Nothing like a Friday night in July.

You can go down the shore, stay in town and drink some beers, or watch Furkan Korkmaz drop 40 in Summer League action.

My observations from game one:

Jonah Bolden

Really liked the early block, the pin against the backboard that led to the run out and Korkmaz three Bolden had a couple of tough offensive rebounds on the same possession, but lost the handle while trying to kick the ball out and gave Boston a transition opportunity instead. Just some bad luck on that one I think.

He tried a third quarter three pointer and had a nice drive to the rack for a foul later in the period, using those long arms to extend over the defender and try to lay one off the glass. I saw a nice pick and roll lay-in in the fourth quarter, though he whiffed on a late put back attempt had some defensive trouble with Guerschon Yabusele on two of the Celtics’ last three possessions.

His free throw shooting is poor and always has been. He shot 51.2% on 1.5 attempts per game at Maccabi, significantly down from the 73.3% he shot in college.

Here’s the block:

Furkan Korkmaz

40 points on 10-18 shooting with an 8-14 mark from deep (57.1%). He hit 12 of 15 free throws.

I always felt like “assertive” was a good word to describe what we saw from during last year’s preseason and in his time with Delaware, and that was the theme on Friday night. He just looks like a confident shooter out there, a guy who is never afraid to take an open look.

And that’s not to say he does it in a Marco Belinelli or Trae Young type of way, falling over sideways or chucking it from 27 feet; he just spaces the floor nicely and picks his spots. He also drew two fouls on three point attempts in this game, one on a high-IQ play that got Yabusele off his feet slightly for a lean-in effort.

Of all the pretty shots he hit, this one was the best, a little James Harden step-back action:

As far as creating his own shot, or showing something outside of the three-point toolbox, he did have a nifty Euro-step and offensive rebound sequence in the third. He missed both shots, but that’s fine; it just showed me something a little different. He also had a nice roll off a screen that turned into a dribble-drive and dish off to Norvel Pelle for an easy dunk, plus a nice transition drive that he rolled off the rim for Pelle to clean up.

Zhaire Smith

Didn’t see much from him early on. He took a contested mid-range shot and then missed on an elbow jumper in the second quarter. Smith got his first bucket on a nice off-ball slash to the rim to bail out Landry Shamet, who got caught after picking up his dribble in the corner:

Shortly after, he had another nice drive to the rack and dish out to Shamet for a corner three.

Defensively I thought he looked alright in the half court. There was one transition opportunity where he got caught ball-watching and allowed Semi Ojeleye to skirt right behind him for a dunk.

In the fourth, I thought he had his strongest bucket with a drive off of a DHO and tough finish at the rim over two defenders. He really does have some explosive ups for a guy who isn’t that tall.

He finished with a -21, if you care about that state. Smith put up 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Landry Shamet

Took five total shots, all from deep, and hit two of them.

I thought he looked fine out there before leaving at halftime with a right ankle sprain. He wasn’t afraid to shoot, seemed active enough offensively, and didn’t try to do too much. The injury is a bummer, but it wouldn’t be Summer League without an injury to a first-round draft pick.

Misc

  • Not a great shooting or defensive game for Demetrious Jackson, though he finished with 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
  • Some good and some bad from Isaiah Miles, who finished with 11 points. He got mixed up defensively a couple of times, but I can’t put too much stock into Summer League defense, considering the fact that these guys have never played together before.

That’s it!

Enjoy your weekend.