Salt Lake City Summer League: Bailey opens low and goes high, rookie growth is in progress

The Jazz played a fierce battle with the Sixers in the opening match of the Salt Lake City Summer League, and the Jazz narrowly beat the Sixers 93-89. In this game, the high-profile rookies performed differently, especially the performances of Jazz No. 5 Bailey and 76ers No. 3 Edgecombe, which became the focus of the post-match. Pele, who was controversial before and after the draft, had a poor offense in this game, made only 3 of 13 shots and only 8 points, completely covered up by the brilliance of Edgecombe, who made 13 of 27 shots, scored 28 points, 10 rebounds and sent 4 assists. However, the drama of the game lies in the competition at critical moments. As the game was approaching the end, Edgecom missed the 3-pointer that could equalize the score, while Bailey grabbed a key defensive rebound with four seconds left and secured the Jazz's victory with two free throws.

Belley said excitedly after the game: "Wow, it feels great, and we won the game, which is even better. It's so interesting." In fact, in the game, in addition to the key rebounds, Bailey jumped high and blocked the opponent's layup, and the wonderful moment of his opponent jumping high and blocking the opponent's layup was also impressive. Just a few days ago, it is still unknown whether the 18-year-old rookie is willing to play for the Jazz, or even whether he will report to the team. But during the 25 minutes of playing time in this game, he successfully won the recognition of the coaches with his active physical confrontation, outstanding defensive performance and snatched seven rebounds, including several key rebounds he grabbed in the fierce confrontation.

Jazz coach Will Hardy told ESPN: "The performances in these aspects are often overlooked and the offensive ability will gradually improve. He is adapting to the new system and new teammates, and has been working hard for the past four days (in training)." He also praised Bailey for his NBA-level physical condition and athletic talent, and was a great teammate. All coaches and teammates rated him positively in the first week.

Jazz assistant coach Scott Morrison also said: "On the offensive end, we may have to do better and get him involved more, and we will gradually solve this problem. The advantage of the summer league is that the results of the game are actually not that important. More importantly, he can summarize his experience tomorrow morning by watching game videos. These two weeks are basically his crash course in the NBA. Transitioning from the college level, especially for an 18-year-old, all aspects that are not related to scoring and shooting are more important for him to get the chance to play. After he can play positively on the team without relying on scoring, we will pay attention to his shooting choices." This game is not only a training experience in Pele's career, but also an important starting point for him to grow up in the NBA.