The Impact Basketball Series may be missing some star power at the moment, but there’s still plenty of NBA talent going up and down the floor hard out in Las Vegas right now. The complete list of guys who took part in Wednesday’s action is below, but first are the handful of guys who stood out to me as I sat underneath the basket watching over the course of the day.
Impact Performances –
JJ Hickson: To be fair, he was matched up against Melvin Ely, but that is the only knock anybody could offer on JJ’s beast mode outburst on Wednesday. He went for 34 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, and one of those four dimes was an ‘opp he tossed off the backboard to Tony Allen. In short, he was killing it. There’s been talk that Blake Griffin may be stopping in over the next couple days, and I hope he does because I’d like to see these guys go at it a little bit just like they did this past season in Cleveland.
Iman Shumpert: I know when Knicks fans heard his name called on Draft night they weren’t too pleased, but they will be. This kid is a bigger guard in person than I thought he was, and he looks real quick too on a court filled with NBA guys who are all real quick themselves. Shumpert went for 26 points and 6 rebounds in game two on Wednesday, and he’s a guy worth keeping a close eye on moving forward.
DeMar Derozen: Derozen’s got his hair growing out all over the place right now, but his game was on point to be sure on Wednesday. He went back and forth with Shumpert on a series of exciting finishes at the rim, and dominated the glass as well in the process. Derozen finished with 35 points – an unofficial high for the day – to go along with the 16 rebounds he also collected.
Marreese Speights: I don’t know how many points and rebounds he finished with, but trust me when I tell you it was a lot. None more ferocious either than the dunk he planted on the head of Javelle McGee late in the second half, which was the second time he did that for the game. It was a rough day for McGee.
John Wall: After arriving at Impact for the 5:30 game on Wednesday, he spent most of his time on the floor doing whatever he wanted too. When he wasn’t bull-rushing his way to the basket, he was making free throws because that was the only way guys could slow him down. In addition to that, he also seemed to be making a concious effort to improve his three point range too. After nailing one, he turned to the crowd and said, “see, that’s what summer’s league’s for.”
Complete list of players who took part in Wednesday’s Impact Series –
Game One: TJ Ford, Dahntay Jones, Corey Stokes, Melvin Ely, Christian Eyenga, and Josh Selby vs. Mo Williams, Tony Allen, Travis Leslie, Roger Mason Jr., Ryan Gomes, and JJ Hickson.
Game Two: Sebastian Telfair, James Anderson, Damon Jones, Iman Shumpert, Jamaal Tinsley, Derrick Caracter, Jeremy Evans vs. Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Demar Derozen, Dorrell Wright, Jordan Williams, and Desmon Farmer.
Game Three: John Wall, Xavier Silas, Jordan Crawford, Shelvin Mack, Rashard Lewis, Larry Owens, and Javelle McGee vs. Kyle Lowry, Jared Dudley, Austin Daye, Alan Anderson, Corey Magette, Coby Carl, Mareese Speights.
