NBA Summer League 2017: DeAndre’ Bembry continues to impress in blowout win over Bulls

The Atlants Hawks came out on top in Monday’s Summer League action with a 77-55 victory. To be honest, much of this game can be explained by the Bulls simple lack of ability to make shots. The Bulls were just 16 of 73 on field goal attempts and made just 4 three point shots on 35 attempts. Atlanta’s defense deserve some credit for that but it was very obvious that the Bulls were completely lacking in offensive identity and confidence.

A tale of two sophomores

DeAndre’ Bembry continues to sizzle in his summer league action. He led the Hawks in scoring for the second time in three contests this time with 17 points on just 13 shooting possessions. He added four assists and was flawless in the turnover category. He is now 7th in the Vegas SL in scoring for any player that has appeared in three games.

The former 21st overall selection in the 2016 NBA draft is averaging 18.3 points per game on an impressive mark of 20 of 35 on field goal attempts. He had just 1 steal in this game but he still leads the league in total steals.

Bembry was not expected to be the offensive leader on this team but he is flashing a greatly improved ability to attack in dribble penetration. The result is solid finishing at the rim and frequent trips to the free throw line for efficient points. He is 12 of 20 on shot attempts inside of 5 feet. And in just three summer league games, he has already matched the free throw attempt mark he had during the 2016-17 NBA season. He went just 6 of 16 from the free throw line last season. He has made 13 of his 16 attempts in summer league action.

Taurean Prince was expected to be the offensive alpha for this Hawks team but he continued to struggle in Monday’s action. After having a bounce back game in the Sunday’s game versus the Pelicans, he went 1 of 10 from the field against the Bulls including 0 of 5 on three point attempts. He turned the ball over 5 times for the third straight game.

His decision making and offensive processes look fine; there is nothing fundamentally askew in his game but he is definitely not getting the results he wants. His lack of production on offensive is not affecting him on the defensive end of the court.

Prince has been at least +12 or better in box plus-minus in all three games and in contributing to the second best defensive team in the league. His energy and activity still look very good. It will be interesting to see if he can have another bounce back performance if he is active when the Hawks begin tournament play later this week.

The Hawks got another solid performance from rookie John Collins in this game. He contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds. He had 2 assists for the second consecutive game and in overall play his number of assists (4) continue to exceed his number of turnovers (3) which was an area to monitor in his game coming into summer league play.

The excitint rookie continues to impress with his positive energy and in in-game leadership habits. He might be the most vocal player on this team and is often the first to congratulate or encourage a teammate coming back to the bench or heading into timeouts.

The veteran Ryan Kelly had a veteran type of game even if he was a little aggressive offensively. You may remember his comments during his exit interview about needing to be a more aggressive shooter. He seems to have put that into action. He was 4 for 12 from the field in this game including 1 of 4 on three point attempts. He did secure 6 rebounds and was +18 during his time on the court.

Tyler Dorsey left the game with an injury after just 6 minutes of action. Alpha Kaba continues to be solid on the defensive end of the court. He had 8 rebounds and was called for just 3 personal fouls in his 13 minutes of action.

Overall, he has been whistled for 6 personal fouls in 35 minutes of play and a number of those were offensive fouls he tallied in the pick and roll. Isaia Cordinier continues to struggle; he still looks mostly lost especially on the offensive end.

The Hawks could be, with a little good fortune, on track to be one of the 8 teams that will get a bye in the first round of tournament action which give them a little more practice time to work on integrating the newer players on the roster.

Stay tunes to Peachtree Hoops for continued coverage from 2017 Vegas Summer League.