Nine former IU basketball players have or will play the game at the highest level during the 2020-21 NBA season. We will be monitoring their seasons with weekly updates.
Below we summarize their year to date performance with NBA stats and notes through the first nine weeks of the season and provide a brief update on each player.
Victor Oladipo – Houston
Oladipo suffered a foot injury in a February 11 loss to the Miami Heat and has not played since. He has missed three straight games for the Rockets, who are 11-17 and have lost seven consecutive games.
He met with the media on Friday and discussed how he is feeling physically.
“I’m feeling better, taking it one day at a time, starting to do more on the court so just seeing how my foot responds and hopefully it continues to keep healing,” Oladipo said.
Asked about when he thinks he will be able to return, Oladipo could not provide a definitive answer but hopes that he can play tonight against Chicago.
“Definitely going to try to see if I can play Monday but we’ll see,” Oladipo said. “I think it just depends on how my foot feels obviously and we’ll see. Hopefully I can get out there and compete so just going to have to wait. It’s a waiting game, see how my foot feels the next 48 hours.”
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 20/20
MPG – 32.0
Points – 19.1
Rebounds – 5.2
Assists – 4.6
Blocks – 0.4
Steals – 1.4
FG% – .401
3FG% – .329
FT% – .740
Eric Gordon – Houston
The Rockets had two games this past week, with Gordon playing in one of them. Gordon sat out of last Monday’s 131-119 loss to the Washington Wizards with a sore right groin.
In Wednesday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, he made his tenth start of the year, scoring 17 points and dishing out six assists in 34 minutes of action.
Eric Gordon has played eight games in the month of February. He is playing an average of 31.4 minutes per game, putting up 21.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per contest.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 22/10
MPG – 29.4
Points – 18.7
Rebounds – 2.2
Assists – 2.7
Blocks – 0.5 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.5
FG% – .463 (Career High)
3FG% – .351
FT% – .848
OG Anunoby – Toronto
Towards the end of January, Anunoby was playing strong basketball on both ends of the floor and the Raptors were starting to get back in the win column.
Unfortunately for Anunoby, he suffered a strained left calf in a 129-114 loss to the Pacers on January 25 and missed ten consecutive games.
He returned to the lineup on February 16 for a game against the Milwaukee Bucks and in 27 minutes scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Anunoby also played in Thursday’s win against the Bucks and Sunday’s win against the 76ers, scoring 10 points in each contest.
Meeting with the media after Tuesday’s win against the Bucks, Anunoby was glad to be back out on the floor with his teammates.
“It felt good to be back out there. Had some tough games so excited to be back, everyone was encouraging me so it felt good,” Anunoby said.
Even though missing ten games was hard, it also presented Anunoby with an opportunity to continue to learn the game while watching both teams from the bench.
“When you’re watching the game you learn things about the game like both teams you’re watching so just trying to see where I can help the team, things I could do that we weren’t doing, just make an effort to do it while I’m back,” Anunoby told the media.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 20/20
MPG – 33.8 (Career High)
Points – 14.1 (Career High)
Rebounds – 6.0 (Career High)
Assists – 1.5
Blocks – 0.6
Steals – 1.8 (Career High)
FG% – .485
3FG% – .404 (Career High)
FT% – .755 (Career High)
Thomas Bryant – Washington
Bryant continues to be sidelined, as he suffered a torn ACL to his left knee during the first quarter of a 128-124 loss to the Miami Heat on January 9 that will keep him out for the remainder of this season.
The injury came at a time when Bryant was starting to play consistent basketball and was averaging career highs in both minutes played and points per game.
However, the focus for Bryant now shifts towards coming back even stronger next year.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 10/10
MPG – 27.1 (Career High)
Points – 14.3 (Career High)
Rebounds – 6.1
Assists – 1.5
Blocks – 0.8
Steals – 0.4
FG% – .648 (Career High)
3FG% – .429 (Career High)
FT% – .667
Cody Zeller – Charlotte
Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors was the Hornets only game this past week. Cody Zeller played 21 minutes, scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in a 102-100 win.
In the nine games he has played in the month of February, Cody Zeller is averaging 11.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 56.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three, and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Charlotte is 14-15 and currently eighth-place in the Eastern Conference standings as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 16/13
MPG – 23.9
Points – 9.8
Rebounds – 7.8 (Career High)
Assists – 2.4 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.6
Steals – 0.6
FG% – .524
3FG% – .176
FT% – .742
Romeo Langford – Boston
Langford continues to focus on regaining strength and range of motion in his wrist after tearing ligaments during last season’s NBA Playoffs.
Prior to the Celtics game on February 11, head coach Brad Stevens gave an update on Langford.
“He’s doing a lot,” Stevens told the media. “He’s not playing live yet. He’s had a little bit of soreness that was to be expected. But that’s probably going to push him to the break, and he’ll probably be available after the break.”
Juwan Morgan – Utah
Following being named a healthy scratch for Utah’s January 19 contest, Morgan had seen action in six consecutive games and in three of them played at least 10 minutes.
Furthermore, in a January 29 game against the Dallas Mavericks which was televised on ESPN, Morgan finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals in 21 minutes of action. Also impressive was his efficiency, shooting 5-8 from the field and 2-4 from three point range.
Lately, however, Morgan has not seen a ton of action. The Jazz had three games this past week, with Morgan playing in one of them. In Wednesday’s 114-96 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, he played two minutes.
Utah is currently 24-6, good for the best record in the NBA.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 12/0
MPG – 5.3
Points – 1.3
Rebounds – 1.1
Assists – 0.3 (Ties Career High)
Blocks – 0.0
Steals – 0.3 (Career High)
FG% – .462
3FG% – .333
FT% – .000
Yogi Ferrell – Free Agent
Ferrell remains a free agent after his 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers ended with him being waived.
However, according to a report from NBA draft expert Jonathan Givony, Yogi Ferrell will be in attendance for the NBA G League regular season. It will run from February 10 to March 6 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
So far, Ferrell has played in and started eight games for the Salt Lake City Stars this season. He is averaging 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in 30.8 minutes per contest.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 2/0
MPG – 20.0
Points – 9.5
Rebounds – 3.5 (Career High)
Assists – 2.5
Blocks – 0.5 (Career High)
Steals – 1.5 (Career High)
FG% – .381
3FG% – .333
FT% – .000
Noah Vonleh – Brooklyn
Noah Vonleh was signed by the Brooklyn Nets on February 8.
He has appeared in four games for them this season, averaging 2.8 minutes per game.
In 339 career games played, he has averages of 4.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 4/0
MPG – 2.8
Points – 0.0
Rebounds – 0.3
Assists – 0.3
Blocks – 0.0
Steals – 0.0
FG% – .000
3FG% – .000
FT% – N/A (Has Not Attempted)
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