https://www.ksl.com/article/50679442/keyonte-george-shakes-off-rust-nerves-to-impress-in-first-summer-league-game

18,5 and 4 last night v OKC. Pretty good considering OKC brought 5 starters/key rotational players with them.

Chet got him on two blocks, but he was really aggressive.

Thanks for posting, that highlight assist was pretty sweet. Hope KG gets some good minutes this year. We have had great success as a program, but haven't quite had a star in the league. It sure KG will be that, but having more guys perform at a high level gives us better press.

vanillabryce said:

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50679442/keyonte-george-shakes-off-rust-nerves-to-impress-in-first-summer-league-game

18,5 and 4 last night v OKC. Pretty good considering OKC brought 5 starters/key rotational players with them.

Chet got him on two blocks, but he was really aggressive.

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I could reject his shot if I was allowed to body slam him to the ground the way Chet did…He came across the lane and was not vertical.

I also agree with the posters that we're disappointed in the play of our BigXII Freshman of the year. We'll be better off without him and he's more suited to start for the Jazz rather than for us.

He looks to be in dramatically better physical condition, looks like he lost that baby fat. Should be an immediate scoring machine as a 6th man off the bench, with obvious upside for more if he can learn the PG position.

He played point guard last night.

He looked fantastic….I'm sure Danny Ainge was ecstatic.

The Jazz stole him!

No doubt they will give him all the PG run he can handle in SL and preseason

Utah Jazz rookie Keyonte George in Summer League Day 2 vs 76ers

• 14 PTS
• 3 REB
• 4 AST
• 5/10 FG
• 3/5 3P pic.twitter.com/iJcl8m2AkX

— No Ceilings (@NoCeilingsNBA) July 6, 2023

I may be mistaken but I think he was hurt some during our season. Was it an ankle?

He severely sprained an ankle in the UT game and he (and our team) wasn't the same after that.

If I were the Jazz I would be very encouraged by what Keyonte has shown from the standpoint of knowing when to shoot and when to ease on the throttle. And he seemed to learn from mistakes that he made in game 1 https://t.co/ndrnS4dC0H

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) July 7, 2023

Has looked really good passing the ball. I noticed the feel for the game early last season but it kind of tailed off later in the year (even before the injury). Part of the fit just wasn't right and started to force things.

Forced some shots in that last game but is getting to the line really well. Think the nba whistle will be very beneficial for him as the big 12 can devolve into a mugging game at times.

The better Baylor kids do in the league, the better our pitch to blue chips gets in preparing them to get there. Our best NBA player in this era is who, Royce O'Neale? Much as I love Off Night, still waiting for that breakthrough - Key might be it.

parch said:

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The better Baylor kids do in the league, the better our pitch to blue chips gets in preparing them to get there. Our best NBA player in this era is who, Royce O'Neale? Much as I love Off Night, still waiting for that breakthrough - Key might be it.

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Sochan has a chance to be big. Just needs to stay healthy.

Yeah, early on I thought Key's best attribute that would translate to the league was his ability to penetrate and draw contact but unfortunately he did it less and less as the season wore on. Part of that was the ankle, but even before the ankle the physicality of the league wore him down. That part was fully on Key. He was not in great shape from a strength and conditioning standpoint and didn't have the strongest handle vs. ball pressure. Defenses were able to keep him from turning the corner. He became much easier to contain when pressured and pushed 28+ feet from the basket jacking up 3s to beat the shot clock. The NBA game which is more wide open should suit his game much better than the big 12 grind. And he looks to be in terrific shape.

Huge game from Key today.. 33 pts and 10 assists! It really sucks that we didn't get this version of him last year due to the injury and maybe him protecting his body for the draft.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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He looks to be in dramatically better physical condition, looks like he lost that baby fat. Should be an immediate scoring machine as a 6th man off the bench, with obvious upside for more if he can learn the PG position.

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From the summer league highlights I've seen on Twitter, it was odd to see him attacking the rim with consistency rather than settling for off-balance jump shots and contested floaters as he did so frequently for us. I would have much rather seen that version of Keyonte George than we one we got for his one season on campus.

parch said:

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The better Baylor kids do in the league, the better our pitch to blue chips gets in preparing them to get there. Our best NBA player in this era is who, Royce O'Neale? Much as I love Off Night, still waiting for that breakthrough - Key might be it.

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We're not having any trouble recruiting high school blue chippers. We're currently recruiting at the highest level we ever have, with or without an NBA star.

Summer league defense is pretty much nonexistent. Regular season not much better. I've always thought his game would be a much better fit in the NBA.

Looks like the Jazz may have gotten the steal of this year's draft.

Most of us saw flashes of this last season, but for whatever reason: injuries, excess weight, clogged college lanes, it didn't happen consistently occur.

I read a couple of articles and his teammates seem to really enjoy playing with him.

The basketball writers on Twitter say Keyonte:

- is in much better shape now, and
- Baylor forced him to play SF instead of PG

Whatever it is, he's a different player now than we saw.

BaylorLit 01 said:

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The basketball writers on Twitter say Keyonte:

- is in much better shape now, and
- Baylor forced him to play SF instead of PG

Whatever it is, he's a different player now than we saw.

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He was objectively bad as a point guard when he got those opportunities for us. If he had been better than Flagler in that role, he would have played it.

Link? I am pretty active on Twitter and have seen nothing about him being forced to play SF.

I didn't see any "forced to play sf" but have seen quite a bit of it was hard to evaluate him because he played beside two small tweener guards which I actually agree with and was saying for some time.

Was just a bad fit with no true point and lack of guys to play off of. If he continues to excel you'll read more of this. Was a top 5 prospect and clear leader of an Img team that had multiple pros. Roster construction just fell apart last year.. it happens. Looks like he's ready to go now. Shot consistency will be the tell

“The 4 other guys that’s on my team that’s on the court trust in me.”

Keyonte talks on confidence during that fourth quarter run 🎙️#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/YrZeg6OLh2

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 9, 2023

[url=https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1677893493572915200?s=46&t=asnsekJYNLkiInxmzenEGw]

Keyonte George is HOT 🔥

The No. 16 overall pick is up to 33 PTS in the #NBA2KSummerLeague LIVE on ESPN2. pic.twitter.com/l0iOdtQlNc

— NBA (@NBA) July 9, 2023

[/url]

This is Keyonte George’s Lock Screen on his phone, for motivation purposes pic.twitter.com/3NIQZAFiGX

— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) July 9, 2023

gobears20 said:

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This is Keyonte George’s Lock Screen on his phone, for motivation purposes pic.twitter.com/3NIQZAFiGX

— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) July 9, 2023

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I wish those criticisms would have been levied before the end of our season.

Playing in the NBA and making millions is their dream. Playing a year of college is just a necessary step along that path to the dream.

Quinton said:

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I didn't see any "forced to play sf" but have seen quite a bit of it was hard to evaluate him because he played beside two small tweener guards which I actually agree with and was saying for some time.

Was just a bad fit with no true point and lack of guys to play off of. If he continues to excel you'll read more of this. Was a top 5 prospect and clear leader of an Img team that had multiple pros. Roster construction just fell apart last year.. it happens. Looks like he's ready to go now. Shot consistency will be the tell

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100%.

And to add to your thoughts, recency bias is a real thing in sports. He started off great for us but labored through a bad ankle to end conference play and tournament play. Understandably leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Baylor fans. So all the moreso I'm genuinely happy to see the talent shine through for him. I think him tearing up SL will be a great springboard for him to contend for ROY honors.