2013 NBA Summer League: Day 3 – Solomon Hill, Reggie Jackson, and KCP

The 2013 NBA Summer League rolls along into Day 3 of action. Here are some thoughts on the day.

The Boston Celtics barely get by the Indiana Pacers, 76-74.

Kelly Olynyk has created a major buzz among NBA junkies with his stellar play in the Orlando League. His offensive skill derived from his guard skills combined with his size have people excited for Olynyk. He looked especially good when running the up and down the court on Tuesday. But many scouting reports were concerned about his toughness, or lack thereof. I’ve seen a few times where Olynyk has been getting pushed around, sometimes shoved to the ground. He had three of his shots blocked by the Pacers on Tuesday, something that we haven’t seen until now. Something that was not expected when you consider his size and skill.

• Solomon Hill followed up his Day 2 performance with another solid outing against the Celtics. He’s averaged, approximately, 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists per game after three contests.
  
• Tony Mitchell has had a pretty consistent Summer League, but without much fanfare. After three games, he’s averaged 13 points and three rebounds and has an impressive 48% from the field and 80% from the line.
• So much for hyping up Miles Plumlee, but he still has had a good camp, heretofore. He’s been averaging a double-double and has a ridiculous 3.7 blocks per game and countless highlights. He’s also been shooting 52% from the field.

The Oklahoma City Thunder get by the Detroit Pistons, 79-74.

As was explained in our Day 2 coverage, Reggie Jackson was part of a collision with teammate Daniel Orton. Jackson never returned to the game. He did come back for this game against the Pistons and had all ready scored 12 points entering the 4th quarter. And then he blew up and scored 23 points in that quarter, breaking an Orlando League record.

• Peyton Siva played a lot better in this game, especially with Andre Drummond back in action. Wish we could say the same about his defense. As mentioned in his draft profile, a concern from Siva is his defense and he was on the defensive end on a lot of Jackson’s barrage of points. It’s also worth mentioning that the 6-6 Kim English also struggled in containing Jackson.
  
• We have been disappointed in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s game and was wondering if he left his offensive production at Georgia. Well, it took him three games, but he finally lived up to the hype, shooting 6-for-13 from the field and 4 of 10 from three-point range. Nevertheless, after three games of play, KCP has posted a FG% of 30% and a 3-point percentage of 21%.
• New Zealand native, Steven Adams makes his way to Summer League relevance. Did not block a single shot and despite playing the most minutes on the Thunder, he only grabbed six rebounds, but was able to hold his own opposite of Drummond.

The Utah Jazz fall to the Houston Rockets, 85-71.

After a terrible Day 1 debut, Trey Burke, shot the ball better against the Rockets, on his way to scoring 11 points. His playmaking abilities were nowhere to be found, however, and that vaunted 3-point shot that scouts were enamored with has been nowhere to be found. On the bright side, considering his size, he has averaged 4.5 rebounds per game.

• Alec Burks had a better, all-around game, as he padded every statistical category, sans blocked shots. Unfortunately, he also padded his turnover numbers. Even stranger, despite being 6-6, he had three of his shots blocked, but seeing how he made nine trips to the foul line, we’ll let it slide this time. After two games, he is shooting 43% from the field.
  
• Patrick Beverley has looked impressive so far, running the point for Houston. After two games, he is shooting 47% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.

The Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic, 94-80.

Much has been discussed about the Magic making their first round selection, Victor Oladipo, play point guard this summer. Two camps have been set up regarding this controversy: those that believe Oladipo would make a good NBA point guard and those that do not believe Oladipo can play point guard in this league. NBATV’s Dennis Scott described Oladipo’s situation to the one that followed Russell Westbrook after he was drafted by the Thunder. Westbrook, an athletic, score-first point guard, was forced to play point guard and become more of a distributor for OKC after being encouraged to score at will in college. The difference is that Westbrook’s ball-handling skills were a lot better than Oladipo’s.

Oladipo is an athletic guard that moves well without the ball and is a danger in the open court. He is also a willing scorer in half-court sets. But the Orlando Magic seem to be on board in using Summer League action to have him hone his PG skills. Well, the Heat had other plans as they forced him to commit five turnovers. They played aggressive defense against him, using double teams and half-court traps to smother him and force him into errors. He only posted two assists.

To his credit, he did make both of his shots from beyond the arc and made 14 trips to the free-throw line. Again, that’s part of Oladipo’s game. Making plays for others will have to be an acquired skill that won’t develop overnight.

• I am really liking James Ennis. Another good game by Ennis as he made seven trips to the line and finished with a plus/minus +10. His outside shot could use some work, but he is shooting 43% from the field and 89% from the line. He is averaging 15.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in this league.
• Ian Clark is also having himself a good Summer League, making 50% of his 3-point shots and averaging 16 points per game.
• Second round pick, Romero Osby had a nice game, but committed three turnovers. He’s only averaged 21 minutes per game, but is shooting 90% from the free-throw line. He is averaging a steady 11 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Felipe Melecio

Felipe Melecio was the managing editor for the blog Pathological Hate. He believes that math is your friend and numbers can be fun, especially when it comes to baseball. Keep tabs on all his knee-jerk reactions on Twitter: Follow @pathological_h8 !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

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