Summer League Notebook: Steinbach Impresses In Debut
I emptied my notebook of thoughts for the Hornets' first outing in Vegas.
The Charlotte Hornets took on the Orlando Magic in the Vegas Summer League, winning in fairly convincing fashion, 86-74.
After a 13-point first quarter, Charlotte battled back for a double-digit win.
I’ve got PLENTY of thoughts on this one.
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We’ll start with Liam McNeeley.
The Hornets’ best player on Thursday night was by far Liam McNeeley. He was, for my money, a league above everyone else on the court. He looked in control, was very fluid in his handle, and obviously was hitting shots at a level no one else on the floor could compete with.
McNeeley finished with 28 points on 7-8 from three, along with two rebounds and four assists.
I went into Summer League anticipating McNeeley the most of the non-rookies. He impressed in Vegas last summer and we didn’t see much of him in Charlotte last season.
But McNeeley really did look “too good” for Summer League. I can’t rule out McNeeley getting real minutes this year.
The Sion James point guard minutes were… not great.
So I understand the desire to have Sion James grow as a ball-handler. He probably needs at least somewhat of a handle if he wants to be a playoff-level rotational piece.
But man, it was SO BAD in game one of Summer League. James’ handle wasn’t tight, he made poor reads consistently, and he dribbled himself into bad situations often.
I’m not saying it’s something he shouldn’t work on, but I fear that having James run the offense as much as he did in the remainder of Summer League ultimately takes away from the reps other players could be getting - not just as a ball-hander but as play finishers.
James’ performance probably looks better if he hit a few more shots (he was 2-10 from the field), but the offense was in a significantly worse place when James was the initiator.
We’ll see if this is just a blip, but there was a clear discomfort visible to me. It’s a little bit surprising after Mueller talked up James’ ball-handling.
Ryan Kalkbrenner was pretty up-and-down.
The other day, when I saw that Ryan Kalkbrenner had apparently gained 20 pounds, I honestly wasn’t sure if it was the great thing everyone seemed to think it was.
Kalkbrenner is already fairly immobile as a center, so I was kind of concerned more weight would take away from the little athleticism he did have.
And in the first half, Kalkbrenner looked uncomfortable. He’d missed multiple close-range shots, had gotten bullied on a post-up by Magic forward Noah Penda, and was taken advantage of defensively on multiple occasions.
Not exactly the kind of start you want to see from a center that was getting real rotational minutes for the Hornets last season.
He got it together quickly though. The second half was significantly better. He was more active defensively, went up with more confidence on his finishes, and overall looked much more in control.
Let’s talk about the rookies.
I want to start this with Christian Anderson, who had a decent game overall. He shot only 2-11 from the field, but I think there was much more to his game than that.
My biggest point of contention with the Anderson pick in the moment he was drafted is that I wasn’t sure he’d work defensively in the NBA. After one (1) game in the Summer League, I came away more impressed than expected on that end. He leverages his 6-foot-6 wingspan well, forced multiple pickups from perimeter players, and fought over screens with a high success rate.
I actually came away with a few more questions offensively, though. Anderson never quite looked as in control as I was hoping he would. When faced with pressure, I thought he made some fairly questionable decisions. He struggled when facing the full-court press, and I don’t think he ever really created the separation I was hoping as a ball-handler. It just felt like the margins for him to win on offense were very slim.
(It was also very funny to me that Stan van Gundy, the color commentator for the game, thought he wasn’t a point guard.)
Hannes Steinbach, on the other hand, I thought was really good. He did all the little things - rebounded very well, attacked closeouts, had some really nice playmaking flashes out of the post.
Early on, I thought Steinbach struggled to adjust to the physicality of Summer League, but he settled in really well.
I still want to see Steinbach try at shoot it at some point this Summer, but I came away very encouraged with how much it looked like Steinbach belonged on the court. I thought he was by far Charlotte’s most impactful big man, and my favorite play was his pick-and-roll rep with Christian Anderson which he used his length to create separation for an inside bucket.
Steinbach finished with a fairly quiet 15 points and 11 rebounds, and I’m super excited to see how he grows with the next few games. He was probably the brightest spot for me tonight - outside of McNeeley.