Aussies in the NBA: Hood out, Jingles to return as starter?

According to the Utah Jazz, Rodney Hood has been diagnosed by Jazz medical staff as having suffered a concussion, after being struck by an elbow during the Timberwolves game. He has been ruled out for the coming Nuggets game, and might take a while to return (currently day-to-day).

No promises, but this might signal the return of our Aussie backcourt, as Ingles could potentially return as starting guard alongside Exum. We've seen how well our guys play together, and Exum especially, could benefit with Big Joe's increased minutes.

Exum's shooting when Ingles is on the court

Exum's shooting when Ingles is off the court

According to nbawowy, Exum's eFG (Effective Field Goal) takes a significant jump when Ingles is on the floor together, from 37.6% to 50.5%. This likely reflects the increased quality of Exum's shots (read: more open, less defended), as it is pretty evident by now, Exum's very comfortable when he's wide open, and Big Joe's able to get him those shots.

Ingles averaged 6.1 points, 3.2 assists and 3 rebounds during his 28 games as starter for the Jazz this year, with two of those starts in the forward spot.

Exum's always been labelled as a point guard, but it's likely that the roles will be reversed as usual. We should see Ingles acting as secondary playmaker behind Hayward, and Exum taking the off-ball spot. Expect to see Jingles keeping a watchful eye out for Exum, and passes like these to happen.

[gfycat data_id="RadiantVigilantFairybluebird" data_autoplay=true data_expand=true] (via jwbt123 on reddit's r/nba)

Let's hope we see more of that good passing from Slo Mo Joe too!