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| Larry Bird and Head Coach Frank Vogel look on as the Pacers take the court in Orlando. |
The Pacers took part in the 11 team Orlando summer league again this year. Starting out with strong 2-0 start, but then failing to win any of their last three match ups. Despite the not so good record in the league, there were a few Pacers players that had something to prove and they absolutely did.
The first player that really proved he could play at the NBA level is the Pacers' 2nd round pick (via draft night trade from Sacramento), Orlando Johnson. Johnson had a fantastic debut against the 76ers, finishing with 19 points and 9 rebounds as well as leading the team in Minutes played. Only 3 of Johnson's 19 points came from beyond the arc because that is simply not his game. He prefers to drive by his defender, doing so a majority of the time and either finishes or draws a foul on the help side defender. With his great driving ability his defenders would often give him some space on the perimeter and that's when the 6'5 Johnson would pull out his very effective pull up jumper. Johnson certainly is a problem for many defenders because you just don't know what he's going to do, the kid can flat out score in a variety of ways. If there is one thing that Johnson needs to work on, it's his free throw shooting. Being a player who can draw fouls so easily he needs to be able to knock down the shots from the line to become more effective. Orlando Johnson definitely has the potential to become the player who can create his own shot that the Pacers have desperately needed over the years.I'd give him a solid B+ performance over the course of the summer league.
Next up is the Pacers' 1st round pick, Miles Plumlee. The front office was torn to shreds by Pacers' fans on draft night when the commissioner announced that the Pacers had selected Plumlee with the 26th overall pick. The Pacers' brass claimed that the pick was made in an effort to replace Jeff Foster, the recently retired Center who was know for his rebounding and scrappy play. Plumlee seemed to live up to that title in the summer league, averaging nearly a double double over the course of the 5 game schedule. His ability to consistently rebound was probably the most impressive aspect of his play. The Pacers won't be going to Plumlee much for scoring so any points he can provide will be considered a bonus on top of his terrific ability to rebound. Plumlee has also been known for his great athleticism and showed why with a couple of monster slams against the Boston Celtics in game 3 of the summer league. Having an athletic big man is essential in the NBA so the Pacers could probably get some quality minutes out of Miles in the upcoming season when Hibbert comes to the bench for a rest. Plumlee also gets a B+ for his summer league performance.
Finally, another impressive performance was that of the 'Veteran' of the summer league team, Lance Stephenson. Veteran is a tough term to put on Lance because despite his tenure with the Pacers, he was still the youngest member on the summer league roster. Stephenson's maturity and decision making have been questioned ever since he became a Pacer after only spending one season playing college ball but after this summer league I am convinced that Lance is ready. In game 2 of the league, against the Oklahoma City Thunder Stephenson put up 28 points 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Perhaps the most impressive stat of his game was that he had 0 turnovers to go along with those 7 assists. That proves to me that his decision making has improved tremendously along with his court vision. Another aspect of Lance's game that showed improvement was his perimeter shooting ability. He not only shot the ball well from beyond the arc all week, but also his shot selection was great. No forced shots or shots coming too early in the shot clock. Overall Stephenson had a very good week of play in Orlando, earning him a grade of A+.
NOTE: Lance Stephenson and Miles Plumlee were both selected to the All-Summer League 1st team.
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