Ridiculous Upside’s 2021 G League Coach of the Year Finalists
Ridiculous Upside gives their finalists for Coach of the Year
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Stan Heath - Lakeland Magic
In a league where rosters can change drastically every week and the amount of teams tend to balloon on a yearly basis, the Lakeland Magic have remained a consistent playoff team since Stan Heath took over as the team’s head coach in 2017. During the team’s first three seasons, they maintained a 85-57 total record. Although they never made it to the G League Finals during that time, as they lost a 108-106 heartbreaker in the 2019 Conference Finals to Long Island and dealt with a pandemic-shortened season in 2020.
After attempting his first free throw, Ryan Kelly shouted toward his own bench: “This is my time.”
He had all the right in the world to say so.
Kelly, who competed in his first game back since breaking his left cheekbone in late January, hit two of his three shots from the charity stripe with 0.5 seconds left to propel the Sunrockers Shibuya to an 84-82 win over the Alvark Tokyo in front of a home crowd at Aoyama Gakuin University on Sunday night.
“I said ‘This is my time.’ This is the time where I’m confident with the ball in my hands to make a play to win and I know my teammates are confident in me to make the right play,” Kelly said after the victory, which snapped Shibuya’s five-game losing streak.
The N.B.A. Misses Klay Thompson
Thompson, the Golden State Warriors’ All-Star guard, is a great shooter, for sure. But his absence, for a second consecutive season because of injury, leaves a hole that goes beyond basketball.
Because of injuries, Klay Thompson hasn’t played in a game since the 2019 N.B.A. finals. Warriors General Manager Bob Myers described Thompson as a “corner piece” of Golden State’s puzzle.Credit.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
Feb. 1, 2021
Klay Thompson could have re-entered the game for the Golden State Warriors, but he knew his work was done. It was Jan. 23, 2015, and Thompson had spent the third quarter scoring a record 37 points without missing a shot against the Sacramento Kings.
Jan 3, 2021
UNDERMANNED San-En NeoPhoenix was simply no match for Sun Rockers Shibuya on Sunday, losing by 41 points, 105-64, in the 2020-21 B.League at Aoyama Gakuin Memorial Hall.
With Thirdy Ravena sitting out the game due to a fractured right index finger, the visitors couldn t recapture their thunder from the first game as they incurred their fifth straight loss.
Kyle Hunt topscored for San-En with 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Stevan Jelovac added a double-double with his 13 points and 12 boards before suffering from a sprained ankle.
Former national team member Atsuya Ota also had 13 points and four rebounds, but that wasn t enough as the NeoPhoenix tumbled to a 5-22 record.