Fresh off of practicing with the USA Men’s National Team to prepare for the Olympics, former Illini and current Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski suited up for his first game of the 2024 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Podziemski’s first basket of the game was a strong drive to the hoop where he was able to score through contact, draw a foul and knock down the free throw to complete a three-point play. The 6-foot-4 guard finished the first quarter by hitting two threes in the last two minutes, increasing his point total to nine. Despite a strong first quarter on paper, Podziemski was pressured heavily by tough on-ball defense from Suns guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, causing him to lose the ball on one play and jaw back and forth with Weatherspoon on multiple occasions.
Podziemski started the second quarter with two failed passes: one, a lob that was too low, and the other, an errant dish in transition that went out of bounds. However, his hot shooting stroke did not stop. Podziemski hit his third triple of the night, a 25-footer with just over eight minutes to go in the second quarter. He exited the game shortly after, following intense on-ball pressure by former Northwestern guard Boo Buie, causing Podziemski to lose the ball and turn it over to Phoenix. Podziemski came back in with about five minutes left in the half but did not score. The Warriors led the Suns 50-33 at the half, with Podziemski scoring 12 of Golden State’s points.
“We have to break the press, he doesn’t have to break it by himself,” said Warriors Summer League head coach Anthony Vereen after the game in defense of Podziemski’s first-half play under pressure. “Don’t fight with the pressure, give it up. They can’t pressure you that far out and also be in the gap. So once we started kicking the ball ahead, we started getting a few more transition points and he bought into that.”
To start the second half, Podziemski notched his third and fourth assists of the night on a pass to wing Daeqwon Plowden for a dunk and a dish to forward Kevin Knox II for an and-one bucket. He then exited the game about halfway through the third quarter, only to return at the two-minute mark, immediately drawing a foul on a drive and knocking down a pair of free throws. He followed that up with a football-style pass in transition, hitting a cutting Yuri Collins for a layup.
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Podziemski chipped in two more points during limited minutes in the fourth quarter, ending with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Warriors’ 90-73 rout of the Suns. The Warriors are next in action on Sunday night against former Illini Marcus Domask and the Chicago Bulls.
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