Washington Basketball Markelle Fultz NBA ready in summer league debut
By Bret Stuter
Washington Basketball guard Markelle Fultz displayed just how NBA ready he is in Philadelphia 76ers summer league debut
For former Washington Basketball point guard Markelle Fultz, the time for talking is past. The time for doing is now. So what did he do? He debuted in the Philadelphia 76ers summer league opener in such a way that there is no doubt of his potential. He’s NBA ready.
“It’s just another game of basketball, a game I love” – Markelle Fultz
This was not just a suit up and let’s scrimmage those other five guys sort of game. This was a test of Markelle Fultz’s ability to slide to the shooting guard role. In fact, one of the things
the Philadelphia 76ers website attuned to was not how many points or rebounds Fultz made in the opener. It was how comfortable did he appear at the two.
Well, I watched the game and he was as comfortable at shooting guard as I was at my desk chair as I wrote this.
.@MarkelleF after his first Summer League game » https://t.co/V7gYAzxmfT #SummerSixers https://t.co/OmUslSBbMf
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 4, 2017
In his interview, he said: “It’s just another game of basketball, a game I love”. No truer words were spoken.
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Game results
On one hand, in 22 minutes Fultz led the 76ers with 17 points, one steal, three blocks, two rebounds, and one assist. On the other hand, Fultz dished out the ball perfectly, but his teammates failed to score on some pretty open shots.
His shooting accuracy was great from the perimeter, where he shot 40 percent. Even his free throws were sinking, going in at a 75 percent clip. He was missing some shots from the floor, where his shooting ended up at 37.5 percent.
Fultz star rising
Conversely, many in attendance focused on Jayson Taturm, the Boston Celtics drafted player at three. He played 33 minutes and ended with 21 points, five steals, seven rebounds, no blocks and three assists. But he played alongside Jaylen Brown, a 2016 top draft pick who scored 29 points and 13 rebounds. On raw scores, many believed Tatum had a better game. But on a per 36 minutes basis, Fultz was the clear star of the game.
Next: Washington Basketball multitasking recruiting both 2018 and 2019
After a day off, Markelle Fultz will lead the Philadelphia 76ers back onto the court to face the host Utah Jazz at 6:00 p.m. PT on July 5, 2017. The game will be televised on NBA TV or CSN. And you can bet at least one NBA player will be watching. But we’ll talk about that later…