Summer Warriors 76, Summer Knicks 54: What game?

Interesting things happened even though the Knicks didn't put up much of a fight. Eyes remained squarely on Kristaps Porzingis, but the Warriors seemed to pay an extra bit of attention to our new pal Maurice Ndour. Coverage just had an extra bit of starch today. Next up the Summer Knicks play the Summer Bucks tomorrow at 5:00.

As for this one, straight away Golden State were more physical, in particular this psychopath Stefan Nastic. Nastic didn't play much but he fouled liberally and yelled "Ice" incessantly. In garbage time, Nastic wiped his forehead on Ovidijus Galdikas' shoulder to initiate him into his special club for maniacs. Galdikas seemed weirded out eventually winning the ESPY for happiest garbage time turnover down 20. That energy set the tone for the whole affair strangely enough. It had Kristaps forcing up some of his more junky stuff and gave the whiny Warriors something to build on.

Let's go swimming...

- Porzingis struggled his way to 12 points. Derek Fisher tried to ramp up his minutes today, possibly anticipating a decent outing from the team. A little bit of foul trouble early and Nasty Stefan getting into his chest as soon as the tip went up (if you know what I mean) sorta flustered The Flamingo. It was nice to see him get to the stripe a little bit (5-6) and he even slipped out and calmly canned a three. Look at Nasty Stefan calling out the help to a different set of events as Aaron Craft stays with his man.

The exciting part of Porzingis, to me, is that he does so many of the smart things that keep shitty players in the league for years and years. Then he has some serious ability sewn into this fabric. It really makes your head turn. As he continues to grow and learn, this kid is going to be something good. I have all the good feels. People that apologize for nudging your shoe even think so.

Porzingis is gonna be scary if he comes anywhere near reaching his potential.

— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) July 16, 2015

- One of the older guys, Jerian Grant, was able to get some stuff going. Unfortunately the game was already on life support and he couldn't drag the entire team back up. Exciting stuff from this kid; he's a willing passer, and ultra aggressive attacking the rim. He might deserve a spot in the starting lineup with the big kids. Thats quite a ways into the future, but his defense is already leaps and bounds above Jose Calderon's. His ability to get into the lane is also better than Calderon's. What does Calderon do again? Does he do... THIS?

- Langston Galloway came out looking to turn on the jets, but he doesn't really have a pilot's license. So he had a problematic flight soon after lift off. Couple of floaters. He didn't hurt nothin'. It's Vegas, baby... word travels.

- Cleanthony Early had five fouls as soon as he woke up today.

- Thanasis Antetokounmpo hasn't shown that he deserves a spot on the big team, but he should get a chance to prove himself with a camp invite. Thanasis doesn't always know what's right in front of him, but his relentless aggression can be useful on practically any NBA roster.

Today when he checked in, he didn't know who he was supposed to take out. So he bounded up, staggered mid-stride to whip around and ask who to pull. "Cle". He zoomed over to Cle and sized up his prey on a sideline out of bounds. Today's slob was Dominique Sutton. Thanasis looked directly into Sutton's eyes as he waited for the referee to give over the ball. "How about I smother you with defense? You think you will like that, Dominique? What if I stalk you full court and slap your hands down when you try to balance yourself, Dominique? How about I use my hands to pull the veins out of your arms, Dominique?" No exaggeration. I was right there.

- My guy Maurice didn't really have it. Nobody had it today. Ovidijus had it for a split second. He had it with a clear path. So he turned around and passed it to the other team in the waning seconds of the game. That was a metaphor for this stinker. He smiled as soon as it left his hands. He was just trying to be unselfish. Thankfully he won't be the 8' trainset heading to the hoop. Remember the good times...