The second day of showcase magic gave front office personnel the first chance at seeing the Santa Cruz Warriors in action as they played the Lakeland Magic the G league affiliate of the Orlando Magic.
Despite ending the game on an 8-0 run, the Santa Cruz Warriors lost to the Lakeland Magic 105-92. On today’s edition of TimeOut, I am going to take a look at three problems the Warriors encountered in their first game of this season’s Showcase.
Problem No. 1- Players making three or fewer field goals
Eight players recorded three or fewer field goals in Thursday’s loss against the Magic two of those being starters (Davis and Gbinije). Deyonta Davis was one of three from the field while Michael Gbinije made two field goals.
The gap in offense predominantly came from the bench with the bench contributing thirty-seven of the Sea Dubs ninety-two points. Kendrick Nunn led the bench points-wise with fifteen points making seven field goals despite attempting seventeen shots. Meanwhile, the remainder of the bench made three field goals or less.
The starters can do so much offensively but the bench at this point needs to learn how to convert plays into points and keep the momentum flowing especially when the starters are on the bench.
Problem No. 2- Outrebounded
It is a known fact that whoever grabs the most rebounds typically wins the game and this fact was no different in this game. The current Southeast division leader outrebounded the Santa Cruz Warriors 54-37 making four more offensive rebounds and thirteen more defensive rebounds.
The Warriors who lead the league this season so far in offensive rebounds with 14.7 rebounds, grabbed seven offensive rebounds in forty-eight minutes of playing time.
The Sea Dubs grabbed two less defensive rebounds than their season average which was a good sign for the team.
Problem No. 3- One player scored 20+ points
Damian Lee was the only player in a Sea Dubs uniform to score twenty plus points in Thursday’s loss. He scored twenty-two points for the Sea Dubs while the other players scoring double digits was Kendrick Nunn and Marcus Derrickson with fifteen points and Will Cherry with ten points on 4-of-9 shots.
It is not that the remaining players can not contribute otherwise it is the case that the long gap in between games can cause players to play rusty despite being it being over a month since opening night.
They have to learn to develop a rhythm offensively regardless of schedule. In the game, it was the case whereby the players were not only not contributing offensively but they also didn’t make significant moves to get rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
One thing is certain: the teams and players in Surf City will make the right adjustments to get the W.