Inside The Thunder

Summer League Journal: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Part 1

Oklahoma City's second-round pick built on his solid Summer League debut versus the Pelicans on Wednesday night.

Ryan Chapman

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl looked to follow up a grand Summer League debut with another solid performance for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday evening.

Faced with an uphill battle, Robinson-Earl tried his best but the Thunder ultimately succumbed to their lack of size and the Pelicans pounded OKC in the paint.

OKC Blue and Thunder Summer League head coach Grant Gibbs said he was still really pleased with how Robinson-Earl read the game, citing his anticipation as a key to his defensive efforts.

“He kid of sees the play ahead in terms of what the offense is gonna do and where he needs to be at,” Gibbs said. “It’s a fun thing because you feel like you have a lot of flexibility in how you want to guard teams, how you want to guard 5’s and 4’s and then even their guards and their pick-and-rolls because he’s able to do a lot.”

Box Score

Robinson-Earl finished the game with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, pulling down four rebounds and adding two assists, two steals a block and three turnovers in almost 26 minutes of action.

Most importantly, he showed the ability to step out and stretch the floor, converting 2-of-4 attempts from 3-point range. While it’s unlikely he’ll make an impact as a center at the NBA level, Robinson-Earl will be able to carve out a role for himself off the bench in OKC if he can stretch the floor a bit and continue to knock down the 3-ball at a decently efficient clip.

Play of the Game

One of Robinson-Earl’s best plays of the night came on the defensive end fo the floor against the Pelicans.

Naji Marshall wanted to attack the paint, hoping to blow by Robinson-Earl at the top of the key off of a pick. But instead, Robinson-Early continued to move his feet, rising to block Marshall’s effort at the rim and protecting the basket.

Room for Improvement

Robinson-Earl will just have to continue to focus on the things he can control. He can’t magically grow six inches to be a dominant center, but he can continue to work to limit his turnovers. It wasn’t a glaring problem agains the Pelicans, but there is always room to improve and it never hurts to do a better job taking care of the basketball. 

Read More:

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the message board community today!

Like SI Thunder on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news.

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan has worked in the Oklahoma City market for two years for 107.7 FM The Franchise, The Flagship Station for Oklahoma Sooners Football. Along with covering the Sooners, he is also in his second season as a credentialed media member covering the Thunder. In December, Ryan joined AllSooners.com to cover Sooners. Ryan has also covered the Oklahoma City Dodgers (AAA affiliate of the LA Dodgers) and the Oklahoma City Energy (USL Championship). 

Home/News