Zona Zealots
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Former Wildcats shine in their NBA Season Openers for 2019-20

By Eric Townsend

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 23: Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns looks to pass under pressure from Richaun Holmes #22 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on October 23, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 23: Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns looks to pass under pressure from Richaun Holmes #22 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on October 23, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The 2019-20 NBA Season is here, and with the abundance of NBA action on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, a few former Wildcats shined bright!

The NBA is back! Who else is excited? Well, if you’re like us, you too are thrilled to see the NBA back in action, which means a few, former Wildcats are also back in action.

The 2019-20 season officially kicked off on Tuesday evening, as the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers battled for LA, meanwhile the New Orleans Pelicans and the defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors squared off as well.

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats /

Arizona Wildcats

However, Wednesday is when the majority of the league took to the court, kicking off their respective seasons, which meant a number of former Wildcats kicked off their season too!

This year, these are the Wildcats currently on NBA rosters:

And we’re excited to follow them throughout the season!

With the games kicking off on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, there were certainly a few Cats that shined really bright, most namely Markkanen and Ayton.

Entering his third season in the NBA, Markkanen put the whole league on notice that he just may have one heck of a year!

Playing for 34 minutes in the Bulls’ 125-124 loss to Charlotte, Markkanen put on quite the display, scoring 35 points on 13-25 shooting with 17 rebounds. More impressively, he did it, despite going 1-7 from three.

Last year, Markkanen appeared in just 52 games, battling some injuries to begin the year, but came on late, averaging 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Should he continue the terror he was on, on Wednesday evening look out!

As for Ayton, there has been a lot of unnecessary criticism over the past year, saying he’s not dominate enough, his defense sucks, despite putting together one of the best seasons in NBA history for a rookie big man.

Well on Wednesday, he too put the league on notice, helping the Suns to the dominate, 124- 95 win!

The Bahamian big man played for 33 minutes, scoring 18 points on 9-14 shooting, meanwhile grabbing 11 rebounds, and blocking a career high four shots while also getting one steal. He did this en route to garnering a +25 rating!

So not only was he efficient on offense, but he was also dominate on defense, hopefully dispelling some of the obnoxious talking points that he can’t or won’t play defense.

As for other Wildcats, Trier made the start for the Knicks, playing in only seven minutes of action. McConnell would make his first appearance with the Pacers, playing 13 minutes, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, dishing three assists and getting a block!

Lastly, Gordon only scored nine points in 29 minutes played, grabbing just two rebounds, dishing three assists, but also getting two steals and a block.

https://twitter.com/ZonaZealots/status/1187433307576815616?s=20

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At Zona Zealots, we’re happy to see our Wildcats succeed professionally and can’t wait to see how they continue to perform this season! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!

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