Sixers Close Utah Summer League in OT Defeat

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

For the second time in the Utah summer league, Jahlil Okafor turned the ball over in the closing seconds of a tie or one-possession game; the Sixers would go on to lose 84-78 in overtime (2-minute summer league edition!) to the Jazz. Ultimately, it’s summer league, so who cares, but ‘Okafor Sinks Game-Winner’ sure would have sounded better this morning. Anyway, here are my observations as the team heads to Sin City for the Las Vegas League starting this weekend.

1. Not the Greatest Showing for Big Jah

First, so this doesn’t get branded as a hot take, let me first say that Jahlil had some really nice plays last night. This isn’t an Evan Turner looking like he doesn’t belong summer league experience.

Okafor has a stunningly gorgeous spin move back to his right hand that he used to great effect on more than one occasion, including once to shake a Jazz double team. The roster he was playing with was also almost completely bereft of both shooting and guards who could throw him a credible entry pass, so any offensive difficulties certainly had external factors as well.

Still, Okafor really looked winded at times, including one occasion where Brock Motum just flat out beat Jahlil to a loose ball rebound the Sixer should have gotten easily. I’ll caveat that with the fact he hasn’t played live action basketball in 3 months and the Sixers conditioning team should work him into better shape; nevertheless, not great to see.

More concerning is his pick-and-roll defense, which fluctuates between adequate and putrid. We always knew Okafor’s defense wasn’t his strong suit, but he would theoretically make up for it by being a dominant offensive force. Despite a few nice plays, he turned the ball over 6 times and was largely held to a draw by the immortal Jack Cooley. He’s 19 years old. It’s summer league. Let’s just hope to see more encouraging signs in Vegas.

2. The Jerami Grant Warpath Continues

JERAMI GRANT ‼️‼️‼️ https://t.co/D0gBdpUvvH

— Friendly Bounce (@FriendlyBounce) July 10, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsOne of the more fun aspects of the Utah League was Jerami Grant’s insistence on going into full-posterization mode every time he entered the paint. His shooting still doesn’t look much improved like I would have liked to see, but in all other facets, Grant looked the part of second-year guy who is above this level of competition and just getting some run in. He seems primed to build on a solid rookie campaign.

3. Tokoto Given a Longer Look For the first time in three Utah games, J.P. Tokoto was given extended minutes to show what he could do. The UNC product had one absolutely monstrous alley-oop dunk off a T.J. McConnell feed and showed off some solid defensive instincts, but the rest of his game still seems incredibly raw. He seems like an ideal Delaware 87er, at least for now.

4. Furkan’s Game is Rounding Out

The stretch-Fourkan didn’t go on a barrage from downtown last night, missing his lone attempt from behind the arc, but he did show off some nice passing instincts which were previously non-existent. He had a no-look bounce pass assist to Jordan McRae under the hoop which was some high-level stuff. Aldemir entered Utah only known for 2 things: grabbing boards (he still does that with 15 last night) and setting hard screens (he almost killed a guy with an illegal screen in the first half). He left the Rocky Mountain State showing signs of becoming an actual NBA player.

5. Good Riddance Jazz Announcers

I’ve complained enough about Jazz announcing duo Craig Bolerjack and Ron Boone, but just wanted to share a couple last pearls of wisdom they dished out before I hopefully never have to hear them again. First, when Sam Hinkie joined the booth for an interview in the first quarter, Boone actually asked him if the Sixers are ‘gonna be an analytics-type team’. It’s only the biggest thing the Human Spreadsheet is known for both among his supporters and detractors, and the Sixers have been tinkering with pace and space and a three-point heavy approach for two seasons now. Do a basic google search before you interview a guy.

They also said something to the effect of fans might see Jerami Grant get some minutes this year. Oh you know, just the guy who played 65 games and received 11 starts as rookie. Whoever gets thrown out for the Vegas broadcast will have to be better by default.