2006 Summer Pro League – Day Five

Richard Walker/Photos courtesy of Jim Hlavac

Both teams started their benches today leading to an ugly game that eventually gave way to a Los Angeles Lakers win over the Dallas Mavericks 99-87. Dallas didn’t score in the first 6 minutes of the game and shot 40% overall with 21 turnovers. Both teams played poorly with the Mavericks looking overmatched in the first quarter and then taking turns one-upping each other on bad plays throughout the third. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the game when the Lakers started to pull away and sealed the victory.

Mavericks

Forehan-Kelly – Ryan has shown time and again that he’s an excellent perimeter shooter, and this game was no exception. Scoring 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting (2 for 2 from behind the arc) Ryan showed a nice arsenal of pull-ups and jumpers coming off picks and when left alone. Ryan’s shooting 70% from three in the SPL which isn’t too much of a surprise as he shot 46% last year for Etendard de Brest in France.

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Yuta Tabuse – Japanese fan favorite Yuta Tabuse and former Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets camp invitee had his best game of the summer scoring 16 points and dishing 7 assists. Tabuse is extremely fast and has a reliable jump shot when wide open. When contested however, his percentage drops dramatically. Listed at 5’9” Yuta is prone to being posted up and dominated by bigger players. His hustle, quickness and floor knowledge are what keep getting him invited to camps.

Jelani McCoy – McCoy had one of his better SPL games scoring 11 points, pulling down 10 boards and blocking 3 shots. He still has yet to show much of an offensive game, but he did a good job of holding young Lakers center Andrew Bynum to only 2 points.

Lakers

Andrew Bynum – This was unquestionably Bynum’s worst outing of the summer. Scoring only 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting while grabbing 5 boards (none offensive) in 34 minutes of action is uncharacteristic and potentially worrying to the Lakers staff. Bynum looked unfocused on the offensive end, unable to get position and even got blocked on two straight possessions by smaller players at one point. Defense was where he really suffered though, leaving his man wide open under the basket, rotating slowly and poorly to cover penetration and getting out rebounded by guards. His lone bright spot was 6 assists, mostly from passing to wide open shooters from double teams. After the game coach Kurt Rambis said that he knew Bynum had played badly and that Andrew knew it as well and was angry with himself. Hopefully he’ll come out trying to send a message in their next game.

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Danilo Pinnock/JR Pinnock - Pinnock started out the game everywhere with a block on a layup immediately after the opening tip, followed by a cut for a reverse layup and then a monster dunk on an alley-oop from Devin Green which literally brought the rim and stanchion to the ground as it collapsed on Maverick Bingo Merriex. He later followed that up with another alley-oop from Green and a put-back dunk over several Maverick players. At one point he grabbed an offensive board out of the hands of the defender behind the backboard and then looked off all of the defenders before slyly jumping and laying it off the glass from behind. His other highlight was a dunk in transition which he threw to himself up in the air before slamming it home. He should have probably been called for a violation and Dallas’ coach let the referees have it, earning himself a technical in the process.

Kasib Powell – Kasib is a very well rounded ball player, with all of the tools you would expect. He’s also prone to being a bit of a black hole on offense shooting or taking it to the rack with the majority of his touches. He scored 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting.

Nile Murry – Murry has a terrible midrange shot and has trouble even hitting wide open layups. At one point he drove all the way to the basket in transition and then finger-rolled an airball right over the rim while mere inches away. He went 0 for 11 today, 2 for 8 in day four and 3 for 11 in day two. All totaled he’s shooting 5 for 30 this summer – or 17%.

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Marcus Slaughter – Slaughter impressed again today scoring 16 points mostly in the 15-18’ range on 7 of 9 shooting while once again showing his excellent defense and athleticism. He had 3 blocks today, 2 on the same play when he ran back in transition to block a layup and then leaped into the air for a second monster block as the rebound was picked up and shot from the free throw line. The second block was sent back across the half court line which was grabbed by a Laker and lead to a layup attempt that resulted in two free throws. Slaughter has shown a very consistent shot from inside the arc, despite his unorthodox shooting style. This coupled with his intense D and athletic ability should get him a serious look from the Lakers staff.

Jordan Farmar – Farmar sat out today’s game with a pulled groin or a stomach problem depending on who you asked. Either way the offense suffered severely without his presence on the floor, often going stagnant for long stretches with poor spacing and bad communication. After the game coach Kurt Rambis said it was a good time to rest Farmar since the Lakers are off tomorrow and both he and Jordan agree that he will be back on the court Friday to face the Washington Wizards.

Marcus Douthit – In addition to Farmar, Douthit also sat today due to tendonitis in his knee.