First Quarter Impressions: unfortunately, we don’t get to see Jerry-Dee Bayless play tonight (yes, he’s on our list of players whose name we refuse to pronounce correctly). Regardless, the Hornets came out looking good. Bobby Brown had 5 assists in the first stanza, and the word from the announcers is that Jeff Bower is really excited by BB’s play. Hilton is looking imposing on defense and aggressive on the offensive end. Derrick Byars, meanwhile, is one of our scoring leaders, with a high shooting percentage, nice second-efforts, and just started the second quarter with a nasty fast-break dunk.
Second Quarter Impressions: off to a slow start, Ju-Ju is getting aggressive and getting to the line; I like it. Several good plays on the defensive end, too. (Although, his socks and shorts almost meet, and that’s weird.) BB seemed to walk off a turned ankle from the end of the 1st quarter and continues to play well. Baby Bugs up by 10. Haven’t seen much of Dalron Johnson this summer, but he’s made some good plays tonight; couple long jumpers on one end and some good hustle rebounds on the other. To answer TT6’s ongoing “Where is Chris Paul?” question, the answer today is in Vegas, watching the Baby Bugs. OoooHHHHHhhhh!!!! Last basket of the half for the Bees is a sick alley oop from BB to fellow-starter Brandon Bowman. Nice way to close out. And by the by, while Bowman’s been quiet on the offensive end, and strangely wears a long-sleeved shirt under his jersey, he took down a couple nice boards near the end of the 2nd. That said, our lead’s down to 2.
Third Quarter Impressions: rough start here. To quote ticktock, “we’re building a brick castle here. Not a brick house.” Yeah. Bowman and Haluska both throwing up several ugly shots. Hilton getting to the line is the only thing keeping them in the game. They’ve brought in a lot of reserves, like Courtney Sims, Ndubi Ebi, Filip Vedenov, and Larry Owens, but to little effect. Another nice alley oop to Byars, though. Then, Byars finishes the quarter with a nice basket on a pick and roll from BB. Baby Bugs now down by 5.
Fourth Quarter Impressions: the Hornets are sticking around, but haven’t done anything to shrink the lead. For a team that has been outstanding in the 4th quarter in the first five games, they haven’t really impressed tonight. Bowman and Haluska are nowhere to be seen and Hilton looks exhausted. The Blazers’ J.R. Pinnock is lighting them up for about 30 points, and now they’re just jacking up 3s to try and close the gap. None are falling. Baby Bugs lose by 15. Rough second half. Oh well.
The Vegas Summer League is over. Not the excitement or skill level of the NBA game, but it get’s you hyped for the season to come. The Hornets still have quite a few roster spots and it will be interesting to see where they go from here.
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