THE FLATS – Jordan Usher lands with Perth team in Australia, impresses soon after … Derrick Favors remains in free agency … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.

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USHER SHOWS SCORING FORM WITH NEW AUSTRALIAN TEAM

Perth Wildcats import Jordan Usher has unveiled the scoring power which will complement his heavily publicised defensive capabilities during the club’s opening pre-season game.

The Wildcats beat a NBL1 West Select team 111-93 in Rockingham, and Usher had an instant impact on the offensive end with 16 points and three assists despite only playing for 17 minutes.

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Jordan Usher, the human highlight reel

Watch live on the Wildcats App pic.twitter.com/mmJIyv9Nl4

— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) August 27, 2023

Jordan Usher and Alexandre Sarr welcomed themselves to the NBL, and Jesse Wagstaff rolled back the years in Perth’s pre-season win over the NBL1 West Select team

Catch up on the best bits of the action pic.twitter.com/Al100OOhtZ

— NBL (@NBL) August 25, 2023

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FAVORS REMAINS A FREE AGENT

Derrick Favors most recently Played in the NBA during the 2021-22 season when he was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The former Georgia Tech star averaged 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 51.6% from the field.

During the middle of last season, he signed a ten-day deal with the Atlanta Hawks but did not appear in a game.

This summer, Favors is still a free agent and (on August 26) remains available to be signed by any team in the league.

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Donovan Mitchell look-away to Derrick Favors!

Utah up 16 with 4:41 left on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/bLdmZbKuRo

— NBA (@NBA) January 20, 2021

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THIS STAT PROVES ALVARADO AND INGRAM ARE POLAR OPPOSITES

By all accounts, Brandon Ingram and Jose Alvarado have always gotten along. And it makes sense. Alvarado is a fun-loving jokester, while Ingram is more of the laid-back, quiet type. Neither one of them has what one would classify as an abrasive personality.

However, when it comes to their playstyles, they couldn’t be any more opposite. And we aren’t talking about their stark difference in height (Alvarado is 6’0, and Ingram is 6’8). We’re talking about this recent statistic from NBA.com’s tracking data that was brought to light by the NBA University Twitter page (or whatever they call it nowadays).

Well, would you look at that. What are the odds that one of the slowest players (based on average movement speed) and one of the least slowest players (or should we say fastest) both play for the New Orleans Pelicans.

SLOWEST average movement speed on defense in ‘22-‘23:

1. Chris Paul
2. James Harden
3. Luka Doncic
4. LeBron
5. DeMar DeRozan
6. Donovan Mitchell
7. KD
8. Kyle Lowry
9. Eric Gordon
10. Brandon Ingram
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292. Jaden McDaniels
293. Jose Alvarado
294. Josh Green
295. John Konchar pic.twitter.com/c7iEdLAa3g

— NBA University (@NBA_University) August 23, 2023

Eurobasket #ProJackets Report

Courtesy of Eurobasket LLC

Robert Sampson (6’8”-F-1992, played in 2013-13, plays pro in Vietnam) led Nhatrang Dolphins to a 3-point victory over the league outsider Dragons (1-16) 108-105 in the Vietnamese VBA in Wednesday night’s game. Sampson was MVP of the game. He had a double-double by scoring 26 points and getting 15 rebounds. Sampson also added 6 assists in 38 minutes. Nhatrang Dolphins (10-6) is placed third in the VBA. It was his team’s third consecutive victory in a row. There are only two games left until the end of the Regular Season. So now every game will be critical. It’s Sampson’s first season with the team. He has individually a very good year with high stats. Sampson averages 22.3ppg, 14.8rpg, 2.1apg, 1.9bpg and 1.9spg in 16 games he played so far. Worth to mention he played also at Eurobasket Summer League, which helped him get the job in pro basketball.

Experienced Gani Lawal (6’9”-F/C-1988, played in 2007-10, plays in Mexico) could not help Plateros de Fresnillo (1-3) in their last game on Friday. Despite Lawal’s very good performance the sixth-placed Plateros de Fresnillo (1-3) was defeated 82-67 on the road by the higher-ranked Abejas (#4) in the West group. He was the second best scorer with 15 points. Lawal also added 8 rebounds. But this is still an early stage of the season and everything may happen. It’s Lawal’s first year with the team. He has relatively good stats this season 12.8ppg and 8.5rpg. Lawal is a naturalized Nigerian.

Other former Georgia Institute of Technology players, who play in pro basketball:

• Josh Okogie (6’4”-G-1998, played in 2016-18) plays for Phoenix Suns in the NBA
• Thaddeus Young (6’8”-F-1988, played in 2006-07) plays for Toronto Raptors in the NBA
• Jose Alvarado (6’0”-PG-1998, played in 2017-16) plays for New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA
• Derrick Favors (6’10”-F-1991, played in 2009-23) played for Atlanta Hawks in the NBA
• Charles Mitchell (6’8”-F/C-1993, played in 2014-16) plays for Urunday in Uruguayan Metropolitan
• Ben Lammers (6’10”-C-1995, played in 2014-18) signed for Gran Canaria in Spanish Liga Endesa
• Khalid Moore (6’7”-F-2000, played in 2018-22) signed for Lavrio in Greek GBL
• Avi Schafer (6’8”-C-1998, played in 2017-19) played for SeaHorses Mikawa in Japanese B1 League
• Jordan Usher (6’7”-SF-1998, played in 2019-22) signed for Perth Wildcats in Australian NBL
• Adam Smith (6’1”-PG-1992, played in 2015-16) plays for Bilbao in Spanish Liga Endesa
• Josh Heath (6’1”-PG-1994, played in 2014-17) signed for Spirou Basket Charleroi in Belgian Pro Basketball League
• James Banks III (6’10”-F/C-1998, played in 2018-20) played for Texas Legends in the NBA G League
• Ja’von Franklin (6’7”-F, played in 2023-23) signed for Borac CA in Serbian KLS
• Trae Golden (6’3”-PG-1991, played in 2013-14) played for Beijing Royal Fighters in Chinese CBA
• Brandon Alston (6’5”-G-1995, played in 2017-19) played for Batumi in Georgian Superleague
• Anthony McHenry (6’8”-SF-1983, played in 2001-05) played for Shinshu BW in Japanese B1 League
• Marcus Georges-Hunt (6’5”-F-1994, played in 2012-16) played for Kuwait in Kuwaiti D1
• Evan Jester (6’7”-F-1999, played in 2017-19) plays for Atlanta Aliens in the ABA
• Tadric Jackson (6’2”-G-1994, played in 2014-18) plays for Atlanta Aliens in the ABA
• Glen Rice Jr. (6’6”-F-1991, played in 2009-12) plays for Power in the Big3
• Abdoulaye Gueye (6’9”-C-1994, played in 2014-15) signed for Sigortam.net in Turkish TBL
• Michael Devoe (6’5”-G-1999, played in 2018-22) plays for Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Summer League
• Moses Wright (6’9”-F-1998, played in 2017-21) plays for Toronto Raptors in the NBA Summer League

The list above includes only some of alumni playing currently in pro basketball. Check complete list of Georgia Tech basketball alumni.