July 11, 2008
Orlando, Fla. – Courtney Lee and Marcin Gortat were selected as members of the 2008 Orlando Pro All-Summer League Teams at the conclusion of the six-team, five-day event Friday at the RDV Sportsplex in Orlando, Fla. Lee, who averaged 20.2 points over the five-game stretch, was named to the First Team, while Gortat’s 12.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per contest earned him Second Team honors. Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green of Oklahoma City, Miami’s Michael Beasley and Brook Lopez of New Jersey accompanied Lee with First Team honors.
Both the First and Second Teams were selected by the viewers of OrlandoMagic.com, the home page for the Orlando Pro Summer League. Viewers were able to watch all 15 games live on the Web site with commentary from the Magic’s Dante Marchitelli and George Galante, hosts of the Dante & Galante weekly internet show. Dante and Galante received more than 13,000 emails from viewers over the course of the week, and the OrlandoMagic.com site garnered more than 2.5 million hits during the five-day event as well.
For more information about the 2008 Orlando Pro Summer League, and for final standings, stats and box scores from all 15 games, log on to OrlandoMagic.com.
1st Team
G – Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
G – Courtney Lee, Orlando
F – Jeff Green, Oklahoma City
F – Michael Beasley, Miami
C – Brook Lopez, New Jersey
2nd Team
G – Mario Chalmers, Miami
G – Earl Calloway, Indiana
G – Jaycee Carroll, New Jersey
F/G – Chris Douglas-Roberts, New Jersey
C – Marcin Gortat, Orlando
Orlando summer league: Pacers vs. Nets
Nets: 107, Pacers: 99 | Box Score
July 11, 2008 | By David Benner
Orlando – The Indiana Pacers concluded play in the Orlando Pro Summer League Friday afternoon with a 107-99 loss to the New Jersey Nets at the RDV Sportsplex. The Pacers finished the league with a 2-3 record.
Against the Nets (4-1), Indiana built a 10-point lead in the second quarter, but the Nets turned things around for a one-point lead at the half and the game was close the rest of the way. There were 19 lead changes and 16 ties in the contest, but in the last minute New Jersey pulled away with free throws from Ryan Anderson, Brook Lopez and Chris Douglas-Roberts.
The common theme in all three Pacers losses was turnovers and opponents free throw shooting. The Pacers turned the ball over 21 times against the Nets, who capitalized for 30 points. New Jersey also shot 40 of 46 from the line.
“The whole week was turnovers,” said Pacers assistant coach Lester Conner. “Plus they got to the line 46 times today. Things like that get you beat. We shot 57 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point territory and 80 percent from the line. You should win those games.” Stephen Graham bounced back from a bad shooting night against Orlando with 16 points on 6 of 9 from the floor. Josh Davis had 15, Ali Berdiel 14, Shawne Williams 12 and Vladimie Gulobovic 11 with eight rebounds.
Lopez, the Nets’ No. 1 draft choice, finished with 25 points and was the most consistent rookie in the league this week. Anderson had 20 and Douglas-Roberts 11.
For the week, Williams led the Pacers in scoring at 14.6, Earl Calloway was at 14.2, Graham 14, Davis 13.6 and Andre Emmett 13.
Orlando summer league: Pacers vs. Magic
Magic: 82, Pacers: 80 | Box Score
July 10, 2008 | By David Benner
Orlando – With just under three minutes left in the Indiana Pacers’ Orlando Pro Summer League game against the Magic Thursday night, Shawne Williams’ 3-point attempt, which would have given the Pacers a nine-point lead, went in and out. That foretold the outcome, a near miss, as they fell to Orlando, 82-80. From that point, the Pacers went flat with turnovers and missed shots and Orlando went ahead on a 14-2 run, but Indiana still had a chance to win or tie at the end. Trailing by six with 15.6 seconds left, Stephen Graham was fouled on a 3-point attempt and he hit the first two, missed the third and Orlando fumbled the ball out-of-bounds. Regaining possession, the Pacers took advantage as Williams nit a 3-pointer to make it 81-80 with 8.3 left.
The Pacers (2-2) quickly fouled Cliff Hammonds, who made one of two free throws with 6.5 left. Earl Calloway then pushed the ball up to the left baseline and his attempt to tie missed.
“We didn’t have the ball movement we’ve had the last couple of games,” said assistant coach Frank Vogel. “The Magic played with a sense of urgency since they were 0-3 coming into the game. It was a tough loss. We struggled to get stops down the stretch.”
The Pacers were led by Andre Emmett, who had 17 points and a team-high six rebounds. Emmett is averaging 14 points and shooting 55 percent from the floor in the four games, “He’s had a great week for us,” said Vogel. “He’s an opportunistic player. He’s not only made shots, but he does the dirty work, rebounding and getting loose balls.”
Calloway finished with 16 points, Josh Davis 14 and Williams 13. The two Pacers’ veterans, Williams and Stephen Graham, struggled from the floor going 3 for 13 and 0-9, respectively.
Indianapolis’ Courtney Lee, the Magic’s No. 1 draft pick this year, scored 18 along with Marcin Gortat to lead Orlando.
Former Pacer Haywood Workman was one of the three referees working the game.
Orlando summer league: Pacers vs. Heat
Pacers: 95, Heat: 84 | Box Score
July 9, 2008 | By David Benner
The Indiana Pacers improved their Orlando Pro Summer League record to 2-1 with a 95-84 victory over the Miami Heat at the RDV Sportsplex Wednesday night. The Pacers trailed the entire first half, but turned the game around in the third quarter. Shawne Williams scored nine points, Josh Davis seven, Stephen Graham seven and Earl Calloway five as the Pacers shot 57 percent, held the Heat to 43 percent shooting and took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter. Once there, the Pacers never trailed, building a lead of 14 points.
Williams, who started the game 0 for 4 from the floor, led the Pacers with 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
“I just kept playing,” Williams said of the sluggish start. “I was struggling shooting, pressing a little bit so I just decided to have fun, relax. I tried to pick myself up after the first quarter.”
Williams offset his offense with just two rebounds and seven turnovers. “I’ve got to do the other things,” he said. “With my athletic ability, I should get more than two rebounds and I’ve got to take better care of the ball.”
Davis added 19 points, Graham 17, Earl Calloway 12 and Andre Emmett 10. Justin Gray did a nice job off the bench with six assists as Calloway was plagued by foul trouble in a game that had 67 fouls and 92 free throws between the two teams.
Miami (2-1) was led by rookie Mario Chalmers, who had 23 points, 17 of those in a perfect night at the free throw line. Michael Beasley, the Heat’s top draft pick (No. 2 overall) had 17 points and eight rebounds. Chalmers also had seven turnovers, Beasley four.
“We had a good second half and our turnovers (16 against the Heat) are starting to come down,” said Pacers assistant coach Lester Conner. “I thought we defended Beasley pretty well, he’s a heckuva talent. With Shawne, this was what we expected him to do the first couple of games. He still needs to do the other things to round out his game.”
The Pacers will play the Orlando Magic Thursday at 5 p.m.
Orlando summer league: Pacers vs. Bulls
Bulls: 89, Pacers: 84 | Box Score
July 8, 2008 | By David Benner
A poor fourth quarter was the downfall as the Indiana Pacers lost to the Chicago Bulls, 89-84, in the Orlando Pro Summer League at the RDV Sportsplex Tuesday night.
Andre Emmett hit a 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer to give the Pacers a 59-51 lead going into the fourth quarter. But once in the final 10 minutes, it became a reversal of offensive fortunes. With Memphis’ Derrick Rose, the Bulls’ No. 1 draft pick and the top pick overall from June’s NBA draft, sitting most of the fourth quarter on the bench, Chicago mounted a comeback behind JamesOn Curry and Aaron Gray.
Curry scored six of his 10 points, to go with five assists, and Gray scored 13 of his 14 points in the fourth as the Bulls scored 38 points on 13 of 20 from the field. The Pacers, meanwhile, struggled from the floor hitting just 4 of 17 from the floor.
“We just couldn’t guard Aaron Gray,” said Pacers assistant coach Lester Conner. “We made him look like an All-Star. He was the key to their turnaround. We just weren’t consistent on both ends, particularly offensively. We go from 54 percent shooting one night to 34 percent the next and 42 turnovers in two nights is not a good statistic.”
The Pacers were led by Earl Calloway with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, but he also committed a team-high six turnovers. Stephen Graham had 15 points, Emmett 14, Josh Davis 11, Shawne Williams 10 and Courtney Sims 10. The Bulls were led by Keith Langford with 19. Rose had nine points (2 of 9 from the floor), seven assists and six rebounds.
Wednesday night (approximately 7 o’clock) the Pacers get a look at the draft’s No. 2 pick, Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, when they play Miami.
Orlando summer league: Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Pacers: 95, Oklahoma City: 78| Box Score
July 7, 2008 | By David Benner
The Indiana Pacers jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never trailed the rest of the way as they beat Oklahoma City, 95-78, in the opening game of the Orlando Pro Summer League at the RDV Sportsplex Monday afternoon.
Oklahoma City (formerly the Seattle SuperSonics) trailed by 13 going into the fourth quarter and cut the lead to eight with seven minutes to play. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Shawne Williams and Andre Emmett put the Pacers up 83-69 with 5:22 to play and Oklahoma City never got inside of double figures again.
“Overall, a pretty good game,” said assistant coach Lester Conner, who is coaching the summer league team. “We’ve got to bring down our turnovers (23). We shot the ball well (54.2 percent), especially from the 3-point line (5-11). Our team defense has to get a lot better, but for the first time making contact with somebody else, I thought we were pretty good. We attacked the rim well, which got us to the line (26 of 32).”
The Pacers had good balance with five players in double figures, led by Earl Calloway with 16. Emmett had 15, 10 in the fourth quarter on 4-of-4 from the floor after going 1 for 8 in the first three quarters. Stephen Graham had 14, Shawne Williams 13 and Courtney Sims 12.
Calloway, aside from four turnovers, had a solid game with seven assists and four rebounds. He also was matched up with Oklahoma City’s top draft pick, Russell Westbrook, much of the game.
“He’s a good player, one of the top picks in the draft,” said Calloway. “I just tried to out-compete him team-wise. I was a little jittery, but it was exciting to be out there.”
Westbrook finished with 18 points and five assists. Former Indiana University player D.J. White had eight points and four rebounds for Oklahoma City, which was playing its first NBA-affiliated game since the announcement last week the team was moving from Seattle.
The Pacers return to action Tuesday night when they meet Chicago and Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, at approximately 7 p.m.
