Game notes: Warriors bulldoze Spurs in Summer League; Yaxel and LaJae postgame chalk talk; Lakers and Heat play to sudden death
fun day at the CA Classic
One more day of California Classic tomorrow. The calendar and viewing info is here.
Apricot’s Deep Thoughts and Live Game Notes
LAL-MIA
DNHQ beloved Cam Carr clanked a 3 in front of me, then hit two 3s, then did silly stuff like trying to pass to other teammates. Out of character.
Trevor Keels, past Tourney guy, looks ok. But prob needs to be more this far into his career.
Ex Warrior Summer guy Chris Manon is playing for LAL, showing his usual careening mega-hustle.
[How's Jon Elmore looking?] Sorry to say, I have not noticed him in any way…
Aha he hasn’t played.
Woooo Goldin stuffed a Thiero dunk so cleanly then turned and pointed and jawed with the Lakers bench. Good to see some guys understand the entertainment imperative.
Thiero working on a lot of non-big type skills but hasn’t managed to score much.
Ryan Conwell has some serious lack of conscience. Very assured on court but missing a ton.
It’s getting salty here. Goldin got GOT by Anton Watson (Tourney vet) and scrapped with him on the way down. Watson probably did not appreciate the trash talking the bench.
On the other end, Goldin gets a dunk (no body caught) but still trash talks all the way down, getting a summer Tech. Impressive.
Is it too late for me to nominate Vladislav Goldin as Most likely to get flagrant fouled in summer league
Call me old fashioned but I think zone should be illegal in Summer League.
This game is wild. Going to overtime. More importantly, a bunch of grudges. Super villain Goldin looked like he hooked Watson on the way down, somehow gets foul on Watson, then drops and does a bunch of pushups.
Superheel Goldin misses two free throws with 0:15 left. Crowd is very aggressively booing him. Probably some Laker fans but also neutrals prob against Drago.
Carr was super open but feels like Thiero really wanted to drive at Goldin so draws two and Tourney star Anton Watson blows the game winning layup. This game is unexpectedly dramatic
After a 2 min OT they go to a golden goal…
Next score wins. Sudden death! Wheeee
DNHQ tourneyan Watson wins it! Anton beats Archnemesis Goldin for the jump ball, Cam Carr misses the tough middie and Watson gets the putback. So much more fun than expected.
SAS-GSW
Yelling YAXELOTL doing my part to make it happen
Ike at center, Yaxel at 4.
Yax swallows up a Gillespie drive.
Q1. 7:33. Ike looks rugged. Yax a bit slow on the rotation to the exit cut but not punished.
Will Rich in mid season form overpassing.
Then Yax gets a block. Then baits another driver into a swat.
Hoping to see more Will on-ball creation but so far just seeing Will The Fastest Guy On-court
Cult hero HyunJun Lee with a smooth 3.
MCMILLIAN TO LAJAE JONES SOARING OOP. I did involuntarily yell OH MY GOD
Q1. 1.00. YAXELOTL. He’s got the post passing thing down, to Cryer’s pure stroke.
They’ve been running the offense through Yax even when Will is on court. Yax has missed 2 FTs though for 4 misses
Yax can kind of handle in the PNR. His main basket move seems to be Newton’s Laws of Motion and mega momentum.
Yax paying good attention in boxing out, getting a body on a crasher that wasn’t his mark.
Will Rich getting on the exercise bike for some reason.
Now Will to the lockers. I assume he’s done
Jones with a soaring block. Yaxel not scoring but I think good decisions. Playing Yax at 4 with Ike and Olbrich at 5. He’s had some good help rotations.
Deivon Smith has an extra speed gear.
Halftime.
[On why there is no shot clock in the score bug] I can talk to Kevin Danna but I doubt he can help?
I texted him. I’m sure he’s very attentive to my texts while he’s working.
Kevin Danna’s response at halftime: Not sure why it isn’t.
At least he responded during halftime! A true gentleman.
Will is back. Immediately goes to the floor for a steal.
LJ Cryer has forced a lot of tough passes for turnovers. Sweet stroke though.
Chance M has some pop to his game and even hit a couple of threes.
Yax with not a good box score but good on defense and rebounding and oddly initiates all the offense.
I guess on-ball Will is not a priority since they let Malevy, Chance and Yaxel run the play instead of Will.
[ There was some concern in the comments about Yaxel ball-watching on defense. I hadn’t noticed it in particular, but tried to pay more attention for Yaxel’s time on court. ]
Q4.7.50-5.27. Watched Yax on defense. It was fine. He boxed out okay. Of course, GSW is playing a zone so it’s not normal rotations.
I like the one FT thing from a pace perspective. Feels extra bad to miss though.
Last thing: vigorous section chant “We want Lee”. I believe they will not get Lee.
Okay last last thing. 3.48. That Smith dunk shocked the crowd. Did not know he could high rise. WOW.
Yaxel and LaJae Post-game Chalk Talk
Yaxel: I have to get used to the speed of pro game. I could play college for 40 min without breaking a sweat. Here I’m tired after 5 min.
Yax and LaJae talked about how low budget JuCo was ($5 to get dinner at a gas station)
LaJae’s coach at FL State is an assistant coach at GSW. Remembered painful exercises. Running NBA offense was cool. Terminology at GSW is the same.
Yax loves video games. And he says he can sing and dance. He’s ready for whatever the vets throw at him.
LaJae is a Foodie. Loves anime. Can’t sing or dance. Also asks how much is a season ticket.