Both guys have work to do, but McCain made a better early impression
Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski, who went #16 and #32 in last month’s NBA Draft, have started their NBA careers in summer league play. You shouldn’t take it too seriously in either case. It’s summer league, which is full of rookies and marginal players.
That said, McCain’s start is clearly better. Playing against OKC, McCain finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 27 minutes. He missed all six of his three-point attempts, but that’ll come.
What was really striking was watching him take the ball to the basket. We didn’t always see a lot of that at Duke, so it’s nice to see him doing it.
For his part, Filipowski struggled. He shot 0-4 and got pushed around. He did better in his second outing on Tuesday, with four points, five rebounds and two assists (he’s a better passer than many people realize).
It’s a truism of basketball that big men take longer to mature and that will be the case for Filipowski as well. As he gets used to the NBA game, he’ll figure out what he can do offensively and he’ll find occasions to use his remarkable spin move.
At Duke, he took a while to figure out when not to do it, but Filipowski’s spin move is dazzlingly quick. The first time we saw it it was hard to believe. Once he learned not to do it around guards, it became much more effective.
It’s a potent weapon. Once he learns how to unleash that, he’s going to be tough to deal with.
Incidentally, one thing to keep in mind: playing in Salt Lake is tough. Filipowski will get used to it, but the air is thin and it’s just harder to run there.
