CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics 87- Jazz 56 Day 1 in Orlando

The Celtics first summer league game ended in a rout. Here are some impressions from the game vs the Jazz:
Bill Walker and JR Giddens both played well. Walker still has a penchant for hard fouls and ended up fouling out but showed some good things as he scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 21 minutes. The best player of the game in my opinion was JR Giddens who finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 32 minutes. At times he still plays out of control but shows great athleticism and a nice all around game.

The Gabe Pruitt and Lester Hudson battle may have come down to a draw with Hudson slightly edging Pruitt. In the first half, Hudson struggled with his ball handling but showed a better handle as the game wore on. He has a nice shot as advertised and is a very good defender, although sometimes he gambles too much when going for the steal. Hudson finished with 11 points (4-6), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block n 19 minutes. Gabe seemed to force things a bit in the first half but like Lester, settled down into a nice rhythm in the second half. Pruitt finished with 11 points (3-6), 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 22 minutes.

As far as the big men go, I would say that Nick Fazekas looked the best of them all. He finished with 13 points (5-10) and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes. He has a nice shot but was questionable on defense. Robert Swift was really out of shape. He was huffing and puffing after just 5 minutes in the game and often could be seen standing with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 20 minutes. He really has to show a lot more than that for me to believe that he can help the Celtics this season. Mike Sweetney is still pretty heavy but did look pretty good on the court. He finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Kevin Rogers showed some potential as he scored 9 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, dished out 1 assists and blocked 2 shots in 22 minutes. He has a decent jumper and showed a willingness to battle inside for rebounds. Chris Lofton and Bryan Mullins didn't look all that bad, but didn't impress either. For them to have any chance to make the team, they need to really impress, and they didn't do it.

Coby Karl, Bryce Taylor, and Darius Washington didn't play in this game but we will probably see them against the Magic. Even though they didn't play at a high level and things were sloppy most of the time, the Celtics dominated this game from start to finish.

The announcers were the worst I have even heard. Sure, this is just a summer league game and things get sloppy and the action drags at times, but these guys were unprofessional and while their banter is ok on a post game radio show, it really has no business during a game. Once in a while they would mention the game and a play that caught their attention but the majority of the time was mindless rambling, insults aimed at the players, and complaining about having to call the summer league games and how boring they were. These players are fighting for their careers and fans are interested in how their team's players are doing and it would be nice to have someone semi serious about doing a play by play calling the game.

Recap
Box Score

Next game is on Tuesday at 3:00 PM vs the Magic. The Magic roster includes:
Maurice Ager
Lance Allred
Ryan Anderson
Brian Chase
Ronald Dupree
Courtney Fells
Levance Fields
C.J. Giles
Richard Hendrix
Stevan Milosevic
Jeremy Pargo
Kasib Powell
Milovan Rakovic
Jeremy Richardson
Russell Robinson
Darian Townes

The Magic lost on day 1 to the OKC Thunder 88-77 but should give the Celtics more of a fight than they got from the Jazz team. Once again, all games will be streamed on both Orlandomagic.com and Celtics. com.

[Discuss this topic on the Celtics Green Forums!]

Post a Comment