By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Paris Basketball coach Tiago Splitter described the connection he has with TJ Shorts and compared it to the one he had developed with some pretty famous guards back during his playing days.
“TJ is a point guard who sees the game, he is a leader and the truth is that, in my career as a center, I had a lot of relationship with the guards,” Splitter commented in the post-game presser after the away triumph of Paris over Barcelona. “I played with [Pablo] Prigioni, with [Marcelinho] Huertas, with [Manu] Ginobili, [Tony] Parker… they all understand the game very well. I think it is very important to have that link between the center and the point guard. And I have that connection with TJ.”
Splitter was a former three-time All-EuroLeague center as player when he played with Prigioni and Huertas at Baskonia. The latter was also a longtime teammate of his at the Brazilian national team.
Alongside Ginobili and Parker, Splitter won the 2014 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs.
Shorts finished the game vs. Barcelona with 24 points and nine assists. He’s now averaging 17.7 points, 7.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds as Paris has climbed to a 7 – 3 record.
Late in the third quarter and while one of his teammates was shooting free throws, Shorts went to Splitter and talked to him for about 20 seconds. The Brazilian coach explained that this isn’t something new between the two.
“He [Shorts] is a player who listens to me, who is a leader, who passes, who scores, and who is a born competitor,” Splitter added. “We are always talking during the game. It is not the first time and we will continue doing it.”