TALENTED Australian point guard Taran Armstrong has continued his strong run of form since joining the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League, putting together another balanced performance in the nine-point win over the Birmingham Squadron.

Coming into Monday morning’s clash against the Squadron, the point guard had been rock solid since joining the Warriors on a two-way contract, with Golden State allowing the Aussie to find his feet in the team’s G-League affiliate since joining a few weeks ago.

It was another excellent showing from the Tasmanian native, coming off the bench to have a true impact with ball in hand and edging closer to an NBA debut. With Golden State recently suffering a loss at the hands of the undermanned Denver Nuggets, a call-up could be imminent for Armstrong.

He started the game in style, using a high screen to get separation from his opponent on the drive, before dishing off a fancy pass, faking the scoop lay-up and delivering a perfect no-look dish to a wide open teammate in the corner, who nailed the triple given how much time and space Armstrong created for him.

He continued to be a key playmaker for the Warriors in the second term, executing a high pick and roll with his teammate and producing a timely bounce pass ever so casually to create the wide open floater. It was a perfect example of how easily Armstrong sees the game and how much his teammates benefit from this vision.

It was a trend that kept rolling into the third quarter, with the Tasmanian picking the gap between the defence with yet another one-handed bounce pass to in-form teammate Brandon Key, who found himself wide open for the dunk thanks to how precise Armstrong’s dish was. He simply opens up the offence in half court sets and can create something almost always.

The Warriors opted to close with Armstrong in the lineup given how effective he had been in his court time, and he delivered down the stretch with a clutch block, reaching across to cut off the shot and start another fast break for Santa Cruz, with the team having plenty of success scoring the ball in transition.

Overall, Armstrong played a crucial role in the Warriors comeback win over the Squadron, finishing with 12 points, (5/8 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in another step towards making his NBA debut, which should be just around the corner based on form alone.

The other Aussie to be hitting the floor in recent weeks was fellow NBL graduate Jack McVeigh, who has been thriving for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 17 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. However, his most recent outing against the South Bay Lakers was not his best, shooting 0/10 from behind the arc in one of his least efficient games of the season. McVeigh will look to bounce back when his side takes on the San Diego Clippers today.

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