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The Hawks win a thriller 84-83 off a game winning 3 from Sharife Cooper
The second Hawk’s game of Summer League went about as well as it could for rookies Sharife Cooper and Jalen Johnson. In an 84-83 win for the Hawks, it was clear who the star of the show was. Cooper, who was widely regarded as a lottery pick prior to the 2020 NCAA Basketball season, dropped to the 48th pick in the draft this past year, and he was sure to keep that in mind last night. In perfect Trae Young fashion, Rife dropped a smooth 21 points and nine assists and hit a game-winning three from the corner. Trae, who has been in attendance for both the Hawks’ summer league games, had this to say about Sharife’s game-winner, “Good shot, killer”.
It was another tough start for Cooper, who racked up a couple of quick turnovers; however, they were mostly just dropped passes. But as the game went on, Sharife got into the rhythm of the game and at one point in the 3rd quarter, he hit 3 straight threes. Sharife, who was heavily criticized for his lackluster shooting splits in college, had five threes in this game. He then followed up his hot streak with some flashy passes. One thing I have loved about Cooper’s game so far is that he plays like an NFL quarterback; he can throw teammates passes to get them open, even when they are completely smothered. A great example of this is when the Pacers decided to hedge a pick and roll between Johnson and Rife, and when he lost control of the ball, he threw a lead pass to Johnson, which freed him up off the hedge.
Jalen Johnson
Johnson had himself another double-double, putting himself in the early conversation for the best rookie in this class. While Johnson had quite a few turnovers, he was great at getting the ball out of trouble when the Pacers swarmed the paint. Jalen also had a couple of nice dunks, highlighted by a poster on a fastbreak on top of Pacer’s first round pick, Chris Duarte. However, the highlight of the game for me was seeing Jalen’s natural basketball talent and intelligence. He is one of those players where everything just seems easier for him. He plays like he is twice the size of everyone he faces. Johnson had multiple possessions where he was able to take his defender off the dribble and either get an easy layup or make the right pass. He also had a remarkable turnaround jumper directly over his defender, early in the 1st quarter. He finished with 18 points, ten rebounds, and two blocks. Skylar Mays had an excellent game as well, dropping 16 points on 4 for 7 from three. Up next, the Hawks play the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday at 9 pm on ESPN2.
