Deep Sixer

LAS VEGAS - The 76ers left Las Vegas with three wins, three overtime games and a number of positive developments. Sure, this is just summer league, but anybody wants to see progression and that is what happened with the four of the franchise’s key players.
Guard Lou Williams averaged 25.2 points and even though he had 32 turnovers and 25 assists, he was still arguably one of the five best players in the tournament.
Williams said his performance boosted his confidence, which was pretty high to begin with.
After two subpar games, Rodney Carney finished strong with three successive impressive outings.
“I just had to relax,” he said.
Carney was among the best athletes in the tourney and coach Maurice Cheeks calls him one of the top athletes in the NBA.
What was impressive the final three games was how Carney was hitting deep jumpers.
There is no question that Carney and Williams should be an important part of the rotation.
In addition, both first-round picks, Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith, also showed tremendous progress over the five games.
Smith admitted to being tentative the first game, but after that he continued to improve. Young saved his best for last with 20 points, on 8 for 16 shooting from the field in Wednesday’s 104-101 OT win over Phoenix.
While Young still has a long way to go in areas such as ballhandling and decision-making, at 19-years-old, he doesn’t seem one bit intimated.
Smith looked intimidated the first game and admitted he was pretty nervous. After that, he settled down and was a solid contributor.
Young averaged 12 points and 6.2 rebounds and Smith averaged 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. While they aren’t off-the-chart statistics, one could see each game that both had a better idea of what they were doing, gained confidence and didn’t back down.
Whether Young and Smith can sneak into the rotation this year will only be known after training camp, but what was positive was that neither took a step back in Las Vegas.
And that’s not easy because the Sixers have either been practicing or playing for 11 straight days.
The players, especially Smith and Young, admitted that it was tiring, but they also realize that the NBA schedule will be unforgiving so this was a good training ground.
And it was a decent way for the two rookies to begin their careers and a positive sign for two veterans such as Williams and Carney who are looking to establish themselves as major contributors this year.