Should have an exciting young Thunder team at summer league. Thunder 'vets' Reggie Jackson Daniel Orton Deandre Liggins Jeremy Lamb Perry Jones III Rooks Steven Adams Andre Roberson Grant Jerrett + others Excited to see Lamb and Jackson working together. Would be nice to see Adams and Jackson work a nice big man tandem with passing and easy buckets. Not that it means anything (summer league in general) but ready to compare Orton and Adams numbers...see how far away Adams really is from getting minutes. Hoping Jerrett is a dead eye sniper from 3 and can defend decently. Jerrett being the long shot for the roster.
After 2 games Thunder are on their way to summer league champs...a lil more important then paper summer champions...barely. Lamb has a game winner and two poor shooting performances...haven't heard much of his D...which is probably actually good news. Jackson played in one game and had a monster jam but knocked heads with Orton.... speaking of Orton he has played well offensively..so so defensively. Seems if Thunder could put Ortons offensive mind in Adams raw height and size they may have a player worthy of backing up Perk...maybe Roberson is rumored to be active on the defense and make easy dumps in the paint as well as snatch up rebounds. Jarrett has shot 80% and 50% from three respectively...not a bad start. Comparisons are being made of Ryan Anderson...good shooter can't defend. Buycks is racking up assists...a possible long shot at #3PG? PJ out with oral surgery so 2nd round pick Ryan Reid in...a +8 in 8 min in game two. He never lights it up but is always in the right spot making the right play...that's so Collison of Reid to do. Games3 and 4 in the next two games both around noon start times (CT). Look for a little more Adams, and hope Roberson and Jerrett can keep up the D and 3 respectively....another player combo that would be nice to meld together.
Game 3 another come back a different face. Game 2 was Lamb behind the back step back jumper to win. Game 3 was Jackson at the rim and from all over the court in a nice little comeback for the Thunder summer squad. Jackson had 35 pts with 1 ast and 1 TO...not bad. He lit up the rim on drives then kept the defense in check by draining a few from distance (and some long 2s) off of Adams screens and jab stepping for space. Something like 18 straight points in the 4th and scoring or assisting on 26 of the last 28 pts. Adams a solid performance after a ho-hum start. 4-5 for 11 points and 6 rebs. He was matched up on Drummond, a widely talked about rookie last year. There were mentions of not blocking out well on a few posessions...but ya got to have something to work on in the off season right? Roberson grabbed 9 rebounds in the first half and finished the game with 10...but hard to grab an offensive board when Reggie doesn't miss Jerrett had the unfortunate fate of defenses being aware of his shooting now...but put Lamb and Jackson out there with a leaping wonder (PJ) and some space should be had for Jerrett. (did I just give away my hope for next years bench?)
Game 4 Jerrett Roberson Jackson sit. Orton Concussion Adams finished with a nice line 13 going 4-5 and 5-8 FT. with 5 rebounds. In what little I could see it looks like he understands the roll of a trailer well..whether off rebound/inbound or off of a pick. Lamb challenged Jacksons record yesterday but came up a little short with 32. He was 10-14 and 3-5 from 3 but had 8 TOs. Jackson and Lamb could be a fun bench duo or a SMH bench duo, both like the ball in their hands so if they can learn to work together, it could work out nicely for OKC.
