San Antonio Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan set a career high on Thursday and dazzled on both ends of the court in a loss on the road to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Sochan produced 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one steal in the 126-117 decision at Smoothie King Center. He finished 7-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, in 31 minutes of work in the starting lineup.
The ninth pick was aggressive throughout the contest and played with great physicality. He made the right play seemingly every time he had the ball and found his teammates often after dishing out a career-high six assists.
Spurs guard Tre Jones liked how Sochan performed.
He was being aggressive. It is only a matter of time before this becomes normal for him. He is able to get to the rim. He is very smart with the basketball and can make many reads. He is one of those guys that gets rebounds and can push the whole length of the floor. He is going to make the best play whether it is just taking it himself or making a read and finding the open guy. The way he played tonight was amazing for us.
really nice game from jeremy sochan vs the pelicans. thought he navigated and saw the floor exceptionally well both on and off the ball pic.twitter.com/icUNlKu3jH
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) December 23, 2022
Sochan also had a great showing at the free-throw line.
He unveiled a new, one-handed free throw form on Monday versus the Houston Rockets. He entered that contest shooting 45.8% at the stripe and opted to make a change, something Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fully supported.
Sochan went 1-of-4 at the line against the Rockets but saw a drastic improvement against the Pelicans, going 7-for-10. The change created some criticism, but the 19-year-old isn’t concerned with that noise.
“I’m just trusting the process,” Sochan said. “I don’t really care what people outside of the organization say. I believe in my coaches and my teammates and they’re helping me out and I think it is going in a positive way.”
Jeremy Sochan one hander pic.twitter.com/tyAZFklzVd
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 23, 2022
Sochan credited the effort to being more comfortable on the court and playing with confidence. He can affect games in a variety of ways and that ability was on display in the loss. The team was thrilled to add him in the draft and he looks to have a bright future ahead.
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