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Back to Back: The Santa Cruz Warriors defeat a stacked Skyforce squad 94-89

By Gloria Sanderson

SANTA CRUZ, CA - DECEMBER 15: Michael Gbinije #13 of the Santa Cruz Warriors puts up a shot against the Erie Bayhawks on December 15, 2018 at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
SANTA CRUZ, CA - DECEMBER 15: Michael Gbinije #13 of the Santa Cruz Warriors puts up a shot against the Erie Bayhawks on December 15, 2018 at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Santa Cruz Warriors have won another game and today we will give a breakdown of their victory.

Dominance was the name of the game for Kendrick Nunn as he shined scoring twenty-eight points against a talented Skyforce team. On today’s edition of TimeOut, I am going to reveal four fun facts about Friday’s victory for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

1. Scoring thirty points is nice but holding the best offensive team in the G League to eighteen points down to the wire is even more impressive.

Although the Sea Dubs didn’t score thirty points in the fourth quarter, the Sea Dubs did a great job ruining the flow of the offense for the Sioux Falls Skyforce despite their turnover problems throughout the quarter.

While the team didn’t score consistently, they were active on the board grabbing eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. Being a pest on the defensive end helped the Warriors gain momentum offensively as the quarter went on to the point that the Skyforce scored eighteen points in the quarter.

Putney, Weber, Maten, Stokes, Robinson and Liggins were the only ones to score for the Skyforce in the fourth quarter.

2. Free throws and bench players from the field

Only four players went to the free throw line for the Warriors: Antonius Cleveland, Marcus Derrickson, Will Cherry and Kendrick Nunn. Good news-all the players made their free throws. Bad news the remaining six players didn’t make a free throw for the entire forty minutes of playing time.

Although it may not be a big deal since they got the win, but, players not putting themselves in a position to go to the free throw line may become an issue either when the offense isn’t flowing as it should and/or when top players have an off night or period.

Currently, the Santa Cruz Warriors rank number fourteen in free throw percentage making 258 of their 347 free throws. At this point in the season, the Santa Cruz Warriors made 312 of their 394 free throws, which is 79.2%. That is one of the areas the Warriors need to improve on their ability to get foul calls.

3. Three blocks for the entire game. 

This was one of the shockers for the night. Starters Marcus Derrickson and Antonius Cleveland combined for three blocks for the night.

It is obvious now that the Surf City squad are not fans of blocks because they have thirty-three less in comparison to last season.

Last season the team was in the top five in blocks thanks to Damian Jones among other players. The Sea Dubs currently averages 5.1 blocks per game (82 in total) which is fourteenth in the league.

If the Sea Dubs members intended to get a Gatorade call any time from now up they need to develop that area.

4.Rebounds and turnovers

The Santa Cruz Warriors grabbed forty-one rebounds which were the lowest for the season thus far. Side note the highest number of rebounds the Warriors have grabbed for the season thus far was against the Iowa Wolves with sixty-one rebounds.

Although the Warriors grabbed a lower number of rebounds, the Warriors made twenty-eight points of the Skyforce’s twenty turnovers which were really impressive.

As per usual, the Warriors grabbed a lot of defensive rebounds with twenty-nine rebounds for the night to go with twelve offensive rebounds. The Warriors turned over the ball sixteen times making their turnover percentage 15.3% for the night.

What was also great to see was Kendrick Nunn providing some offense for the Sea Dubs on a night where four of their bench players contributed a combined six points. Hopefully, the Sea Dubs bench begins to consistently as the season progress.

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