The Summer League is definitely a chance to adjust your game from the collegiate level to the pro style, it's also an opportunity to get your foot in the door and get noticed by scouts. Friday was the first summer league game for the Mavericks and it was a definite learning experience for every member of the team. They lost the game 88-70 to the Denver Nuggets. The 18-point margin might not do enough justice in showing how poorly they played in this first game. As a whole, the team had horrible transition defense, they were outworked on many plays, failed to capitalize on open jumpers and turned the ball over constantly. You can view the box score Here. This recap will focus on four specific Mavericks and how they performed in game one against Denver.
Roddy Beaubois:
32 mins played, 12 points (3-16 FG, 0-9 3PT, 6-8 FT), 1 assist, 4 rebounds, 6 Turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block
Roddy had a shooting night he would definitely love to forget. He struggled with finding the range with his outside shot but to his credit, he was able to recognize that in instances and started attacking the basket with success. The trouble statistic was the 1-6 assists to turnover ratio. As the point guard of the team that is an unacceptable ratio. He forced the situation too many times in the halfcourt game and didn't allow the game to come to him. Beaubois was able to be an active defender and had a handful of deflections and force the Nuggets into turnovers.
Dominique Jones:
34 mins played, 19 points (5-13 FG, 0-3 3PT, 9-12 FT), 0 assists, 4 rebounds, 5 Turnovers, 0 steals, 0 blocks
"DoJo" was arguably the best player for the Mavericks and definitely lived up to his reputation as an attack-first guard. He played well within the offense and a solid part of his offense was penetrating into the lane and trying to finish at the rim. Jones showed excellent body control and smart basketball IQ by holding onto the ball as long as he could to absorb the contact and drawing fouls. The jump-shot will continue to be a point of emphasis during the summer league process but things look positive from an offensive standpoint. There appeared to be moments where his footwork in regards to man defense was slow but he held his own in that department.
Omar Samhan:
19 mins played, 4 points (2-4 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT), 1 assist, 7 reboundds, 1 Turnover, 0 steals, 1 block
The big man had some highs and lows in his first summer league game. He showed above average footwork in the post and loves contact and isn't afraid to be in the trenches. Omar had a big problem in transition defense as he got caught leaving his man open or not coming back quick enough. He wasn't the only player who had this issue but his instances did stand out. There is potential with Samhan, it'll be interesting to see what he can show when he is given more of an opportunity to have on-ball post defense and more time making decisions with the ball on offense.
Jeremy Lin:
18 mins played, 12 points (5-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 2-4 FT), 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 5 Turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block
Lin handled point guard and shooting guard responsibilities but thrived better being the lead guard and running the offense. He showed off his strengths by being able to weave through traffic and finish with excellent body control or making passes to his teammates in traffic. He was impressive with his defense as well and showing great recovery skills with an impressive perimeter block.
It is just one game, but there is a lot to digest.