Weekly Zags in the Pros Update

First off, I’d like to give a shoutout to agedude for filling in last week, his piece was fantastic. There are so many former Zags playing abroad it’s hard to keep track of them all, and he did a great job. There was still some big action in in the last week, though, and some of those many former Bulldogs have been getting it done in all corners of the basketball world.

Rui Hachimura: Rui returned from a brief, knee-soreness induced absence with a 13 point, 6 rebound performance against the Spurs. He also had 12 points in a win over the Lakers. Two of those points were pretty spectacular, though:

Hachimura is averaging 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game on the season, and now has a pretty nice poster to hang on the wall as well.

Kelly Olynyk: Olynyk has been an animal ever since his trade to Houston, averaging 18.8 points per game since the move. He has scored 20 or more points in six of the last eight games, including a season high 28, along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists against Minnesota. Olynyk also had a shot at a triple-double against Denver, going for 21 points, 8 rebounds, and a career high tying 11 assists.

Domantas Sabonis: Domas has been out for nearly two weeks with a bad back, and is unlikely to return this weekend. He had two solid performances before the injury, with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists against Utah and 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists against Atlanta.

Brandon Clarke: The BC Block Party returned against Denver, as Clarke posted his fourth game with at least three blocks this season. He also had 10 rebounds against Portland, his fourth double-digit rebounding game of the season. Clarke is averaging 10.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game on the year.

Killian Tillie: Tillie has played in four of the last eight games for Memphis, including a rookie career high 23 minutes against Chicago. He scored a rookie high 6 points along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and steals in the win over the Bulls.

Filip Petrusev: Mega SoccerBet failed to qualify for the Adriatic League playoffs, but that didn’t stop Petrusev from winning the league’s MVP award in his first season. Filip was far and away the league’s leading scorer; his 23.5 points per game were almost seven points more than the next highest scorer. He also finished second in the league in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and third in blocks (1.1 bpg), and his season high in scoring was 32 points, which he accomplished twice. That’s a pretty good start to a career if I’ve seen one.

Kevin Pangos: Pangos probably won’t be winning any MVP’s this season, but he has been hooping for Zenit in the first round of the EuroLeague playoffs. He had 19 points and 9 assists in game one of the best-of-5 quarterfinals, including a go-ahead layup with ten seconds remaining. Pangos is averaging 17.3 points and 9 assists per game in the series, however the team is down two games to one.

Nigel Williams-Goss: Williams-Goss rounded out the VTB League regular season with 34 points and 18 assists over the final two games. In nine games for Lokomotiv Kuban, he averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game.

Both Pangos and Williams-Goss will be playing in the VTB league playoffs. Their two teams are the first and second seeds, respectively, and will start quarterfinal play on May 10.

Kyle Wiltjer: Wiltjer and Turk Telekom are a lock for the Turkish Super League playoffs, as they clinched the 6th seed in the 8 team playoff entering the final weekend of the regular season. Wiltjer leads his team and is fourth in the league with 18.7 points per game.

Jeremy Pargo: Pargo’s Rishon squad narrowly missed out on a playoff berth in the Israeli league, but Jeremy had some consolation, going for 15 points and 10 assists, and 32 points and 9 rebounds in the final two games of the season. He led the team in scoring (16.9 ppg) and was the league’s leader in assists (7.4 apg).

Josh Perkins: Perkins and Partizan BC also missed out on the postseason, finishing seventh in the Adriatic League. Perk averaged 10.6 points and 4.8 assists in 36 games for Partizan and Polish squad GTK Gliwice. He had season highs of 22 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals.

As many international leagues wind down their seasons, I will be highlighting the final stats of a couple of players every week, in addition to recaps of those still playing. Once the last Zag is done playing for the year, I hope to have an article recapping the seasons of every former Zag who played somewhere in 2020-21.

*Stats as of the end of play on April 29*