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SALT LAKE CITY — “Next man up” is a fairly banal cliché, overused to the nth degree by coaches and players.
Which doesn’t make it any less true.
On Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz were without the services of three starters (Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks) and a key reserve (Walker Kessler) during their clash against the Chicago Bulls.
Which means the team’s least heralded trio of rookies got their biggest opportunity yet. Brice Sensabaugh, welcome to the starting lineup.
“When they put the games on the board this morning, my face (went in disbelief),” he noted after the game. “It was a pretty cool experience.”
Arriving on the field with the first five was one thing. Following up with an impressive double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, however, was a validation of his work and head coach Will Hardy’s confidence in him.
Sensabaugh quickly made his presence felt, racking up 8 points and five rebounds in the first quarter alone.
Even if his statistical production slowed down afterward, he still had an impact. And while his 5-of-8 effort from the field, 2-of-4 from deep and 3-of-3 from the line was nice, it was the other things he did that made him stand out.
When asked a few weeks ago what he’d like to see from Sensabaugh for the remainder of the regular season, Hardy was concise and direct: “Everything but shooting.”
He received it on Wednesday.
“I was happy with his defensive rebounding tonight — that was a big priority for him, just kind of participating in everything non-scoring,” Hardy said. “Overall he did a good job defensively, he still needs to work on some technical aspects and running the ball in pick-and-roll.
“But Brice plays hard, he learns, he lets us coach him hard,” he added. “He shows his ability to learn on the fly, he is able to figure things out in a match, which I told you before is always a good sign.”
Sensabaugh’s teammates were also impressed, considering he spent most of this season assigned to the G League affiliate Salt Lake City Stars.
“I saw some growth from Brice tonight in his ability to stay aggressive, to attack the rim. Obviously, I didn’t know he was that good rebounder – he had 12 tonight – so I’m very impressed with that as well,” said John Collins, who had a season-high 25 points himself to go with 14 rebounds. “A lot of ‘benefits for Brice’.
Jordan Clarkson added that Sensabaugh appears to be at the stage where the game is slowing down for him, noting that the 6-foot-5 winger is “definitely a different player” than the one they encountered in training camp.
Perhaps most telling of the Ohio State product’s progress, however, was not that he started the game, but that he finished it — being subbed off at 6:17 of the fourth quarter and playing the rest of a close game. , record a few seconds.
He was by no means perfect – he was overwhelmed defensively on one possession; he sent Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu to the line for a few timely free throws, and did the same to DeMar DeRozan when he tried to make a charge but was instead charged with a block; and he threw a careless crossfield pass in the final minute that was easily intercepted by Alex Caruso.
But he also had some good moments, grabbing three big rebounds down the stretch, while going one-on-one and burying a point-blank jumper that cut the Jazz deficit from 4 points to 2.
“He certainly didn’t look shy. That, coupled with his execution at the end, doing what he was supposed to do on those last two plays, I think Brice showed some maturity in being there at the end of the match. Certainly not. It feels out of place,” Hardy said. “I mean this in a good way: I didn’t notice Brice at the end of the game. Generally, when you’re not directing actions towards someone, not noticing him can mean they’re doing very well his work.”
Sensabaugh, asked after the game how excited he was about his performance, was quick to mention the end result, a 119-117 loss, and that winning is ultimately what matters most to him.
The obligatory team comment duly dealt with first, he relaxed a bit and finally conceded the obvious: After a season spent mostly in the minor leagues, having a night like this on the big stage was definitely a big deal.
“I’ve done a lot of work to get to where I am, and to see it pay off like this, I think it’s important to have more confidence, just use that to keep going and continue to grow,” Sensabaugh said. “So yeah, it was a blessing, it was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
