All eyes are on Marvin Bagley III in Sacramento this summer, so how did the former Blue Devil do?
I can’t stress this enough. CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE NOT WON IN THE SUMMER LEAGUE. Very little should be inferred about a player from how he performs in a few games in July. That being said, it’s still entertaining to analyze Duke star Marvin Bagley’s performance against the Miami Heat on NBATV.
First Quarter
Bagley tried to get going on the first possession, but he could not drive past his defender. He then got hit on a simple screen that allowed an open jumper for Miami. He had the opportunity to get a few defensive rebounds, but he failed to box out on the perimeter and allowed multiple second-chance opportunities. His help defense was strong and necessary, but he and his teammates could not scramble to find the open man on kick-outs. All in all, his defense was average. He had some good contests on the perimeter, but he also got beat a few times and bit on some pump fakes.
Offensively, he kept his team somewhat stagnant. Without De’Aaron Fox in the lineup, there was little movement away from the ball. When he posted up, he couldn’t force down defenders and had to kick the ball out repeatedly, and he had multiple turnovers late in the shot clock.
Second Quarter
He sat for the first few minutes of the quarter, and he came back with more energy. There were still mistakes, however. He fouled multiple times in the first half when being caught out of position in the paint. He continued to stay with the ball out of his hands on the offensive end, and he didn’t have a field goal attempt the entire first half. Sacramento suffered as they trailed by 11 going into halftime.
Third Quarter
The Kings looked to go towards MB3 on offense on the first possession. After an off-ball screen, he drove the baseline through traffic and got blocked while forcing up a tough shot. As his intensity picked up, he got more in the rhythm of the game. He was fouled a few times, but he seemed to be performing better. However, he still only had the one blocked shot attempt. He finally was able to score on his second free throw attempt late in the quarter. His defense continued to improve, but he just couldn’t get it done on offense.
Fourth Quarter
Marvin Bagley was quiet for most of the fourth. As the Kings fought to come back, they didn’t go through Bagley on offense. They pulled the score closer a few times, but inevitably lost to the Heat by 10 to end the Sacramento Summer League
Recap
Bagley played 29 of 40 minutes, and he had one point, three rebounds, two turnovers, and a block on the game. He seemed slow at times, but that’s to be expected in the summer. His post offense was pushed out to the perimeter, and he lost his box outs at times.
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All in all, he is simply suffering from growing pains. He will definitely learn from this game and build on it as he continues to grow this off-season. Again, these games are not a huge deal. All Bagley did against Miami took a hard step in the right direction as he heads into his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings.