Pepsi Pro Summer League-Day One Game One
Jul 9th, 2007 by Woody Wommack
The first game of the 2007 Pepsi Pro Summer Leage is in the book, The Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 93-89. The game lasted two hours and 1 minute, and committing a combined 73 fouls. The rules for fouls are a little different in
Orlando than they are in the Las Vegas Summer League, a player cannot foul out, but for every foul a player commits over six, the opposing team gets two shots and the ball.
Bulls Notes:
Joakim Noah didn’t participate in today’s game, and isn’t expected to participate here in Orlando or at the Rocky Mountain Revue next week. Noah apparently is still hurting from a shoulder injury that occurred over four months ago and may not be ready to play again until training camp. Evidently the Bulls knew about this ailment before the draft, but I’m still surprised they passed on Spencer Hawes to take an injured Noah.
Andre Barrett a guard who spent all year on the Bulls roster last year but played in only six games appeared ready to shake off the rust from last season, and was flying all over the court in the first half. Unfortunately for Barrett, his teammates weren’t exactly ready to keep up and he turned the ball over six times to offset his six assists.
Tyrus Thomas showed why he was a lottery pick last year, by scoring 17 points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking five shots. Thomas has clearly been working on his mid-range jump shot, and took many different shots from around 15-18 foot range. The only sore spot for Thomas was when he injured his finger while blocking a shot in the third quarter. Thomas winced in pain but stayed in the game.
Pacers Notes:
Kareem Rush, former Laker and Bobcat showed why he belongs in the NBA instead of Lithuania, where he spent last season. Rush scored 20 points on 5-6 shooting from three point land, and also had four rebounds.
Desmon Farmer, a 6-5 220 guard from USC who spent last year playing for Seattle SuperSonics and in the d-league had many of the spectators of game one laughing as he continued to shout to his after nearly play. Farmer finished with six points, two assists and two rebounds.
Dan Grunfeld, a 6-6 220 guard from Stanford who played for Pacers summer league team last year crashed the floor as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter while tried to catch a Hail Mary pass. It was a scary moment for Grunfeld who laid on the floor for a few seconds, but returned to play in the fourth quarter. He finished with two points, one assist and one rebound.