The two guards shined bright during Paris Basketball's opening-round win.
TJ Shorts, Nadir Hifi make Paris a major threat in the EuroCup
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It is hard to make an immediate impact for a new team, but that's exactly what TJ Shorts and Nadir Hifi did during Paris Basketball's 105-78 victory against Wolves Vilnius in Round 1 of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Regular Season. On a night when nine Paris players put points on the board, it was the two guards that shined brightest, with Wolves not having any answer for the duo on defense.
Shorts started strong and finished the first quarter with 6 points, 2 assists and a couple of fouls drawn. Yet, another issue for Wolves was that whenever he headed to the bench to get some rest, it was Hifi who would come on to maintain the team’s momentum.
An impressive impact from Hifi
The French prodigy joined the club from fellow French club Le Portel in the summer, but he didn’t look nervous at any point during his EuroCup debut. Hifi ended the game with 11 points and 7 assists in 20 minutes on the floor, scoring all 5 of his free throws and going 3-for-8 (37.5%) on two-pointers.
There has been a lot of talk about the 21-year-old Hifi, but – judging by Tuesday night's performance against Wolves – he should handle the jump up to the EuroCup with aplomb.
Shorts was in the zone
Meanwhile, Shorts – last season's Basketball Champions League MVP – caused mayhem whenever he stepped onto the court. In 22:44 minutes, he almost recorded a double-double, instead having to make do with 20 points and 9 assists, while he also had 3 steals.
The new Paris star went 8-for-11 (72.7%) on two-pointers, with Wolves struggling all game to defend his mid-range shots and layups. He drew 5 fouls and converted all 4 of his free throws to register a stunning PIR of 30 in his first-ever game in the competition.
“Everybody came up there, they stepped up and made big plays and we beat a good team,” Shorts said in his post-game interview. “We really wanted to control the game at our tempo and I really feel that we were able to do that for the majority of the game. Good thing for us to start with a win here and we’ll just try to keep this momentum rolling.”
It goes without saying that if Shorts and Hifi build on their performance against Wolves, Paris will boast one of the finest backcourts in EuroCup. The two newcomers demonstrated on Tuesday that they have what it takes to take the competition by storm. Now, it remains to be seen whether they will manage to consistently dismantle opposition defenses, like they did on Tuesday night in Paris.