Wildcats Jud Buechler, Miles Simon and Gabe York win NBA Summer League Title

Facing several former Arizona Wildcats in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League tournament, Lakers Head Coach for the Summer League team, Jud Buechler did a fabulous job to bring home the Championship.

It didn’t look good early on, with the Lakers losing the first two exhibition games, but Jud Buechler and his staff of coaches and players met or exceeded expectations to win the Las Vegas NBA Summer League Championship.

Pac-12 blood runs deep on the Lakers NBA Summer League team. The team was led by Head Coach Jud Buechler and Miles Simon, both former Arizona Wildcats. The Lakers rookies are former UCLA Bruin Lonzo Ball and Utah Ute Kyle Kuzma.

The veterans on the team are G-League players who stepped up huge in place of injured rookies Josh Hart and Ball as well as Brandon Ingram. There were two former Pac-12 G-League veterans on the team: Former Arizona Wildcat Gabe York and former UCLA Bruin Travis Wear.

York did not get too much playing time, but he was productive when he did play especially against Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and his Brooklyn Nets in the Semi-Finals after Lonzo Ball hurt his calf muscle.

Buechler and Simon along with assistant coaches Mark Madsen, Casey Owens (former D-Fenders head coach), Colby Karl (current South Bay Lakers head coach) and Isaiah Fox (former Arizona Wildcat and current South Bay assistant coach) dealt with a lot of adversity over the course of six games.

First off, the starters and rotation needed to constantly change with injuries on the Lakers and their opponents teams and deep benches. Then they had to deal with the with hungry G-Leaguers wanting to play along with needing to give major minutes to draft picks to prove the front office did a great job in the 2017 NBA Draft.

The first game was an embarrassing loss for all involved, including Lonzo Ball who made two out of 15 shots (including ten 3-pointers). The Lakers lost to the Clippers, their Staples Center rivals, 96-83.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The second game was against the Lakers long-time rivals the Boston Celtics which included former Wildcat Kadeem Allen. Ball earned a triple double making 11 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing 11 assists. All eyes were on Ball, but he couldn’t win a game all by himself, right? I mean someone has to hit a bucket for him to record an assist. Even though Ball had a somewhat breakout performance, the Lakers still lost 86-81.

It is interesting to note that Lonzo wore his Big Baller Brand shoes for the first two games. He sat out game three against the much anticipated Sacramento Kings with De’aaron Fox. That game was the first game that counted in the tournament. The Lakers beat the Kings in a nail-biter, 95-92. Kyle Kuzma, new two-way contract player Alex Caruso (former G-League player) stepped up throughout the tournament along with Wear’s defense and Blue’s drives to the basket.

In game four, round one of the tournament, Ball changed it up and put on lavender Nike Kobe’s. This helped him tremendously, or so one could assume it helped him at least as he logged 36 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, five steals, and two blocks. The Lakers beat former Wildcat Kaleb Tarczewski and his 76ers by one measly point, 103-102.

In game five, the quarter finals, the Lakers took on the Cleveland Cavaliers and won 94-83. Yes, Ball wore a different shoe, Adidas Harden LS Night Life.

The Lakers next opponent was Hollis-Jefferson and the Brooklyn Nets. The G-Leaguers along with Ball looked great, and the Lakers beat the Nets 115-106.  Gabe York helped close out that game in the final minutes, and he was clutch. Ball wore Under Armour Curry 4’s.

On to the Final Four!

In the Semi’s, Buechler and crew had to beat an undefeated Dallas team, and once again a former Wildcat, Brandon Ashley. Ashley had a couple of great games in the tournament, but the Mavs ended up losing to the Lakers 108-98. The Lakers lost Ball to injury in the third quarter. Ball wore Air Jordan 31 Lows.

Before the final game, Lakers fans celebrated their No. 2 draft pick Lonzo Ball. Ball ended up earning NBA Summer League Most Valuable Player.

Which brings us to one more matchup between Wildcats. The Lakers would match up against former Wildcat Nick Johnson and the Portland Trailblazers. Kyle Kuzma would end up winning the Finals Most Valuable Player award, and the Lakers won the Championship 110-98 with Vander Blue taking the reigns. Blue earned his NBA Stripes and the Championship on his birthday no less. Blue was the MVP of the G-League voted on by all the G-League coaches, and he was clutch.

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All-in-all it was a great showing, and Jud mentioned post game to Serena Williams from Lakers Nation that his players bought into being a team. Once you buy in, like the Golden State Warriors, you win games, and that they did. It didn’t get past us just how many former Arizona Wildcats were playing in the Summer League NBA tournaments. That’s why they call it A Players Program.