clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NBA Summer League Diary 2014: Day Six

The Hawks won. The NBA rejoiced.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

With the positivity that comes with the Hawks grabbing their first victory in Las Vegas, spirits are high, and the NBA action was fast and furious on Wednesday. Here we go:

  • Miles Plumlee is one of those players who is simply too good to be playing in Summer League. The 25-year-old big man averaged 8 points and 8 rebounds per game (in less than 25 minutes) for Phoenix last season, and while his numbers will never explode off the page, he is a starting-quality center who happens to be masquerading in Summer League. Further evidence of this came when he absolutely blew through Kyrylo Fesenko (more on him in a moment) for a dunk early in the day on Wednesday, but he is just incredibly solid all around.
  • The aforementioned Kyrylo Fesenko is something to behold in person. He is listed at 7-foot-1 and 280 pounds for Summer League, but I am doubting the weight, and his body type doesn't resemble anyone else in the NBA that I can recall. He's also not particularly good at anything, but that simply doesn't stop him from being exceedingly enjoyable.
  • Tyler Ennis hasn't been "bad" in Summer League, but he's surely been unimpressive. The first round point guard from North Carolina Syracuse (ed: I'm not an idiot, it's just Vegas) finished Wednesday's game with 3 points (on 0 for 6 shooting) and 5 assists in 24 minutes, and he has failed to crack 10+ or 6+ assists in any game this week. The old saying is that players can't actually prove anything in Las Vegas, but red flags can arrive if they don't excel, and that has been the case here.
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo is insane... in a good way. Giannis scored 20 points on 13 field goal attempts on Wednesday, but more than that, he made countless jaw-dropping plays through the day, and was even flashing the point guard skills that made him one of the more intriguing prospects in recent times. The jury is still out on what kind of player he can really be, but there are few players who can make you double-take like Giannis.
  • The Spurs beat the Bucks by 29 points on Wednesday. No one on the roster played more than 20 minutes. If that doesn't scream "Spurs", then I don't know what does.
  • Remember Larry Drew? Well, his son, Larry Drew II, actually looked pretty good on Wednesday night. The point guard, who is playing for Miami in Las Vegas, posted a 10-point, 10-assist double-double against the Clippers, and he actually looked like a professional point guard. The younger of the two Drews got off to a disastrous collegiate start at North Carolina, but he was much better at UCLA and he could be a solid pro, if only in the D-League and/or overseas.

We are officially in the midst of both the winner's and loser's brackets beginning tomorrow, and that should make for entertaining times. Keep it locked to Peachtree Hoops for all your basketball needs.