The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BUDDY Hield struggled in his first Summer League appearance but on Bahamian Independence Day, he broke out of that slump to give the Pelicans fanbase a glimpse of what they can expect in the near future.

Hield finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in the Pelicans’ 79-72 loss to the Utah Jazz at the Samsung NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hield brought the Tomas and Mack Center alive when he made four consecutive three pointers in the fourth quarter to nearly single-handedly erase a 14 point fourth quarter deficit.

The Pels rally would fall short but Hield was pleased with his performance as he shot 7-20 from the field and 5-14 from three-point range.

Donnig a “Happy 43rd Independence Bahamas” t-shirt in his post game press conference, Hield said he continues to familiarise himself with the competition with each outing. “I got a little rhythm going and it was about time I got some rhythm going. I’ve been waiting for that since Summer League started. I felt better, even though I didn’t make as many shots as I wanted to I felt better. I was more calm and next game it’ll be time to let it loose,” he said. “Each game I’m going to keep getting better and better. I just want to have fun with it and enjoy it while I keep getting better every game.”

Hield shot 5-20 and scored 13 points in his Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Lakers. He said the game against the Jazz set the tone for his improvements for the rest of Summer League play and headed into training camp.

“I’m a guy that’s built on confidence so I needed that. This is all fun for me man, going in, keeping my teammates engaged, trying to win games and just learning what I could,” he said.

“I probably haven’t shot like this since my freshman or sophomore year, but I’m just going to keep coming and keep working everyday, this is the NBA, some of the best in the world had worse Summer Leagues. It’s something you can learn from and get better so I’m not worried about it. I don’t think it’s the defence I just wasn’t putting it down. This will help me learn and get better for training camp.”

They completed the prelims against the Sacramento Kings last night. However, the results were unavailable up to press time.

Hield, the sixth overall pick in the draft, headlined the Pelicans roster alongside 33rd overall pick Cheick Diallo.

Teams will compete in three preliminary games before being seeded in a tournament that leads to the championship game on July 18. Each team will play at least five games in Las Vegas.

Summer league uses a unique rule in which quarters won is a primary tiebreaker, which is not good news for the summer Pelicans, who have yet to win a period (they tied one quarter apiece vs. the Lakers and Jazz).

New Orleans only has an aggregate of one “quarter point” out of eight possible in its two games. As a result, it’s a mortal lock that the Pelicans will play Wednesday in the opening round of the tourney. The top eight of the 24 teams receive a bye and get to skip Wednesday’s first round.

The Las Vegas Summer League is the biggest of the popular trio of NBA leagues, which also includes Orlando and Utah events.

Seven of the top 10 selections in NBA Draft are scheduled to make their Samsung NBA Summer League debut.

Last year, the NBA’s first female coach Becky Hammon and her San Antonio Spurs were crowned champions of the 11-day, 67-game event, which set records for NBA TV viewership, consumption of digital content on NBA.com and NBA Mobile, total attendance and single-day attendance.

This year’s event features 11 playoff teams from the 2015-16 NBA season — including three of the four Conference Finalists in the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.