After Kam Jones had some words to say to Brooks Barnhizer, the latter’s teammate had to calm him down. Ty Brewer had a funny method by telling the Thunder’s two-way player that “he’s trash” and not worth his time. The de-escalation shows the energy the 23-year-old brings to the court.<\/p>\n
Barnhizer finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, five rebounds and two assists. He shot 1-of-2 from 3. He also had six steals and one block.<\/p>\n
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The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> dominated the Indiana Pacers<\/a> in a 104-85 Summer League win<\/a>. It was a blowout victory where everybody chipped in. For Barnhizer, that meant creating a ton of steals again.<\/p>\n Described as a defense-first player, Barnhizer has lived up to his Northwestern reputation. He caused havoc for the Pacers in their passing lanes with six steals. That was two shy of a Las Vegas Summer League record. He’s racked up the steals throughout the event.<\/p>\n What wasn’t talked about enough was his savvy off-ball decisions. Barnhizer might not have a reliable jumper, but he can read the half-court defense and make the right reads. He was gifted an easy layup by Nikola Topic when he cut to the basket in an open lane.<\/p>\n “I feel like for me, they’ll come if I just play hard. I’m not hunting them,” Barrnhizer said on his steals. “It’s funny. In college, I had a coach named Chris Lowery. He told me, ‘If you’re doing what you’re supposed to do and staying where you are, they’ll throw it to you sometimes.’ I just really try to play hard and play the defense I’m trying to play.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That’s how you can carve out an NBA career. Barnhizer’s endless energy on both ends of the floor has produced tangible results. The 23-year-old has been a plus-minus darling. He plays winning basketball and thrives in his role. He knows his bread and butter and sticks to it.<\/p>\n “I feel like I really work on the game and trust your work. I play basketball. I’ve always grown up playing basketball and I’ve always worked on it. I kinda like to think reps eliminate fear,” Barnhizer said. “I just got to go out there and the law of averages says if you have a good game, a bad one is probably coming at some point. How are you going to stay level-headed through it all and try to stack positive games.”<\/p>\n