THE FLATS – Jose Alvarado, Josh Okogie and Thaddeus Young are all in opening-round series with higher seeded teams in the NBA playoffs … Alvarado is invited to play for the Puerto Rico national team … Young’s Reform Ventures continues to invest in high tech … Michael Devoe named MVP at Portsmouth Invitational … Marcus Georges-Hunt reflects on fun G League season back home … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.
PLAYOFF PICTURE – Jose Alvarado and the No. 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans have forged a 1-1 tie with the top-seeded Phoenix Suns … Josh Okogie and the No. 7-seed Minnesota Timberwolves are tied 1-1 with the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies … Thaddeus Young and the No. 5-seed Toronto Raptors have fallen behind 0-2 to the No. 4-seed Philadelphia 76ers.
AND AGAIN! @AlvaradoJose15 pic.twitter.com/hQMRt3Ss8B
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 20, 2022
beautiful 🤌 @AlvaradoJose15 for three!
📺: @ESPNNBA
📻: @ESPNRadioNOLA pic.twitter.com/abyIQfFSk6— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 14, 2022
Special group 🙌@treymurphy @AlvaradoJose15 @_hoopinglife https://t.co/CmHV96itSn pic.twitter.com/8SuoWII8d6
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 16, 2022
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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT “GRANT THEFT” ALVARADO
Making his career playoff debut on Sunday (April 17) was Pelicans rookie point guard Jose “Grand Theft ” Alvarado, who has made a name for himself for the sneaky steals he gets during games with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Alvarado, who is Puerto Rican-Mexican, just signed a 4-year, $6.5 million contract with New Orleans after splitting his time with them and its NBA G League affiliate team. During the regular season, he averaged 6.1 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. In 54 games, he averaged 15.4 minutes of playing time and shot 45 percent from the floor.
He was below those numbers during his first playoff game, but fans are looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the rest of the series as it continues with Game 2 on Tuesday (April 19) and Game 3 on Friday (April 22). Until then, here are a few facts about Jose Alvarado that you might like to know before he hits the court again.
Chris Paul not messing around with Jose Alvarado. 😂💀
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 20, 2022
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REPORT: LAKERS’ SCOUTING DEPARTMENT ‘REALLY LIKED’ ALVARADO
A new report suggests that during last year’s pre-draft workouts, the Los Angeles Lakers were very impressed by the potential of point guard Jose Alvarado.
Alvarado, who played collegiately at Georgia Tech, ended up going undrafted before signing to play for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Despite not signing Alvarado, the Lakers were still able to find an undrafted gem of their own in Austin Reaves. Reaves closed out his college career at the University of Oklahoma.
Both players put up modest numbers during the 2021-22 regular season. Reaves averaged 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while Alvarado averaged 6.1 points, 2.8 assists and 1.9 rebounds per contest.
The Lakers got it right with Austin Reaves – but another player their scouting department really liked, I’m told, was Jose Alverado. Participated in a pre-draft workout with the Lakers – obviously, in a great situation in NOLA
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 16, 2022
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ALVARADO RECRUITED FOR PUERTO RICO NATIONAL TEAM
The Basketball Federation of Puerto Rico (FBPUR) announced on Thursday that the New Orleans Pelicans player of Puerto Rican descent, Joseph Alvaradowill join the entity’s adult program and He will debut with the national team in the next FIBA qualifying window to be held next summer in Puerto Rico.
According to a statement sent by the FBPUR, playing in the Puerto Rico uniform was something that the basket player had on the agenda.
”I am super excited to belong to the Puerto Rico National Team. Many thanks to Carlos Arroyo and to the entire team of the Basketball Federation for this great opportunity to represent my people. Boricua, baby! “Let’s have some fun,” said José Alvarado.
Jose Alvarado went undrafted out of Georgia Tech.
He battled for a two-way contract with NOLA.
He recorded 70+ steals in <900 minutes — the only NBA rookie ever to do so.
Two weeks ago, he signed a 4-year, $6.5M deal.
He just got invited to the Puerto Rican national team. pic.twitter.com/9hV76j7TAZ
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 14, 2022
Puerto Rican native and former NBAer Carlos Arroyo presented Jose Alvarado with his national team jersey after last night’s game. pic.twitter.com/6glFZwD5KA
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) April 14, 2022
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SEVEN PLAYERS WHO COULD IMPACT NBA PLAYOFFS
Wily veteran Thaddeus Young has played solidly for the Raptors since he was acquired at the deadline from the San Antonio Spurs. He’ll continue being a part of the rotation that can count on him being reliable in a defensive scheme that is surely going to change by the moment.
The most common 3-man lineup that Young has been a part of as a Toronto Raptor involve both Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa. The wildness that those two bring to the table can be offset by the steady presence of Young, especially with his ability to move the ball on offense.
Season ain’t over yet pic.twitter.com/ZifCiVg7Fq
— Raptors Republic 🇺🇦 (@raptorsrepublic) April 11, 2022
Thaddeus Young is out here warming up with his sprained thumb and is trying to play
Gary Trent Junior is trying to play as well, he has been sick pic.twitter.com/IcI1aIZE4g
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 18, 2022
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THADDEUS YOUNG IS IN THE NBA WITH AN MBA
Following trades from the Bulls to the Spurs in August and then to the Raptors in February, well-traveled forward Thaddeus Young is playing for his seventh NBA team and is in the playoffs for the 10th time out of 15 pro seasons—as Toronto takes on the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their opening round series tonight. Young, who won the league’s 2020-21 Hustle Award, has been as steady a contributor as anyone in the league, averaging about 12 points and a half-dozen rebounds per game.
A former first-round pick by the Sixers following one season at Georgia Tech, Young later completed both a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA through Union Institute & University. The 33-year-old has become a prolific investor in residential and commercial real estate and founded Reform Ventures, which has made several dozen investments.
One of Young’s most recent investments was in Plantiga, which makes instrumented insoles to capture movement data. That joined a long list of his other sports tech investments including Tonal, Shoot 360, ShotTracker, DraftKings, Therabody, Dapper Labs and Epic Games, as well as other blue-chip companies such as Coinbase, Airbnb, Pinterest and SpaceX.
Sunday Funday @realUNOgame @yungsmoove21 pic.twitter.com/An2e29bR6P
— Shekinah Young (@Mrs___Young21) April 17, 2022
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MICHAEL DEVOE WINS MVP IN PORTSMOUTH INVITATIONAL
With 25 points in the championship game, former Georgia Tech guard Michael Devoe was named MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament Saturday night as he led his team to the title of the pre-draft showcase event.
Devoe completed a strong three-game showing before scouts as he seeks to build his reputation in the run-up to the NBA draft. In the historic pre-draft tournament in Portsmouth, Va., Devoe scored 54 points with 21 rebounds, 17 assists against eight turnovers and seven steals.
The event brought together 64 draft prospects, mostly players who likely won’t be drafted but are angling for attention. Devoe was joined by former Yellow Jackets forward Jordan Usher. In three games, Usher scored 28 points on 11-for-28 shooting with 18 rebounds, eight assists against two turnovers and three steals.
-From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More from the Newport News Daily Press
Game 2 of the day is headlined by Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe. The high IQ lead guard had a strong senior season, pacing @GTMBB with 17.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.1 APG.
Devoe has a strong chance at following in Jose Alvarado’s footsteps and earning a two-way contract this summer. pic.twitter.com/OSaPWq6Yc2
— Austin Nelson (@austinnelson333) April 15, 2022
@GTMBB’s Jordan Usher with the body control + finish #PIT22 pic.twitter.com/naLJesyDqC
— P.I.T. (@PIT_Basketball) April 16, 2022
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MOSES WRIGHT NAMED TO ALL-NBA G LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Your 2021-22 All-NBA G League First Team
🏆 Justin Anderson, @TheMadAnts
🏆 Justin Tillman, @CPSkyhawks
🏆 Moses Wright, @TexasLegends
🏆 Trevelin Queen, @RGVVipers
🏆 Mason Jones, @SouthBayLakers pic.twitter.com/CBgPOc3RBq— NBA G League (@nbagleague) April 18, 2022
Love us some Moses Wright highlights, congrats on getting first team🥳🎊🎉 https://t.co/04k4uvhkzJ
— G League Spotlight (@SpotliteGLeague) April 18, 2022
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MARCUS GEORGES-HUNT ENJOYS FUN SEASON BACK HOME
Everything for Marcus Georges-Hunt is about staying calm.
His basketball journey has taken him around the world, from the gym at North Clayton High School to playing professionally over 7,000 miles away in China and now, amazingly, right back where it all started with the College Park Skyhawks in Clayton County.
But no matter where he was playing or who was in front of him, one thing was always the same.
“Someone once told me that if the house was burning down I would say, ‘Stay calm and we’ll get out,’” Georges-Hunt said. “I don’t like to panic; in my opinion, panicking makes things worse. Even when I play the games, I just want to stay efficient. As far as field goal percentages and all of that, I don’t force anything. I just stick to my game, and that’s it.”
The variables changed, but he did not.
More from the Clayton News-Daily
NEW: Last year, Marcus Georges-Hunt was playing basketball 7,000 miles away. Now he’s back in his hometown with the @CPSkyhawks.
I caught up with @GTMGH3. On his winding journey, guiding philosophies, what he has learned from basketball and much more.https://t.co/GlWboDPDuP
— Alan (@Alan__Cole) April 18, 2022
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