The SummerWizards did their best imitation of the real Wizards today, as they were outscored 35-13 in the final quarter of their loss to the SummerPistons tonight.
Even though they lost, today's performance was a lot better than yesterday's. Nick Young looked a lot better out there, although I still don't like his aversion to contact. Still, it's become clear he has great separation on his jumper and he has explosive ability. His defense on Rodney Stuckey also impressed me -- Stuckey really was only effective yesterday when the diminutive Brian Chase checked him. D-Mac (we need a better nickname) had his second straight solid all-around game, although he did disappear a bit in the second half, and Mike Hall looked a lot better out there than he did against the Kings.
The biggest concern was O-Pec, who was abused by Jason Maxiell inside. For the second straight game, he struggled on the glass, and he scored most of his points while languishing on the perimeter. Granted, Maxiell and Justin Williams were pretty tough matchups, but I guess I'm a little disappointed his supposed increased strength hasn't shown itself just yet. Whatever. It's summer league.
The guy that really stood out for me today, though, was Aaron Miles. He did an excellent job running the team in the second half, finishing with 7 assists and 1 turnover. He made a couple really nice dishes, one to Young for his slam over Cheik Samb, and another to Kyle Visser on the break. He also did an excellent job defensively against Arron Afflalo, who really only succeeded because he kept drawing bogus fouls on the Wizards' bigs. The difference between him and Chase was like night and day. I'd love to see the Wizards retain Miles and cut Donnell Taylor. I like how Miles is more of a pure point than Taylor.
The SummerWizards' next game is against Lior Eliyahu and the SummerRockets Friday at 10 PM Eastern Time.