How did Brandon Ingram return to All-Star status?

Samson Folk dives into Brandon Ingram’s All-Star selection.

From Ian’s write up:

The 28-year-old will play for the “USA Stripes” team in his second All-Star game, meaning he’ll square off against teammate Scottie Barnes, who’s on the “Stars” squad. The U.S. All-Stars were assigned based on age, with the older players being placed on Stripes and the younger cohort placed on Stars.

This could potentially drum up additional competitiveness, adding a young vs. old factor on top of the U.S. vs. World contention.

They’ll also be joined by Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković who was named head coach of the third team, “Team World,” comprised of non-American players.

The three teams will play a mini round robin tournament before the two winners square off in a final. The actions tips off at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Ingram is averaging 22 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists this season, and has held up well on defence. He’s used his long, slender frame to post a career-high block rate and grab a ton of contested rebounds, which has been particularly helpful during the absence of starting centre Jakob Poeltl.

Efficiency wise, Ingram has 47/36/84 shooting splits with 57 percent true shooting, slightly under this season’s league average of 58 percent. However he does take one of the more difficult shot diets in the league, ranking third among the 25 highest-volume pull up shooters with a 46.4 percent conversion rate. Although, it’s worth noting that his eFG% (effective field goal percentage) ranks much lower among this group (17th) due to him taking and making far more 2s than 3s.

Toronto’s halfcourt offence has also jumped out of the bottom 10 (15th per Cleaning the Glass) for the first time in six seasons and both Ingram’s presence and shot making have been a big reason why.”

Have a blessed day.

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