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Authored by Derek Flack - 23rd July, 2008 - 7:56 pm
Mavericks vs I.R. Iran
The atmosphere of this game is incredible for a summer league venue. The Iranian fans are very loud and consistent, like a college game or maybe even an international soccer game.
It’s obvious that the Iranian players have played together for a long time. They move they ball well on offense and always know where their teammates will be. Their center Hamed Ehadadi has played impressively in the first half. He moves well for a big man but doesn’t have a go to move on the block; however, he sets great screens and rolls to basket perfectly with good enough hands to finish. He ended the first half with a near double-double, 13 points, and 9 rebounds, as well as 2 blocks.
Gerald Green is having another strong performance in his second game of the Revue. On one play 3:36 left in the first quarter, he drove baseline and threw down a huge two handed dunk over a duo of Iranian defenders. He was fouled on the drive and was able to complete the three point play from the free throw line, quieting the constant chants of “Iran, Iran, Iran.”
Amir Amini of Iran is the best defender on the international squad; he held Shan Foster scoreless in the first half and has done an excellent job of denying wing players the ball.
Green had another And 1 with 8:27 left in the first half as he hit a 15 foot jump shot while getting slapped on his left arm. He has continued his hot shooting from day one could be one the best offensive players in the Revue.
In the second half, the Mavericks turned up the intensity on the defensive side of the ball, forcing Iran into bad passes and turnovers that led to numerous fast break opportunities.
Green continued his hot shooting into the second half, forcing the Iran defenders to stick to him on the perimeter. With 2:01 left in the 3rd quarter he made a hard pump fake behind the three point line, causing the defender to leave his feet and commit the foul. After making all three free throws, the Mavericks quickly forced Iran into a turnover and Green was on the receiving end of a pretty pass from Aaron Miles; Green caught the ball and lifted like a rocket, exploding over the defense and throwing it down while getting fouled in the process. Green finished the game with 15 points, going 7-7 from the free throw line.
Green could easily be the best offense player at the Revue, but often times he was caught standing around on the perimeter instead of moving without the ball. He gets seems to get frustrated when the ball doesn’t swing his direction. Then, when he finally gets the ball in his hands, he forces bad shots; he shot twice in one position midway through the 4th, missing both badly.
Miles had an impressive game, as well. He finished with 12 points and 6 assists, looking comfortable running the fast break and making good passes to trailers. He did well running the offense and directing traffic.
Ehadadi finished an impressive performance with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He appeared worn out in the second half but had a dominant game, regardless.
In the end, the Mavericks were able to cruise to an easy victory over Iran, proving to be too fast and athletic for Iran to contain, winning the game 79-62. Even in a blowout, the Iranian fans were on their feet, cheering as the game clock reached zeros. The Iranian players stood at center court and waved to their fans, thanking them for their support.
Game 2 Spurs vs D-League Ambassadors
This game start differently, very slow and never really had any flow in the first half. The D-League team was out of control, trying to force drives that weren’t there, which resulted in numerous turnovers in the first half.
The Spurs finally started taking advantage of the turnovers late in the 2nd quarter as they slowly built a double digit lead. George Hill had another good game for the Spurs. He plays under control and never forces anything, which is a completely different style than how Spurs' starting point guard Tony Parker plays. Parker, sometimes, seems out of control during the NBA season. Hill will be a nice change of pace for the Spurs once the regular season begins.
Hill has shown he has the ability to get into the lane easily and find open teammates. He only had 2 assists in the first half, but if this were an NBA game it would probably be more like 5 or 6 assists since guys in the NBA will hit more open jumpers than the players in the Revue.
Devin Green of the Spurs played aggressively, getting to the free throw line 5 times in the first half. He made things happen and finished with 11 first half points.
In the second half the pace started to pick and guys started making some plays. With 6:22 left in the third, D-League forward Josh Gross did his Olympic high jump impression as he hurdled the Spurs' defender and finished with a nice finger roll while also getting fouled. Gross finished the night with 7 points and 4 boards.
Anthony Tolliver caught fire for the Spurs in the second half as he drained two three pointers in the span of two minutes in the 3rd. Tolliver finished the game with 15 points and 7 rebounds.
Nick Lewis of the D-League made a nice pass from the high post to Glen McGowan, who had sealed his man and finished strong with a two handed flush. The D-League team was trailing by double digits to start the second half but was slowly able to claw their way back into the game to the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter had a sloppy beginning as both squads continued to throw the ball away; there were 40 combined turnovers in this game. The D-League squad came out of a timeout in a 3-2 zone with 6:13 to go in the game and went up by 1 point, 54-53, but the strategy backfired as they were quickly called for a defensive three second violation. The Spurs converted on the technical foul to tie up the game at 54.
The Spurs started to pull away as the game came to a close when Hill used a hesitation dribble to knife his way into the lane and finish with a two handed dunk. Thanks to some good teamwork, the D-League team cut the lead to three with 57 seconds remaining. After some miscommunication on an inbounds play, the Spurs allowed the D-League to have one final chance. After an open three bounced out of the basket, the Spurs were able to secure the win from the free throw line and beat the D-League team 68-65.
The best performance of the game was by Spurs' guard Devin Green, whose aggressive play allowed him to get to the free throw line 9 times. He finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists to help lead his team to victory.
Game 3 Jazz vs Hawks
This looks like a brand new Jazz team compared to what was on the court yesterday. Kyrylo Fesenko has had a much better outing in one half than he did in yesterday’s entire game. In the first half, he had 6 points, 5 rebounds, and a block, which eclipsed his outing from last night. He was active on offense and actually slid his feet on defense. Most of his points came off drives by guards Earl Calloway and Mike Efevberha. Fesenko also showed his court vision on an offense rebound that he quickly hooked to an open Kosta Koufos for an easy layup.
Acie Law’s struggles have continued into the second day. He got past defenders with ease due to his great first step but he struggled finishing at the basket. He was able to get to the free throw line, but he appeared to be not under control. Some of his passes were slightly off target which slowed down his teammates from finishing at the basket because the defenders caught catch up.
With the Jazz leading 23-16 early in the second quarter, Jazz big man Kevin Lyde was doubled in the post but patiently waited for the right moment and kicked the ball back to the perimeter. The ball was then swung to a wide open Britton Johnsen who knocked down the corner jumper, extending the Jazz lead to 9 and bringing the half-filled arena to their feet in approval. Johnsen is a fan favorite at the Revue because he played his college ball at the University of Utah, so every time he scores, the fans erupt like Mount St. Helen.
With Atlanta trailing by 7 late in the first half, Law got out on the break and found Jeremy Richardson for a big alley-oop to shorten the the Hawks' deficit to 27-22. That seemed to be the play that set off Law. From that point on he became much more aggressive and finally found his jump shot which had abandoned him to that point.
In the second half, Law continued his aggressive play, which led to 7 free throws for the point guard. He looked much more under control in the second half, which wass the main reason why the Hawks started to pull away as the game went on.
With 7:02 left in the 3rd quarter, Efevberha of the Jazz drove down the lane and found Fesenko wide open near the basket. Fesenko caught the ball and exploded toward the basket, throwing it down so hard he took himself out on the play, falling to his backside and slamming hard onto the wood floor.
“I don’t know what to say…, when I jump, when I try to pull up, I forget that I have no hops; it is funny.”
On the ensuing possession, Law hit a 20 foot jumper, after a quick outlet pass and forced shot by the Jazz; Atlanta forward Mario West came out of nowhere to swat the shot. The loose ball fell into Law's hands, who sprinted up court and made a pass to a streaking West, who ended the game with 9 points and 10 rebounds to go along with the block. West finished the fast break he started with a ferocious dunk that included a foul and a three point play. The Hawks forced a jump ball on the next Jazz possession with 5:14 left in the 3rd quarter and, after winning the jump, took the lead 38-37 following another Law jumper.
From there, the Hawks never looked back despite some big shots by Almond for the Jazz. Atlanta ended up winning the game by 9 ponts, 72-63.
Law finished the game with 17 points and 4 assists although he did have 2 turnovers. He looked like a different player today than he did 24 hours ago.
Hawks' center Othello Hunter had a great all-around game, as well, finishing with 19 points, 8 boards, 4 steals, 3 assists, and a block. He was scoring on the inside as well as stepping out to the perimeter and knocking down his only three point attempt.
Almond finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds for the Jazz, scoring a variety of ways. He was able to get points from the post, drove to the basket,made one-handed floaters down the lane, and also shot sweet jumpers from the outside.
The Jazz bigs had a much better performance in game 2 than they did on day 1. Kosta Koufos ended up with a double-double, 12 points, and 10 boards while Fesenko finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Speaking on his improved performance, Fesenko said, “Maybe it helps that my agent, my personal coach, and my Ukrainian coach are here, come here to watch my game.” The only problem with that is that not all of those people will be there in the regular season, so he needs to learn how to bring the effort on a nightly basis if he wants to succeed in the NBA.
“I thought that Fess and Kosta fought back; they both did a very on the rebounding,” Jazz assistant Coach Scott Layden said, “The goal tonight was to get (Fesenko) double figures for rebounds. He had 9, 7 were offensive.” Total, Utah had 20 offensive rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to win. |
