Can You Believe Joe Ingles Signs with the Clippers…wait, who’s Joe Ingles?
I’m not going to lie. When the report of Joe Ingles signing a one
year deal with the Clippers came across my email and Twitter feed I felt an ‘Oh
wow’ moment.
It was when I looked up Joe Ingles that I realized he wasn’t who I thought he was. In fact I’m willing to bet that many of the basketball community didn’t really know who Joe Ingles was. So who exactly is Joe Ingles?
It was when I looked up Joe Ingles that I realized he wasn’t who I thought he was. In fact I’m willing to bet that many of the basketball community didn’t really know who Joe Ingles was. So who exactly is Joe Ingles?
Joe Ingles was born in Happy Valley,
Australia (no joke this is the actual town’s name) on October 2, 1987.
Standing 6’8 he isn’t the prototype small forward one thinks of, like Dominique Wilkins or Bernard King, but more the mutated guard-forward made popular in the 90’s with Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc where bigger men had solid enough ball handling to actually be a point guard if required.
Standing 6’8 he isn’t the prototype small forward one thinks of, like Dominique Wilkins or Bernard King, but more the mutated guard-forward made popular in the 90’s with Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc where bigger men had solid enough ball handling to actually be a point guard if required.
March 17, 2006 he signed a contract with
the South Dragons, based in Melbourne, Australia, making himself the first
official player for the team.
On September 29th, in the Dragons season opener, an 18 year old Ingles went 11 for 15 from the field, 4 for 5 from three point land, and scored 29 points coupled with 7 rebounds and 2 assists in his, and the Dragons’, debut. Ingles’ performance was a record setting one for points scored by a native Australian in a debut. He would go on to win Rookie of the Year for the 2006-2007 season.
On September 29th, in the Dragons season opener, an 18 year old Ingles went 11 for 15 from the field, 4 for 5 from three point land, and scored 29 points coupled with 7 rebounds and 2 assists in his, and the Dragons’, debut. Ingles’ performance was a record setting one for points scored by a native Australian in a debut. He would go on to win Rookie of the Year for the 2006-2007 season.
Ingles would spend three seasons in
Australia where he averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while
shooting a respectable 46% from the field, 37% from the land of 3, and 77% from
the foul-line. The Dragons would offer
him a renewal which he rejected to go play in the NBA Summer League with the
Golden State Warriors in 2009. Nothing
developed in terms of a contract so Ingles would go ply his trade in Spain with
CB Granada.
While playing for Granada the output of
Ingles was still somewhat solid. He was
contributing 11 points, 2.5 assists and 4 rebounds per game in his first
season. Another summer league tryout
with Golden State developed in 2010 but again it lead to nothing for
Ingles. In the second season, which
lasted 7 games before cash strapped Granada sold Ingles to Barcelona, Ingles
was dropping 13.3 points, 4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and an improved defensive
game with 2.3 steals. His shooting
however had been suffering with averages of 39% overall and 27% from the 3
point arc.
At Barcelona things would improve in terms
of championship hardware but his output would be halved. In three seasons Ingles would never average
more than 6 points a game. At the end of
the 2012-13 season Ingles announced he was not going to sign a new contract
with Barcelona and left for Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Israeli Super League. His scoring didn’t go up much, just 6.4
points per game, but his shooting hand came back with a 53% from the field and
42% from the land of 3.
So what would drive the Clippers to want to
sign a bench player from the Spanish and Israeli league? International play for Australia has made
Ingles look really good.
His performance for the Boomers during the 6 games that Australia played in this year’s FIBA World Cup was impressive. Ingles’ hot hand returned for the summer with 69.7% shooting from the field and an amazing 66.7% from the 3 point arc. He was putting up 11.4 points a game, third highest on the team, couple with 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
His performance for the Boomers during the 6 games that Australia played in this year’s FIBA World Cup was impressive. Ingles’ hot hand returned for the summer with 69.7% shooting from the field and an amazing 66.7% from the 3 point arc. He was putting up 11.4 points a game, third highest on the team, couple with 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
Welcome to the NBA Joe Ingles, you’ll need
that hot hand to survive in this league.
