to find his place in the team. Now he is second among all rookies in the league in the number of three-pointers made. It was the first time he had scored at least 14 points in four straight games. Not bad for a guy who was said to have no shot, says Brooklyn columnist Brett Siegel.
“He’s been rocking it really cool lately!” – such an entry in one of the team’s main fan accounts.
“It’s incredible how everyone began to criticize him after the draft for his lack of a three-point shot, and now this is his main weapon.
“This dude is starting to make a difference.” I’m so glad that they chose it this summer!
– Hey, where are all those who hated him and hastened to write him off? You must apologize. In December, Egor showed what he is capable of.
— If other teams knew that he would progress from shooting 28% on three-pointers in college to the NBA, then they would have taken him much higher than the eighth overall pick in the draft.
In the last four matches, Demin is truly demonstrating a new level of basketball for himself, and his time on the court is growing from game to game. If Yegor looks so confident already at the age of 19, then in the future he has every chance of growing into a real star. He and the entire team will have three days to rest before the next game – on the night from Saturday to Sunday, Demin will face a serious test in the face of Minnesota.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.