Detroit Pistons vs San Antonio Spurs | Jul 19 2025 | NBA 2K26 Summer League Today
Smith, Laneir, and Ziegler for San Antonio Ingram, Jones Garcia, Dio, Dennis, and Mangus. Our officials today, Ian Mlenny, Cass Beverly, Falina Gados for San Antonio, Mike Noise, their head coach, and Vitali Pat, pardon me, the former NBA veteran, who’s coaching the Pistons. So, there’s Jones Garcia. They get a lot of work. Dexter Dennis, a welltraveled G-League player, picks up the foul there as uh they will reset here out of bounds. George, you love it from a coaching standpoint. Your first defensive possession. Everybody guarded their yard. The ball didn’t get by anybody’s hip. showing the confidence early. Detroit to stay in front of the basketball making that opening possession for the Spurs. Tough Jones Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic. Drive here by Ingram. Turn around, misses everything, but Spurs able to get the rebound there. Dennis fires. Blocked though. Pistons in transition. Three ball on the way is good. Lines it up and knocks it down. Three nothing. Well, that’s what Laneir has been drafted for. And Lissa talked about in the open when he’s open that dude’s got to let it fly. The best shooter in all of college basketball last year. Might have been a Tennessee Volunteer and it’s Chaz Laneir number 20 in blue. An elite catch and shoot player. No question about it. George, he’s a guy that’s got a quick fast trigger and does a really good job of just drifting in to that transition three and a good find from behind. Laneir is so good at the college level and now will transition into those high slot threes. Yeah, that’s certainly a skill you want to have if you want to play in the NBA. Smith rejected but a foul. It’ll be Dio who picks up that foul. Tou Smith is another big strong athlete out of the SEC. Finished up at Mississippi State. What I love about Tou Smith, several things, but he loves ball. And and a lot of big guys, the game chooses them instead of them choosing the game. And one thing about Tou Smith, talking to Chris Jans as head coach, Ben Howland prior to that is they had to kick him out of the gym at times. That’s how much time he puts in. And as a result, a guy with that type length and wingspan and heart and toughness, they will develop and find a way to stick in this league for a long time. Smith averaging 14 points per game here in Vegas or nearly 14 points and a team leading nine rebounds. Four and a half offensive is what he’s averaging per game here at Summer League. Yeah. So, you think about it, he’s getting four and a half offensive rebounds a game, 22 minutes. So, that’s one offensive rebound about every five minutes. That’s a great great clip. So, Pistons up four nothing early in this one. Mangis buys Jones Garcia on the slot cut. Almost turns it over and he does. Yep. Steps on the line. Another possession. The San Antonio can’t they can’t go by their guy. They they can’t win their one-on-one battle here in the first couple of minutes. And you see the confidence of Detroit defensively already climbing up into guys jerseys saying, “You can’t go by me. I’ve got good help behind me.” If so, so the Spurs a little sloppy here early on. There’s Lenir. Pompe kicks it to the corner. Three ball. Heat. Heat. trying to make that 45 degree pass. Very difficult to do. Jimmy, I know something about being 5’9, so I know where you’re talking. You struggle with those 45 degree passes. No question about it. Absolutely. Ingram into the paint, finds Mangis. Good screen there. Loads up in and out on the three. Pistons come up with it. Quicker staff headed the other direction. Drops it off for Laneir. Steps into a three. In and out. But Smith, right place, right time, gets the hoop and the horn. appreciate the effort of Tou Smith to get out in front of the play. Therefore, he’s inside the defense when the shots taken. And Chaz Laneir, he has made a living off of those driftin transition threes at Tennessee is going to translate well to the NBA. But Tou Smith just a nose for the ball. Not a lazy big. Runs to the front of the rim. An easy clean up with two soft palms. Hey, hey, hey. their games respectively against the Raptors and Thunder. So, the Kings and Hornets will do battle tomorrow, 10 Eastern, 7 Pacific on ESPN for the summer league championship. And Isaac Jones for Sacramento was phenomenal today. 36 points. What an interesting story Isaac Jones is for Sacramento, George. He was 5’5 when he began high school ball. It grew to 6’4. Had no offers coming out of high school. So he actually worked at a manufacturing like a pipe building company. Yes. Before he started college ball and now he’s got a full contract. And there’s our guy to Smith. It was good soft feet of his rolling out of that baseline out of bounds for an easy two. And those 36 points by Isaac the second most at Summerly. So what’s the most? 37 was the most by uh I was four. No, that was technically was 37. that there was a I I know they said it was 40 because the boxers said it was 40, but there is a discrepancy. It is 37. So, trust me when I tell you Dave Freed, I know you’re the statistician extraordinaire, but I’ve had this argument with people all week long today. Yeah, I think the kid from the Bulls, right? Yes, the kid from the Bulls. Young Jir Young. So, we we’ve talked about Zakai Ziggler only being 5’9. what he does do. He’s a four-time SEC all defensive player and he will climb right up into your airspace and make life heck on you. And any type of a soft habit pass or lazy bounce, this kid’s going to have it off and running to the other end. And grew up on the streets of New York City, a tough tough young man that is fighting and scratching with all he can right now with one game left to audition. Yeah. Tons of leadership obviously. I mean that you know at that size to your point you know we had Maris Noel yesterday in a game from Kansas State similar in stature and you know you got to be tough as nails at that size and you got to have a a level of control of the offense and I believe both guys certainly have that. Let’s check in with Alyssa. Yeah, I mentioned the advice that Rod Clark gave to his team former teammates who were here when he was here earlier in the week. Zakai Ziggler was among that list. He said, “Zakai, you’re in a position where you’re going to have the ball. You got to do the things you’ve always done, the things he’s gotten better at doing.” He said, “Be who you are. Don’t change just because you’re in the NBA now. Stick up still pick up the ball full court like you do.” They love that here. Be a guy who can run a team, which Jimmy, we’ve seen him do that a lot throughout his years in college. He’ll want to continue to do that here. Listen, when he stepped on to Tennessee’s campus, he made a tough culture tougher, and that’s not easy to do. talking about 26 in blue who throws to his running buddy Laneir. They’ve ran that action time and time again. A little pin down for a three-point shot. But the question of Zakai Ziggler being tough enough is is not a question. It’s just his skill level and rim decisions as a small guard that’s going to have to continue to grow. Jones Garcia gets his own miss there. Ball out of bounds, but it’ll stay Spurs ball. But let’s take a look at Ziggler to Laneir here on that play you were referencing earlier, Jimmy. Well, the pass from Laneir is is is perfect timing. Just gets a little piece of the paint, but allows Laneir to get his feet set and let gets Laneir behind the basketball. And good shooting teams are good passing teams. And that’s what made Tennessee this year one of those teams that got to the Elite Eight. That Ziggler to Laneir combination is hard to guard. Yeah, that Laneir number though that he’s wearing is uh There’s a, you know, you know, you hear Laneir and the Pistons and you can only think one thing, you know, think about. Finally, San Antonio gets something going offensively. David Jones Garcia though had to had to make a contested three in the corner. And Detroit’s major team, they have built their brand back with toughness and defense and playing with an edge. And this young team has captured that same culture and mentality to start this game. Smith with the left hand up and in off the glass. George, that is really good. It means simple is fast in this league and that simple action for Tou Smith and that middle ball screen dive out of it is so prevalent in the NBA and you’re showing coaches if you’re to Smith and I’m capable of playing out of ball screens and making plays on the move. Ingram with the push shot, no good. Another rebound for the Pistons. Um checked in, got that board. Here’s Lamir. No good. Rebound. Jones Garcia. Boy, it looks good coming off his hand though, doesn’t it? Oh my god. Every time. Does not come off at a bad angle. Jones Garcia for three and that one swirls in. We know this about David Jones Garcia. He can go on a eight n0 run as good as anybody in Las Vegas. Smith on the spin. Soft jumper no good. But look what he’s shown you already. He’s running zoom action, diving out of ball screens, quick feet, spinning in front of the rim, a baseline out of bounds play for Tou Smith. 35 in blue been a major factor in this game. And that’s what I’m talking about. That five out just opens the floor and you dive out of that middle ball screen and there’s no one to tag a roller. And there’s Jones Garcia. His ability, George, to create his own offense is the best thing that San Antonio has going on this end so far. Dexter Dennis lines one up too strong. Known as a defender his entire college career, Dennis at Witaw State&M. Not a shooter. A G-League champion with the Stockton Kings most recently. Jones Garcia can’t get that one to fall, but he’ll get the foul. Well, he is their offense and that’s one of the few times we’ve seen San Antonio crack the inside of that defense off of a little dribble hesitation. And Jones Garcia can go right, but he he actually he wants to he goes left and goes leter for the most part until you can take it away. And you better sit on that left hand and force him to do plays going to that right side. Garcia with the two free throws there. George, some guys as you go back and watch film getting ready for games belong on an NBA court and David Jones Garcia belongs on a full-time NBA court. It’s a tough situation to your point though with San Antonio specifically. It’s such a crowded back court. You know, they traded for De’arren Fox last year. You know, you draft Dylan Harper. Um, you know, they’ve got Stefan Castle who was the rookie of the year last year. There’s a lot of guys back there. Dexter Dennis. Nice bounce pass. Reverse no good though. Yeah, to Smith though right there in defensive position to take away an automatic two. Good hard cut. The best weapon on offense is a hard cut. Just didn’t finish the play. Bobby Clintman. Six on the shot clock. Beautiful pocket pass to Smith and he finishes there with a layup. I I will say this about Bobby Clintman. He’s not a point guard, but good things happen when that dude has the ball. Screen rescreen action up top. Clintman never got sped up. A beautiful dime. And there’s the offense again for San Antonio. Yeah, Jones Garcia all 10 points. He is it. Carrie with Nelson Jr. on his hip high off the glass. No good. Jir Nelson Jr. with the ball. Jir Nelson lowers the shoulder and gets it off the window. A small guard’s got to be able to make shots through contact at the rim. when Jir Nelson Jr. just did it. Probably learned from his dad who was an NBA Allstar. There’s that screen rescreen action up top. The middle’s opened up. The tag guy is too late, too small to handle to Smith. Good start for the Pistons. NBA 2K26 Summer League is proudly sponsored by NBA 2K26, rated E for everyone. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. for sure. Two-way contract for the Pistons. Nice move there by Oifo and he throws it down. Boy, good movement by OFO. Again, I talk about the value of hard cuts and purposeful cuts. One of the biggest weapons you can have in a basketball game. guys that know how to play without the ball. And Oifo’s so good at staying off the ball and showing his numbers in his hands right there. And just a really good job of drifting with patience, reading where the ball was coming from. Little head fake gets the shot blocker out of the way by Oifa. A 14-4 run here by the Spurs. And Nelson can’t get that one to drop, but another whistle and the Spurs will be the benefactors of that. And George, they’re starting the Spurs to have some success winning their one-on-one battle and driving the ball. It was a big problem for him the first three or four minutes. And you like teams that can fix problems within the game, and San Antonio has kind of figured that part out so far in this. Well, you brought up the question earlier when we were doing our open about, you know, scouts and whatnot are going to take a look see if these guys are playing hard enough because they didn’t make the tournament. I would say you can check that one off the list. Yeah. Yeah. No doubt. And so Nelson drops the shoulder offensive foul. A lot of teams will play hard the first couple of possessions, but what what do you do at the six-minute mark from then on? And Jir Nelson, boom, right there. It’s a great job by Carrie to get his chest on that basketball and take that contact. Jamir Nelson, yes, his dad, the 15-year NBA career, an NBA All-Star in 2009, but better defense that time than offense. Yeah, and Jir extended the arm there. Carry pump fake gets it to Smith now. Dribble handoff to Laneir. Two men on him. Smith from the elbow wide. Not the mark. Yeah, not not his strength yet. It’s okay. That’s what development leaves us forward. Yep. Not afraid to take it. Playing without fear right now, Tou Smith. Good hands. Pistons on the move. Oh, we have an offensive goalend there for sure. So, Okumadu tried to put his own basket back in, but little too antsy there. But a very fast quick second jump, right? I mean, he he delivers it and with one Quick step. Boom. Right back up at the rim. Mangus wide open for three. Laces one up. Gets it to fall. The ones you have to make. This guy was a shooter. Fourtime Nai all-American at Indiana Wesley. And a catch and shoot specialist is Kyle Mingus. First lead for the Spurs. there. Oh, Laneir wide open again. How does that happen? Nothing but net. I mean, there’s there is no looking at your teammate. It’s like he got a simple pin down screen and completely wide open again. The Jerry Weston award winner. You know this about Laneir. He can flat out shoot the basketball. By the way, those were the first lead changes in this building today. This is the third game. Hey, you and I only call call close games. Yeah, there you go. All the games we’ve done, they’ve been close. Beautiful cut there by Jir Nelson Jr. So, we’re tied up at 19. 5.6 seconds to go in the first quarter. And we have a whistle. Again, those holds aren’t called, especially in playoffs. It’s It’s okay right now. And Jir Nelson showing he can play the game from the shoulders down and the shoulders above. Smart, high IQ guy. A point guard understands cutting without the ball. That’s just an experienced kid. Laneir going to step into one. Oh, can’t get that one to drop. So, we’re all knotted up at 19 a piece here. Tou Smith is going to join Alyssa. Stick around here from Vegas on a dis people to know that we a hard-nosed gritty team that we don’t back down from no team. Thanks to All right, Melissa, thank you. And Tou, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about him. Obviously, Jimmy, I mentioned the two-way contract with the Pistons and in the G- League, averaged nearly 18 points a game and 13 rebounds. We’ll have a review here and a timeout for the Spurs as they’re going to challenge this. We’ll take a look at the review on the other side. Stick around with us here at Summerly. You have a UTI at 30,000 ft. Good thing you can chat with an Amazon One medical provider from anywhere. Now just brace your urethra for turbulence. Sarah Benzino, Brandon Kohley, Jablonsky Auto Body LLC. What’ she call Harper? Oh, you mean Jablonsky Auto Body LLC. We actually sold the twins naming rights. You know, like Hey everybody, hey black. Spurs bench and the Spurs head coach. An easy one to see. I go back to Alyssa’s interview with Tulu Smith and she asked him, “What do you hope your tape shows at the end of your time in Vegas and he talked about wheat. I think that fits exactly what Detroit’s culture is about.” They’re not that far off. They’re six in the East. They lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, but they have built their brand Detroit again off of physical, tough, how hard they play, share the ball, defend their tails off, and that that fits right with who they are. And that’s two things in my opinion. First, it’s JB Bickerstaff. Yeah. And you saw what he did in Cleveland. He turned that culture around. No doubt uh very quickly. Uh you know, I felt like he got scapegoed a little bit. And that’s not a knock on Kenny Atinson who did a phenomenal job last year. But I feel like JB was not the reason that they struggled in the playoffs a couple years ago. So that’s number one. Number two, they’ve got one of those dudes and that’s Kate Cunningham. And they do. And when you got one of those guys, you’re in good shape. That guy is going to be a first, second team, all NBA guy for the rest of his career. He is so dynamic with the ball. Kate Cunningham. Watching him in college ball as well. But you know, he he plays his game and his pace and the one thing Detroit needed help with last year was shooting. They went out and signed Duncan Robinson. I think one of the key signes in the NBA in the offseason and they brought in a guy like Chaz Laneir. That’s why my point that Detroit, they’re not that far off. Oh, and a reverse there by Ukcomadu. To your point, Robinson, they did lose Tim Hardaway Junior, so they needed to replace the spacing in the shooting. Robinson one of the best shooters in the game. And Oifo again, that’s his third dunk of the game already. And those highway drives and dives have been available in this game. Back-to-back possessions that the entire floor just opens up and a lot of space. No help defense in the picture. There it is again. Picker staff throws it up. Wild shot, no good. Spurs on the run. Here’s Carter changing gears high off the window and in. Really good tough finish and aggressive nose on the rim finish by Carter. You mentioned JB Picker Staff earlier. Obviously, we’ve got a Picker Staff on the floor here. TJ’s his nephew. Spurs on the run. Nelson finds Carter. Carter with the finish. Boy, Carter has really brought some energy to San Antonio once he’s checked in. And their foot speed, overall team speed, backto-back possessions for the Spurs. They get out and they flood that floor. Bring the ball up the middle. Both guys running the wings. Hey, hey, hey. pretty hey I agree 100%. I Ivy getting healthy getting huge. Thompson’s one of the better athletes and defenders in the entire league. They’ve added key pieces that shooting component that Laneir and Duncan Robinson’s going to add. Huge for the Pistons. And let’s not forget Carris Levert who came from Cleveland. Lever a good veteran addition. Detroit was in the bottom third of the league, George, in three-point makes at less than 13 a game. They’re in the bottom third in the league only taking 35 three-point shots a game. So to go 44 and 38, go with the Knicks 4-2 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, they’ve gone out and solidified that shooting number heading into next year. Oh, there’s no doubt. Listen, Duncan Robinson in his time in Miami is averaging six, seven threes a game. So he’s got half of those already for you. And and Duncan Robinson’s been a part of winning winning teams. Yeah, he’s been in the finals twice. 30-year-old has been a part of finals teams. He’s the Miami Heat alltime leader in three-point makes. That That’s what you’re adding to a team that desperately needed a shot maker or two. Six-point ball game. What a dish to Bigger Step. Gets fouled though. Can’t finish. It’ll go to the free throw line. That’s the decisions at the rim that Zakai Ziggler has to excel in. He’s only 5’9. and he’s going to get covered up if he tries to finish himself. But he gets downhill, rejects that ball screen, but the entire time he’s waiting for Bickerstaff to fill from behind, drives up, drags a defense with him, gets that primary defender off his feet, and Bicker Staff with soft hands on the delivered pass from Double Z. TJ misses the first end. David Jones Garcia checking back in for the Spurs. So they have the lead while he was out and now their scoring punch comes back. So TJ gets the back end. Cam Carter made an impact very quickly here in this game. Got a couple buckets and a couple of assists. He drives to the basket. What a finish there. Oipo to clean it up. It all starts though with San Antonio’s ability to get downhill. Again, we talked about the first two or three possessions. They could go nowhere close to that unpainted area of this floor as opposed to the painted area. And now they’re getting action off their ball screen. If you can’t execute offensively off of a middle ball screen or cover a middle ball screen, you are toast in college ball or the NBA these days. Ogbo lines one up, knocks it down. A three ball for Ogdo right in the face of Clintman who had a good long close out and Ogbo just rose up and fired. 10-point lead now for the Spurs. Ukamadu tough shot. Swirls out, gets his own rebound. Turnaround is good. He is as good of a second jumper as there is in Vegas from what I’ve seen. And we saw him miss one in transition, but the same thing there. Misses the first one and the first guy up to the top of the ball, the apex on the offensive rebound. Ukamadu, a local try out for the Motor City G-League team. So, all these G-League teams have these local try out, see if guys in the area can play. You have to pay 250 bucks to try out and he made it. Look at where he’s at here. That was just a year or so ago. You know what? In those kind of try outs, you two things. You find guys that love ball and you find guys that are fearless. And for him to put himself out there in that situation and and make a summer league squad and produce, that’s just good stuff, man. You pull for guys like that. At least I do. Yeah, no doubt about it. And last year in the G- League, averaged eight points, three boards, shot 46% from three and a turnover for San Antonio. Good help by Clintman off that corner. And normally you don’t want to help off that ballside corner three, but Clement did a good job of stunning and bothering that ball as it came to the paint. By the way, Wami, you can imagine his buddies. He’s like, “Hey, man. I’m going to try out for this team.” They’re like, “Man, you’re going to spend 250 bucks to try out for a team to do what? That’s a new pair of sneakers.” Yeah. Couple actually. Yeah. And it worked out. He’s got the last laugh. That’s got a lot more sneakers out of that deal, right? No question. But certainly a cool story. Watching Zakai Ziggler get open against that press defense of the Spurs in this league. Georgia, and you know this, if you can’t get open when you’re being held, you can’t play in this league. It’s it’s just part of it. Step back for Ziggler. Wide to the mark. Rebound. Jones Garcia. Ingram finds Jones Garcia. Floater good. How patient was that by Jones Garcia? He’s a tough kid. He’s been through a lot in his life. He lost his father when he was in college, but his pace and his understanding of change of speed is so good. He dribbles that ball at different heights. Just it’s a tough cover. Talk about 25 and one. Yep. 12 points. There’s a three ball there. Kamadu told you he shot 45% nearly 46 from three in the G-League. You saw it there. Jones Garcia takes a dribble, lines it up, knocks it down. Some guys are just wired to score and and some guys are just wired to get open. And that is Jones Garcia with the ball, without the ball, just a constant pressure on your defense trying to cover this kid. Ziggler drops it off for Smith and he’ll get fouled. So Jones Garcia with the runner and then showing off the rest of the Arsenal from downtown. Well, he got a lot of eyes on him early in his career through FIA basketball in his home country, the Dominican Republic, and the first team all AAC at Memphis when he averaged 22 points a game his senior year. But has bounced around the G-League Pro Bowl in Mexico, but he’s a lefty that can get his own. When you describe Jones Garcia, that’s it. And guys that can get their own, they they find a way on an NBA roster. Clintman, tough shot, no good. Clinton is such a graceful athlete, is he not? Oh, yeah. There’s no doubt about that. And Mooney checks in, knocks down a three right away. 11-point lead for the Spurs. Back door for Ukamadu. He is showing it all off here. How about this guy? Pays his way for a try out. Now lighting up the summer league the last four or five minutes. Angus with the answer from the corner. Some guys you watch shoot one time, they look like they’re always going in and Mangus is one of them. That repeatable stroke of great value. Ingram to the corner and that one is going to be Detroit ball off of Mangus. You know, the other thing I love about Mangus, he was the NIA academic all-American of the year at Indiana Wesley. A team was got a great, not good, a great culture. Yeah. Four-time NIA All-American. Is bounced around in the Czech National League, the Lithuanian Basketball League. Went undrafted in 2021. You can shoot it, you can shoot it. Shot 39% last year in the G-League from three. Ziggler Ukamadu again. Why not again? If you didn’t know Ukamato 30 minutes ago, you know him now. A longarmmed fast athlete. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
Detroit Pistons vs San Antonio Spurs | Jul 19 2025 | NBA 2K26 Summer League Today
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1 comment
Can the horrid sounds pretending to be music. Horrible!