Sights and sounds from Day 2 of the Summer League

It’s ALMOST possible to watch too much basketball in one sitting (emphasis on ALMOST).

In my first trip to the NBA’s Summer League in seven years, I was able to catch parts of three matchups, including the pleasure of catching a full game of Spurs action: a 83-77 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

My friend, Mike, and I were pelted by a sudden thunderstorm on the way into the Thomas and Mack Center and ended up sopping wet in our seats once inside with plentiful AC — a reminder of what my days were like living in San Antonio. Seeing the random jersey throughout the concourse, including one James Wiseman Pistons uni, which disappeared into a crowd just like the young player’s career.

The turnaround time between games was between 8-10 minutes, which likely benefitted the viewing audience, but made for a frantic amount of seat movement after the games were done.

Sixers vs. Pistons (Game 1)

• A lot transpired in the second half of action, but I couldn’t make out many of the players other than Jared McCain (Philadelphia) and Ron Holland (Detroit). I am really glad San Antonio went with Castle over Holland.

Warriors vs. Suns (Game 3)

• Golden State’s Brandon Podziemski looked like the best player on the court and put up an impressive all-around stat line.
• The Phoenix players turned the lay-up line into an impromptu dunk contest before the game, which was a hit with the fans.

Spurs vs. Blazers (Game 2)

• The main event… at least from Pounders’ perspectives!
• From my perch in the upper deck, there were quite a bit of Spurs’ fans as evidenced by the frequent yelling of players’ last names as they made plays (CISSOKO! MASSALSKI! CASTLE!)
• Here are some clips (presented in the high sideline 2K camera angle) to highlight just how strong Castle’s performance was along with a smattering of other Spurs’ action in the 83-77 win.

Second round pick Harrison Ingram had a nice pull-up early on.

Nathan Mensah crashed the offensive boards with abandon to get this nice putback.

This drive and lay-up evoked an appreciative response from the Thomas and Mack crowd.

This was a nice find by Castle to the far corner at the top of the dribble-bounce to penalize the cheating defense.

Scoring for Castle happened on three levels (rim, mid-range, and behind the arc) here with the pull-up three.

Castle resembled a slowed-down version of De’Aaron Fox here – getting to wherever he needed to go on his terms.

Guard Jamaree Bouyea continues the recent history of unheralded players to compete well at this level from the West Coast Conference (USF). Bouyea (boo-yay) had a nice step through and a sleek drop-off to a diving Spur for a lay-up.

Another example of Castle’s advanced pacing on his dribble-drives, he waited for the defender to launch himself before gathering on the and-1:

After a really smooth pocket pass to Massalski, he followed up the center’s miss with a nice and-1 after absorbing contact:

On a weekend where there was a Grateful Dead tribute concert among numerous other events in the city that never sleeps, we ended up having a number of sections to ourselves by the end of the evening.

Though Castle has been shut down for the rest of the Summer League as a precaution, there’s still plenty of action to satiate Pounders’ appetite before the upcoming Olympics. Enjoy!