Pelicans fall to 1-1 in Summer League, Lose to Bucks 69-61

By:
Published: July 14, 2013

Compared to what we saw Friday against New York, this was an ugly game. Actually, compared to almost any game I have ever seen, this was an ugly game. Sloppy ballhandling, unforced turnovers, and point blank misses plagued both teams. For the Pelicans, Austin Rivers and Brian Roberts combined for 35 points, going 15 for 31 from the field, but they failed to get others involved, combining for just 2 assists in the loss.

After a quality performance on Friday that saw Rivers dish out 6 assists with just 2 turnovers, Austin put up a goose egg in the assist column tonight and had four turnovers. He had spurts where he got to the hole and finished far better than he did last season, but his jumper was off, as he went 0-3 from deep, including an airball midway through the second quarter. Defensively, he played well overall, contesting numerous jumpers and even blocking a few shots in the paint. Clean blocks that the refs saw as fouls, but blocks nonetheless.

Rookies Pierre Jackson and Jeff Withey really struggled, combining for 8 points on 3-13 shooting. Withey opened up the game with a beautiful face up jumper, but when he put his back to the basket, it was disasterous. He attempted a couple of hook shots that missed badly and couldn’t finish at the rim after a beautiful set up by Pierre Jackson. As for Jackson, his jumper was just a touch off, but he had some spectacular moments. In the third quarter, he split a double team and made a no-look pass to Jon Brockman for an easy two. He was the Pelicans best playmaker tonight, and if he had guys on the team who could finish, he might have had six or seven assists.

Overall, it was an ugly game that had the Pelicans try to incorporate some new guys into the rotation, and the result was a lack of fluidity on the offensive end. Withey appeared to get comfortable late in the game and made some impact plays defensively, while Pierre Jackson showed some promise as a quick point guard who can get into the lane and find his bigs, but other than that, there isn’t much to take away from this game. Luckily for the Pelicans, it is a quick turnaround, as they return to action tomorrow against the Cavs in what figures to be a better game.

It can’t get much uglier.

Post Game

– Pierre Jackson admitted he was nervous and pressed quite a bit early on. He had about 20 friends and family in the stands and only had one practice with his new teammates. Completely understandable.

– Austin Rivers continues to get questions about how he views the Pelicans new offseason additions and he continues to say all the right things. He is just going to work hard and he looks forward to playing against those guys every day after practice. Monty is here and Austin is the first guy he seeks out after each game, going over a page full of notes with him while it is fresh in both their heads. Austin seems to love the feedback.

– Lance Thomas said he was thrilled to be back with the team. He said it was tough to watch from the bench on Friday, and he is glad to be back on the court fighting with his teammates.

– Bucks players could not stand Jon Brockman’s physical play, complaining to the refs about it well after the game was over. He is one of those players that gets inside the opposition’s head.

22 Comments

  1. Pingback: Pelicans fall to 1-1 in Summer League, Lose to Bucks 69-61 | New Orleans Pelicans News

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.