Anthony Black, Jordan Walsh Make Splash in Summer League

Black shows he belongs against Pistons, Hog fans find out Walsh can score

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Jul 10, 2023 3:40 PM EDT
Original:
Jul 10, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It didn't take long for former Arkansas players Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh to start making waves in the NBA in NBA Summer League debut games Saturday.

Black, the No. 6 overall pick in last month's NBA Draft, started showing exactly why he was picked that high, scoring 17 points (7-of-10) with five rebounds and five assists. If there was an annoying aspect it was six turnovers, a third of the Orlando Magic's 18 against the Detroit Pistons. A big chunk of those points came when he went up for a three-pointer, made the shot and drew a foul, turning it into a big play.

“Really just a little bit of everything,” Black said. “Making winning plays, distributing the ball, scoring the ball, defending. Just doing all types of stuff to help us win. Really just come out and be myself, play hard, make winning plays on both sides of the ball and also show some leadership, show I know how to tell dudes what to do and get us organized.”

Walsh may have surprised a lot of Razorback fans with his shooting outburst for the Boston Celtics, scoring 18 points with five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in 30:54 of action. Those kind of numbers we didn't see when he was with the Hogs and answered questions about his outside shooting.

He was 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 from three-point range, which he didn't do for the Hogs. A big part of the change with that is the Celtics pushing him to work on that aspect of his game.

“Not only did they encourage me to shoot it, they forced me to,” Walsh said. “Them believing in me and giving me the opportunity and telling me to shoot it, that’s the biggest part because it puts confidence in me, and that builds confidence in the team for sure.”