TJ Shorts is 5’9” (175cm), or at least he’s listed as such. He never played at a level like Euroleague before this season. Shorts isn’t even on a team that was rated going into the campaign. He was also supposed to be a known basketball property before stepping up to this level. Yet all he and Paris Basketball keep doing is winning.
There are certain types of ballers that are easy to root for. The young overachiever, full of life, tells their own story. An ageing veteran that can still find it is easy to back. Then there are those that look out of place. Maybe it’s athleticism or maybe it’s size. When there’s something about a player that doesn’t fit and they succeed, it’s easy to cheer them on.
TJ Shorts doesn’t need any of that. The Paris Basketball man is simply one of the most electrifying forces in Euroleague today.
From Underrated to Unmissable
TJ Shorts is hardly the first undersized guard to do well in Euroleague. The competition has never been short of them. The norm however has been for more conventionally sized players to succeed there. Conventional rather covers that.
Shorts received no Division I scholarship offers in high school. He had two Juco years before going to UC Davis. Naturally, he went undrafted so Shorts had a stint in Latvia with Ventspils before making his bones in the Bundesliga. In the process he has an unusual streak. The Paris Basketball guard has played consecutive seasons in FIBA Europe Cup, Basketball Champions League, Eurocup, and Euroleague in that order.
In each of the prior three competitions he won something. In the FIBA Europe Cup, he was the top scorer. With the BCL and Eurocup, it was the title along with season and finals MVP awards respectively. Still, it made sense to doubt this extra jump. Plenty of players have looked amazing at one of these secondary competitions and struggled with the adjustment.
BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.
Paris Basketball’s Identity Engine
This website didn’t exactly think much of Paris Basketball’s chances at the start of the season. That was a miss and TJ Shorts is the big reason. Everything about Tiago Splitter’s team is built around his skillset. The club has leaned into his high tempo, ball dominant approach and designed its spacing to enable it.
Added to this is his downright telepathic ability to work with the likes of Nadir Hifi and Ismaël Kamagate. For a guard who was meant to be tested by the Euroleague level, he’s got a system that empowers him to lean into being even more of himself.
It’s worth noting that it’s not like Paris is among the higher spenders in Euroleague this season either. The club has used smart recruitment to survive losing its coach in the offseason and is a serious contender for the postseason.
A Tactical Nightmare
Even Ettore Messina admitted that it was hard not to enjoy watching TJ Shorts do TJ Shorts things. This while the Paris Basketball maestro was laying waste to Messina’s Olimpia Milano slide.
There’s just so much to like while watching. The obvious bits are his extraordinary acceleration and movement. He’s also quite adept at making the right call in tight spaces. For me though, it’s his ability to stop out of absolutely nowhere that leaps off the floor. Shorts can bring everything to a halt, throwing off all around him and open up new opportunities.
This isn’t just freewheeling guesswork. Shorts has done the basketball arithmetic to make it all work. He’s averaging 7.4 assists against 2.1 turnover per game, a ratio of 3.52:1. His 18.8 points per game come on 50/40/72 shooting. Those are MVP numbers.
BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.
The Bigger Picture
There are obvious questions to answer. Will TJ Shorts have a slump in Euroleague after his breakout year? I doubt it. There’s been a clear movement upwards in his performances over his career as a pro. The success of this jump, while it caught some of us off guard, looks very sustainable.
How about when teams know what to expect? They already do and he utterly dominated Panathinaikos in the OAKA on Friday. Will Shorts even be with Paris Basketball next season or might he be this year’s MVP? Who knows and, for now, let’s not worry about it.
Be like Ettore Messina and enjoy the moment. This is a man who has ground his way to the top without sacrificing what makes his game work. Indeed, he has leaned into it more as the years go by. The MVP race may be seen as Sasha Vezenkov vs Kendrick Nunn but Shorts merits inclusion alongside them. My vote is still up in the air but Shorts could very well earn it by the time the final two rounds get played.
Leave a Reply