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 responses to “Pelicans fall to 1-1 in Summer League, Lose to Bucks 69-61”
Miller has been showing some good potential as a 3 and D guy. He has hit a couple nice 3s thus far which has been enjoyable to see.
I feel like Brockman is a poor man’s Pekovic, which is great, because we all wanted him on the Pelicans. Would love to see him develop in the D-League and get some time either late in the year (if we have injuries), or get a contract next year.
bobmurrell The problem is that according to Wikipedia this will be his 4th year since playing all 4 years in college. There’s not much more development to be done in this 26 year old.
Wow, what a horrible article. Where is the analysis? Man, you guys are really slipping….
Just playing! Very sloppy game. Rivers showed good finishing ability around the rim again (and played good D), Miller hit some nice shots, and Roberts had a nice bounce-back game (even if he was a little selfish). PJack is electric!!! Withey is skinny, but he moves better than I thought. I think it’s funny that the Bucks players were crying about Brockman’s physicality. Do you think he makes the roster MM?
Eric Forman I think Brockman is the kind of player that is easy to fall in love with, especially in Summer League, but he can’t make our roster. He has two skills – rebounding and hustle – with absolutely nothing else to offer anywhere else. He can’t pop or rim run in the P&R, so his defender essentially doubles our guard and he can’t make them pay, and he is too small to cover centers on D, too slow to guard PF’s.
Never forget, Denzel Bowles looked good in Summer League. It is a different game.
Pierre Jackson > Brian Roberts
AngryCookies I didn’t see that…I saw Jackson flashing his athleticism, but Roberts puts the ball in the hoop and had a few nice drives of his own…Jackson reminded me of Rivers last year…because he is so fast and explosive, you’ll fiind him committing to leaving his feet and getting stuck having to drop off a pass somewhere…that’s why some of his passes were not caught or handled…I find him to be out of control at this point though I’m sure that will improve in time…I had to LOL when he lost his dribble out of bounds with no one around him within 10 seconds of our first possession with him on the court…saw him lose handle a few times which surprised me since he is, and likely always has been, a point guard.
Did anyone else see that Greg Oden will be meeting with the pelicans?
Do we have a shot at him?
Is he worth it?
Does he fit?
Yeah I did see that on twitter but I doubt we sign him we don’t have a lot of cap space.
Is Oden even healthy?
Clef504 Pelicans can only offer the minimum. Other teams will offer more. Dell and Monty will have to sell him on other things that are important to him, like a development program and perhaps sitting him in back to backs, stuff like that.
Its possible, but again other teams can offer more money and/or an opportunity to win big. Going to be hard to beat that
Michael McNamara Clef504 Don’t forget where Monty Williams was coaching when Greg Oden was drafted…..that’s right, the Portland Trailblazers, so they actually have a past connection…Oden also fits the age mold for the Pels as he’s still just 25…I would not be surprised if Monty pulls it off, especially if they pull out the big guns on him with Dell’s Cheshire Cat grin!
I like the improvements I see in Rivers’ game. Its all about him being confident. Pierre Jackson wow’d me. He’s really quick, I hadn’t seen him play before yesterday.This Cavs game will be more competitive.
Oden have not played in 2 years he could be a heck of signing as the third center.
Who’s the first center?
When the rest of the team only makes 9 shots and at least a few of them were offensive putbacks, it’s hard to rack up assists.
Rivers’ jumper was way off today, but it’s nice to see him go 7-16 when he couldn’t buy a bucket from outside. His passing was much sloppier, but he looked more comfortable using his left hand. He needs to practice passing 1 handed. He’s gotten in trouble using both hands to pass a couple times in Summer League.
I feel like Brockman is a lost lumberjack who somehow ended up in the NBA Summer League.
I could not watch the game but from the highlights it looks like we were up 61-60 with 3 minutes on the clock and we lost 61-69. No points in the last 3 minutes? That’s not good. Can anybody, who watched the game, comment on that and tell us what happened and We went silent?
Kempleton Tis true….we had an 8pt lead in the 3rd despite the Bucks shooting better than us, even though their shooting was poor (our was worse)…it slipped away by the end of the 3rd as their guard “Ish” nailed a three at the buzzer to end the quarter. We fought back when our 1st teamers reentered the game and regained a lead only to see it go back and forth for a while…once we got behind, we never really got an open shot out of the offense…most of those were outside shots as I recall which didn’t go down and they controlled…they kept converting and we fell further and further behind as the cycle continued…the Bucks converted more free throws opportunites (19-26 vs 11-13) and that ultimately made a difference in the final score…
Brockman = This year’s Denzel Bowles (careful how you spell that)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDtz8u1orcc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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