Jazz Recap: Summer League back to back!

The Raptors (and 16 other teams) are 2-1 in summer league.

Courtesy: Toronto Raptors

Guess who’s bizzack!

Your July back to back special saw nine Raptors suit up, down from 12 and 11 in the first two games. Toronto led wire to wire but things got interesting late. Some notes from seven of them (Ryan Hawkins only played three minutes and I don’t know why the other guy is here):

Jeff Dowtin: 19 points (8-13 FG), 3 rebounds

He might be making the biggest impression so far. Dowtin has shot over 50 percent from the field in every game, most of it coming in the halfcourt where the Raptors have struggled to score over the last three seasons. He plays bigger than his 6-3, 185 pound frame, getting into the paint for some nice finishes. He found himself matched up a few times against old friend Bruno Caboclo and basically cooked him. Caboclo has looked pretty good in summer league overall, but this wasn’t his best game. Dowtin got separation from Bruno on a crossover to set up a 20 footer in the first half, and was the go-to guy down the stretch in a two possession game. I especially loved this first clip where Dowtin used a jump stop for the floater over Bruno.

D.J. Wilson: 22 points (7-12 FG, 3-6 3pt), 9 rebounds

Wilson is a career 32 percent three point shooter in his five NBA seasons, so it’s nice to see him working on being a floor spacer. He also threw in some face-up work and an impressive turnaround in the post. D.J. was the other Raptor to make key plays down the stretch when the game got close. What’s not shown in this montage below was Wilson finding Dalano Banton cutting backdoor with over 3 minutes left in the game. He only had one foul and two turnovers in 31 minutes (compared to committing six fouls in the first game and six turnovers in the second). Also grabbed three offensive boards. Definitely his best showing.

Christian Koloko: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 fouls

The jump hook is a work in progress, throwing up a couple of airballs but also mixing in a successful backdown hook attempt which looked pretty fluid. The rim protection will be there.

He also got called for goaltending twice, one of which was questionable. Koloko did a great job staying in front of Jared Butler on the Jazz possession of the third quarter, forcing a shot clock violation. He had 6 fouls for the second time in summer league, which is probably going to be an issue in his early career but there is some real defensive promise there.

No surprise threes this game but how about some unexpected playmaking?

Dalano Banton: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers

A mixed bag. Liked his on ball pressure creating havoc, resulting in a couple steals and some other rushed play by Utah. You know what you’re going to get in transition. Beautiful hesi drive in the third quarter. Some bad halfcourt decisions, helping the Jazz get back in the game. However Banton made up for that working with Wilson as I mentioned earlier for some key plays down the stretch to keep the lead.

Ron Harper Jr: 8 points (2-6 3pt), 6 rebounds

All of his shot attempts were from three, which isn’t weird considering those were over 40 percent of his shots at Rutgers. I liked most of his looks. Solid job on the glass. I never really mention plus-minus but he had a game high +15. Sure.

UPDATE:

Armoni Brooks: 5 points (2-12 FG, 1-10 3pt), 4 rebounds, 3 assists

He was the bail out guy “help me please, help me please” (John Witherspoon voice, RIP) a lot this game. A few of his shots came deep in the shot clock, a few feet behind the arc which worked out well…once.

The problem is, being that guy consistently kills your percentages. A couple of chuck attempts too, sure. I like his shot mechanics though and he had 25 points in the first summer league game. Armoni’s best sequence was contesting a missed dunk in transition and then finding D.J. for a corner three seconds later.

David Johnson: 6 points, 3 boards and a Vegas poster

Johnson tried the “with no regard for human life” type poster on Borisa Simanic. It would have been the highlight of summer league but got fouled instead and split two free throws.

About 15 seconds later, Johnson scaled it back just a bit.

What’s Next?

At least one more game will be played Friday night at 10pm EDT vs Miami. I’m guessing the teams in contention for a summer league trophy, banner and…rings (lol) will be ultimately decided by point differential? We’ll see.

Let’s do this again Saturday morning.

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