No Summertime Sadness for Sixers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Sixers 92, Houston 71 – Box Score

Somebody break up the Sixers! The team received positive performances across the board in taking down the Rockets for their second win in three Orlando Summer League contests. Sure it’s only summer league, but remember once upon a time when Evan Turner looked completely outmatched down in Orlando and we all told ourselves, he’ll be fine, it’s only summer league. Well, I don’t have to remind you how that turned out, but it involved nothing but a second round pick in return, a fight with Lance Stephenson, and a player who literally ran out of gas. Now, I’m not saying summer league performance is a perfect referendum on future success, but it sure is nice when your top lottery pick stands out. Enter Nerlens Noel.

Noel’s stat line from last night won’t jump off the page at you (if it does, let me know, it might be something wrong with our server): 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks (including the NBA block of the night), and 2 steals. However, he had a couple more blocks wiped away by an opponent’s traveling violation and charge call, and as Rick Mahorn and his announcing partner insisted on putting it, the ghost of Nerlens Noel affected a whole lot of other shots as well. Basically, Noel is so long with such active hands that he’s seemingly all over the court and that’s always in the back of the mind of the opposition.

The former Kentucky Wildcat also continued to show he would be capable of playing the 4 spot (crucial if he and Joel Embiid are going to play together), recording another steal at the top of the key and taking the ball down himself for a breakaway dunk. Noel also went 2-2 from the foul line, leaving him a still-perfect 9-9 through 2 games. There’s still some development underway obviously. He leaves his feet to go for blocks on some occasions where he’d be better served to get in rebounding position and he’s still a little careless with the ball offensively. But remember, it’s only his 2nd organized game in 18 months. The future is bright in regard to the young big man.

There were plenty of other bright spots on the night for the Sixers, including the shooting of Hollis Thompson. Thompson shook off the poor shooting night in the opener, going off for 14 points on 4-7 shooting from three. He has such a pure stroke when he’s able to set himself up behind the arc, which is all he’ll really need to do to stick around in the league for a long time.

K.J. McDaniels showed off why he’s such a tantalizing prospect and why the Sixers were ecstatic he fell to them in the second round. McDaniels recorded 15 points, displaying his elite athleticism with a block in transition and a gorgeous spin move through traffic to finish for a lay-in. Most crucially, McDaniels went 2-2 from behind the arc. If he’s going to be a viable contributor on the wing in the NBA, McDaniels will have to improve upon the 30% shooting from behind the arc during his junior year of college. Tuesday night was a good example of what a fully formed McDaniels could bring to the table.

A couple of undersized forwards also left their mark on the game with Ronald Roberts, Jr. and JaKarr Sampson finishing with 9 and 13 points, respectively. Ron once again put a highlight-worthy play together when he soared for the ball after a Magic player tried to save it and went coast to coast for the slam. The lone black mark against him was a 1-5 night from the foul line. The former St. Joe’s forward has not done anything to improve on his stroke that saw him shoot 58.5% from the line his senior season line drive; his shot is like a Chase Utley line drive heading for the back iron.

Likewise, Sampson did a good job getting out in transition and finishing around the rim, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field, but also, just 2-6 from the charity stripe. He shot just 56.5% from the line in his sophomore year at St. John’s, and his lack of outside shot hurts him more than Roberts, Jr. because Sampson projects as a small forward.

All in all, it was an extremely encouraging outing for the Sixers, and every win (even in summer league) is welcome in advance of a season that will see them on the wrong side of the ledger more often than not. They’ll be back in action later this afternoon against Brooklyn.