Evening, seedlings. In a wild, flustercuck of a finish that left me feeling moist, the Knicks finished Summer League with a 3-2 record after they took down the John Wall/JaVale McGee-less Wizards this late-afternoon. We saw missed free throws, clutch threes, overtime and a technical foul on Dan D'Antoni. Life's good. I feel good.
Jump over the moon for some incoherent observations.
Landry Fields, in what was the first sign that he'll lead the team in minutes this year, started the game and played like we've come to expect with 11 points, 3 offensive boards, an assist, a steal and a block. One interesting thing they had him do after Lester Hudson got off to a quick start was double Hudson after he crossed midcourt. The first time it happened, he forced a turnover and an easy basket. The second time, he got burned as his man cut to the basket and got an easy layup. We can forgive him though because he got a couple of huge tips-in (pause) in the Fourth and at one point failed an attempt to dunk on the entire Wizards organization. It can only be described as Landrified.
Bill Walker was effectively shut out of the paint most of the game though he could've bullied himself in more efficiently if he cut out his extraneous dribbling. Seriously, he was coming off a pick and spinning back over it after his man hedged. He was dribbling behind his back after screens. He was backing off. It was pretty frustrating. No big deal though because we know his strength lies in cutting and finishing. He also started the game missing his first two threes, making his next three and then missing his next two. Eleven points for Bully.
Toney Douglas again looked to defer to his teammates which is WTDD for people trying to find work in this league. Toney Douglas, for the children. He was making some mistakes like picking his dribble up early but I think that's more of a result of his rollers not being very good. Late in the Fourth though, he realized he needed to pull out the win and started knocking down threes, getting key steals and using that classic southern savvy we love to take a charge in OT. Of course, he also missed three straight free throws which would've sealed the game in regulation but it's Summer League. Who's counting? He finished with 19 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 cameraman and 1 T-Mobile sign.
Leo Lyons - sorry - LEO LYONS had a monster of an offensive performance that makes me want to use his name as my alias in the club tonight. He scored 21 points and did it in a myriad of ways. He was the only Knick to consistently get in the paint. In the Second, he had two straight And-1's at the basket. He added a three, a couple of midrange jumpers, and a fastbreak dunk in the Fourth. Unfortunately, he also hurt his shoulder after trying a scoop shot on Hamady Ndiaye and had to sit out the rest of the game and ice it.
Jerome Jordan and Andy Rautins were essentially invisible.
Marcus Landry had a poor shooting performance (3-9) but he got to the line a lot (5-7) and scored 12 points. I bring it up because they kept zooming in on him before he stepped to the line and he just looked upset each time. Why the mean mug, bro?
Carlos Powell, who I love, had 1 TO and 1 foul. Why bring that up? Cause he ran the pick and roll to end the first half and rifled one of the strongest passes I've ever seen to the base of the basket.
Also, Jerome Randle of the of the Wizards is listed at 5'10" but I'm pretty sure he's 5'6".
I leave you with this quote from Clyde:
"1965 I started doing yoga. They thought I was saying 'yogurt'."