The Division II player of the year in 2024 finally got a chance to show what he can do and did well
Remember, it’s all about development.
The Long Island Nets met the Greensboro Swarm on Friday night, looking to get back on track. Unfortunately, there was no good fortune to be had as Long Island would fall to Greensboro, 105-97 and drop to 2-6, tied for the second worst record in the G League. offensive resurgence. The Nets have now lost three straight while Greensboro, the Hornets affiliate has won six straight.
Long Island continued to struggle from 3-point range, shooting 28%, connecting on just nine of their 32 attempted shots. KJ Jones II, Kendall Brown, and Killian Hayes were the only players to hit more than one three-pointer, tallying two each. AJ Lawson continued his rough couple of games from beyond the arc, connecting on just one of his six shots.
For Jones, it was his first real opportunity. The 6’6” wing, the Division II Player of the Year at Emmanuel University in Atlanta, Playing 39 minutes with Long Island, like Brooklyn, beset by injury, Jones finished with 13 points, but shot 4-of-6 overall, hitting both of his threes while grabbing 10 boards, recording two assists and a steal. Jones barely played with the Nets in Summer League, in Brooklyn’s training camp or for Long Island until Friday.
The 23-year-old wasn’t the only bright spot, but in each case, there were caveats.
Hayes, started the game off scorching, tallying seven of the team’s first 11 points. Coming out of the first, Long Island only trailed by five. The second quarter was when it began to all fall apart for Long Island. They entered halftime down by only eight but finished the half with 10 turnovers, which would end up being their downfall.
The third quarter was all Greensboro. Greensboro pulled away from Long Island and finished the third with a nearly 20-point lead. However, the best quarter for Long Island came in the fourth, where even though they lost the game, they cut a 21-point deficit down to five at one point. However, turnovers continued to be costly, and ultimately put the game away for Long Island.
Despite having a pretty slow start with Long Island, Jones proved he can score. This was shown when he scored 3,600 points in five years for Emmanuel University. Indeed, in Friday’s game, he scored all of his points in the second half.
Another player who stood out was Amari Bailey, who once again led the team in points with 19 from the bench. Bailey continued to show why he is in talks to be one of the best bench players in the entire NBA G-League. Bailey also tallied five rebounds and two assists. However, he was also Long Island’s biggest culprit in turnovers, turning the ball over six times.
AJ Lawson finished the game with a double-double. Like Jones, he picked up 13 points and 10 rebounds, continuing his hot start. Hayes put up decent numbers, picking up 12 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Unfortunately, those all came in the first half and he was non-existent in the second half of the game. For the season, Hayes is averaging 13.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.8 boards but his shooting remains an issue overall. His shooting splits: 45/32/57.
Long Island’s biggest issue continues to be turnovers. They turned the ball over 20 times in this one, which led to a lot of points for Greensboro, and ultimately lost Long Island the game down the stretch. Greensboro didn’t play flawless basketball either but they turned the ball over five fewer times than Long Island did.
Six Swarm players finished the night in double figures, led by Marcus Garrett who had 16 points and former Nets draft pick and Long Island player Reggie Perry who secured his third double-double of the season (15 points and 10 rebounds)
Next Up
Long Island will stay in Greensboro Saturday as they prepare for the back-end of a back-to-back vs. Greensboro. Long Island, who is now 2-6 on the season, has a chance to get a measure of revenge against the Swarm before finally coming home again next week.