Former Wisconsin Badgers star Sam Dekker earned his first career NBA start Saturday night, scoring a career high in points.
Success in the NBA from former Wisconsin Badgers basketball players is a rarity. Only a few active players currently play professional basketball, with the most recent Badgers player and youngest of them all, Sam Dekker, returning from a back injury that forced him to miss his entire rookie campaign.
On Saturday night, Dekker earned his first career start with the surging Houston Rockets, scoring a career high 30 points on 12-19 shooting and leading the team to a 119-95 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. He also added four rebounds and two steals.
Not only does the point total and performance speak volume for Dekker, but the fact he is everyday increasing his role on the third place team in the Western Conference shows that his value and contributions are not to be taken for granted. A lot of the times, rookies and young players will see more increased minutes early in their career if a team is failing to contend and are ready to rebuild around their young core.
Not Dekker.
Fresh off a 17 point, seven rebound performance against the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors, Dekker was given a chance to shine in the starting lineup against Memphis- and he delivered.
Although inserted at the power forward role, Dekker was a threat on the perimeter and in the transition game- connecting on six three pointers, one game after he went just 1-7 against Golden State. Dekker finished the first half with 16 points, making his first three attempts and 7-9 overall. Known to be a streaky scorer in college, this performance comes as no surprise.
“It settles you in, calms you down a little bit,” Dekker said. “I think that’s for every basketball player in the world. If your first few go in, I think my first five or six went in, it really puts you at ease and kinda think everything is going to go in after that and hopefully I can continue that and knock shots down.”
Despite the outstanding performance, Dekker is still adapting to the NBA game and will hear it from his coach once in a while, just like he did in college with Bo Ryan. After a mishap on defense, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni called a timeout strictly to let Dekker know he messed up. Even with the mistakes, Dekker knows it is all a part of the game and enjoys the encouragement and support he receives from his teammates.
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“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Dekker said. “To be honest, I wanted to get in the locker room and get home. Those guys always have my back, I mess up a lot, they cover my … cover me for a lot of things. They’re going to be on me a lot because they know I can help this team. To see the support I have from those guys means a lot, and we got a good, tight-nit group.”
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It will be interesting to see whether or not D’Antoni keeps Dekker in the starting lineup or moves him back to the bench. Regardless, it will be likely Dekker continues to see his production and role increase moving forward as the team prepares to compete in the tough Western Conference playoffs.
Dekker and the Rockets will be back in action on Monday when they return back to his home state to take on the Milwaukee Bucks.