Even though many didn’t expect Jahlil Okafor to land in Philadelphia, he has already impressed the coaching staff with his talent and work ethic and the organization says they are committed to building around him despite drafting centers with their top pick for the past 3 years and will be a huge part of their offense for the upcoming season. Fair finished with 10 points. Yet it was not the ex- Duke Freshman that stared to begin the game, but San Antonio’s Dairis Bertans. There were times he appeared to genuinely frustrate Okafor with his active defense, which is thrilling considering how stellar a player Jahlil is offensively. Okafor played one year at Duke and is not at that level, not yet.
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Okafor continued to show off his post moves and soft touch around the basket. Immediately in the third quarter, the six-foot, eleven-inch prospect made his presence felt as he stole a pass and took it “coast-to-coast” to tie the ballgame at thirty-four. Despite his modest grade for himself, Okafor said he thought his team played well overall in their first game of the summer season. He was traded back to the Sixers the night of the 2014 draft. San Antonio’s advantage would not hold though as the teams were tied with under thirty seconds to go. Rather, he will surround Okafor in a starting lineup with relatively experienced Furkan Aldemir and Jerami Grant, along with rookies T.J. McConnell attempted a layup that the Spurs’ Livio Jean-Charles rejected.
Aldemir’s three-point shooting had everyone abuzz. He refuses to shoot outside a few feet, but when he gets involved below the free throw line he’s automatic with his collection of layups, fakes, and bank shots.
After making the first free throw, the Spurs’ leading scorer on the night did exactly what Philadelphia hoped by clanking the second.
“We can’t call timeout and get a better possession than him on the left block going to the middle right-handed”, Lange said. He finished with 26 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.
For now, Holmes is an intriguing player (albeit one who can’t really dribble from the look of things) that is scheduled to play his last summer league game later tonight against the Utah Jazz, though the Sixers might theoretically bring him to Las Vegas as well as a reward. If he played two or three years in college, he would just keep getting better defensively.
In particular, Smart got a chance to take on full lead ball-handling duties while on the floor, something he didn’t do much of in his rookie season.
The Sixers will play Monday and Tuesday before wrapping up in Utah against the Jazz on Thursday.
Utah Jazz’s Dante Exum (11) defends against Boston Celtics’ Marcus…
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As of now, there have been no reports on the status of either player for tomorrow’s summer league matchup against the Spurs, yet no one should be surprised if both sit out the contest. Turner shined for Indiana, finishing the game with 13 points, nine rebounds and six blocks. That and more in this roundup of Monday’s Summer League action. The Turkish import pulled down 14 rebounds and scored 11 points, while also blocking three shots.
