Washington Wizards: Four numbers from the preseason opener
By Ethan Smith
Fifty-Seven
Rui Hachimura’s field goal percentage.
Technically, Hachimura shot 57.1 percent from the field during the preseason opener. I don’t want to sell him short here. But either way, it was an impressive debut for Hachimura at Capital One Arena.
Questions about Hachimura’s game translating to the NBA certainly haven’t been squashed after just one preseason game, but he showed some flashes of what’s to come. Rui finished the night with 12 points and went through the whole array of offensive options to get there.
He was perfect from three, knocking down his only attempt of the night.
https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1181360051702755328
He showed some nice shooting touch inside the arc, too.
https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1181347666925481984
And his athleticism was on full display as he exploded for a poster dunk over Mitchell Robinson, one of the NBA’s best young rim protectors.
https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1181366162711384064
Hachimura added three more points from the foul line to complete a pretty impressive performance. The ninth overall pick from this year’s draft looked calm, comfortable, and confident out there. He held his own in the post against some of the big boys on New York, including Julius Randle. He played within himself, too, not forcing anything in his first NBA preseason game.
All of that resulted in some pretty high praise from his head coach Scott Brooks. “He’s like a wise veteran already. He just plays with a real calm influence.”