The Washington Wizards beat a deep Houston Rockets Summer League squad, 76-70, yesterday. Washington was in control for the majority of the game and a late surge by the Rockets is the only reason the score was as close as it was. Looking at the box score, no one jumps out as having had a particularly noteworthy game, but this is very misleading. Summer League is about development more than trying to win player of the game, and there were a lot of good signs. Chris Singleton played his usual energetic defense, but also showed an improved in between game, getting to the free throw line and being more assertive in general on offense. Bradley Beal, who had been more likely to move down to small forward than over to the point in college, showed some nice ball handling and distribution skills, especially running the pick and roll. And Jan Vesely had a solid if unspectacular game following the previous day's ten foul debacle. [ Us I Wiz of Awes I NBA.com I CSN Washington I Wizards Insider I TruthAboutIt ]
Tomas Satoransky also played well, with a nasty dunk and a solid overall performance. He's also picked up a new nickname. [ DC Sports Nexus ]
Nene will be back at the Verizon Center on Monday for Brazil's game against Team USA. [ Washington Examiner ]
Former Wizards center Brendan Haywood was picked up for $2.05 million by the Bobcats via the amnesty auction process. [ Yahoo! Sports via the Associated Press ]
The Wizards' fast break is becoming more unpredictable, and, hopefully, effective. As per Mike, Bradley Beal mentioned that all of the main guys have been instructed to push the ball, except for Vesely, who only gets to take up to three dribbles. [ Us I Mike's Twitter ]
The Knicks traded for Raymond Felton, and actually might not match the Rockets' offer to Jeremy Lin. Wow. [ ESPN ]
Sam Cassell has praised Bradley Beal's calm, serene outlook on life right now. It sounds like he's adjusting well to the NBA. [ Washington Post I CSN Washington ]
Chris Singleton has had some ups and downs this summer. This pattern continued last night, with some really good and really bad plays, but with more of the former yesterday. [ CSN Washington ]
Lots of youngsters have done well this summer. A few are Wizards. [ NBC Sports ]
Shelvin Mack and Tomas Satoransky have taken their lumps this summer, but they're learning. [ CSN Washington ]
Jan Vesely barely seemed to react after losing a shoe and being knocked down on a really dirty play early in the third quarter yesterday. I'm not saying he should have decked someone, but you can't let people punk you like that, especially as a young guy. [ YouTube ]
Portland and Minnesota are still battling over Batum. He's a solid player, don't get me wrong, but is the difference between what he provides and what Cartier Martin does really worth $15 million a year? [ ESPN ]
Kyrie Irving fractured his hand. He should be fine, but Cavs fans are probably freaking out right now. For those keeping track, that's two Rookies of the Year that have suffered serious injuries playing with Team USA this summer. CORRECTION: Irving got hurt in Summer League practice. [ Pro Basketball Talk ]
The Nike World Basketball Festival is this weekend. [ Us ]