The Long Island Nets returned to the court on Friday night as they took on the 0-3 Maine Celtics in Portland, ME. The game started evenly but took an ugly turn which saw a monumental collapse by the Brooklyn Nets G Leaguers. However, one player who didn’t collapse was Danny Wolf continuing his downright electric play.
Wolf finished the game with 22 points, good enough for the best on the team, and tied for the best in the game with Maine’s Max Shulga. Wolf connected on eight of his 15 shot attempts,
including a decent game from beyond the arc, where he connected on three of his seven attempts. Wolf hit two of his three shots from the foul line, too. He added three assists and a blocked shot
Since debuting with the Long Island Nets three games back, Wolf has only had one bad half, which was on opening night. Wolf turned it around in the second half of that game and has looked solid ever since. Wolf once again flirted with a double-double, as he hauled in nine rebounds. In his first two games as a Net, Wolf recorded two double-doubles, which has only been done twice before by a Net: Noah Clowney and Day’Ron Sharpe.
So in three games, Wolf is averaging a double-double: 21.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. Not bad for the 27th pick.
While Wolf is a rookie, as are Ben Saraf and Nolan Traore, he looks like the veteran of the bunch, and plays like it, too. Watching Wolf play has been intriguing, and in a good way. He has assumed a leadership role of sorts, calling plays on the court and setting them up on his own. When ND asked him about that, Wolf responded:
“It’s my first time in an environment like this,” said Wolf, who played collegiate ball at Yale and Michigan. “Obviously, it’s only my second G League game, but I think it’s a great group of guys out there, and it’s easy to play with them. Everyone is playing for the right reasons and playing the right way, most importantly. I think it’s everyone just playing together that makes everything easier.”
Unfortunately, the same positives can’t be said about Nolan Traore. Traore finished Friday’s game tied for third on the team in scoring, picking up 13 points. He also had one rebound, four assists, and two steals. While this looked very promising alone, there’s a glaring issue on the scoresheet that is holding Traore back – turnovers.
Traore turned the ball over six times in this one. This game wasn’t a pretty one at all, as both teams turned the ball over more than 20 times each. However, Traore’s six turnovers were enough to keep him in the company of his own with not just a team lead, but a game lead. His speed and agility are so fun to watch. However, there are times when he’s playing too fast, and it often leads to a turnover.
On the opening night of the season for Long Island, Traore had four turnovers. The next game, he had five. Tonight, he had six. So, to say things are trending in the wrong direction for Traore would be an understatement. Fortunately for Traore, he wasn’t the only rookie having turnover issues, as Ben Saraf had an uncharacteristic game tonight, turning the ball over five times.
Saraf once again came off the bench in this one. He scored 14 points, second-best on the team, and most from off the bench. He had a decent night shooting the ball as he landed five of his 11 attempts from the field, including three of eight from deep.
His highlight was also Long Island’s, a first quarter buzzer-beater from half-court…
However, once again, the turnovers play the Achilles heel. These stats look great in hindsight, but when you dig deeper, you can see his struggles handling the ball and see that he’s definitely still a rookie. Hopefully, that will get cleaned up in time.
For Saraf, the biggest question marks for him have always been his defense and outside shooting. Saraf turned the ball over four times on opening night and five times last game. So, to see new question marks beginning to arise for Saraf is certainly worrisome.
Outside of the rookies, there is one more name worth keeping tabs on for Long Island, and that’s Grant Nelson. Nelson finished tonight’s game with seven points, three rebounds, one steal, and a whopping three blocks. Nelson has been playing like the big man that Long Island needs, and is beginning to come into his own. Sooner rather than later, we may see Nelson take David Muoka’s spot in the starting line-up, as Muoka once again put up another goose egg in the points column in 14 minutes played.
Nelson’s three blocks could establish him as the big man on the team, particularly once Wolf heads back to Brooklyn. While he didn’t shoot a lot, when he did he did it well, connecting on three of his four shot attempts. The best part about it, too, he only turned the ball over once, which is something Long Island desperately needs. With Brooklyn still having one two-way spot to fill, don’t be surprised if Nelson makes a run to be that third two-way.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (1-2) return to the court on Saturday night in a rematch against the Maine Celtics (1-3) in Portland, ME. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET and can be watched on the NBA G League and Long Island Nets respective websites.
