Scotty Pippen Jr. shows he belongs in NBA in Lakers summer league win
By Ronald Agers
The South Bay Lakers took a step back in efficiency in this one!
In the last game, players from the South Bay Lakers set the tone and the Lakers ran away with things against the Miami Heat. In this game, there were a lot of freelancing and iso plays that led to careless turnovers. In this section let’s compare players that dominated the Heat game to the level of play in this one.
Mac McClung:
"He’s got the tools to make the squad. It’s not like the Lakers are not afraid to bring in players from the G-League or sign free agents and give them roster spots."
Warriors game on Sunday:
This guy is very athletic and he is able to get to the basket with ease and finish with contact. He did his thing again hitting a bucket late to end the third quarter. However, he is going to have to be able to show that he can run an offensive set which was lacking in this game. When Scotty Pippen Jr. ran the offense, it was a well-oiled machine. McClung on the other hand allowed the ball to stick and it led to four turnovers.
Yes, the Lakers will need a point guard coming off the bench to lead the second unit. For Mac to be that guy, he is going to have to be able to get the offense sets run better than he did in this one.
Don’t let the box score fool you, this is an uneven performance for Mac McClung.
Jay Huff:
Heat game on Saturday:
"Sure McClung led the team in scoring, but Huff was the best player on the floor. He dominated both ends of the floor with his defensive rim protection and highlight dunks."
Warriors game on Sunday:
It’s really about time for the Lakers to shut this guy down. We’ve seen enough. He is killing the summer league and these minutes could be used on other players such as Shareef O’Neal who didn’t play in this game.
Hoop + Harm@spippenjr x Jay Huff pic.twitter.com/J6r26ziTIr
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 3, 2022
In 15 minutes, Huff scored 10 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and the statisticians weren’t asleep at the wheel in this game as they counted 3 blocks. If they have an MVP award in this California Classic, the staff of Lake Show Life would like to congratulate Jay Huff for his excellent play that warrants this honor. There has been no one that has been close to even slowing this guy down this weekend.
Mason Jones:
If Lakers fans remember, this was one of the call-ups from the G-League when the Vogel era was coming to an end. He scored 13 points in that forgettable game against the Oklahoma City Thunder that led to a win. Since the summer league started, he has struggled. This guy has tunnel vision that would make Talen Horton-Tucker yell…”Pass the ball dude!”.
He had four turnovers and a horrid two-minute sequence in the second half that he will be thinking about for a couple of days. Sure, this guy is a scorer and can put the ball in the basket, but he has to showcase that he can do it within the realm of the offense that will have structure this year.
Enough about the South Bay Lakers, time to check on how the young players did that got fans to the TV sets to watch in the first place…first up Scotty Pippen Jr. Read on!