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Inside The Huskies

Steinbach's NBA Summer League Debut Goes Well

The former University of Washington forward came up with his trademark double-double.
Dan Raley|
Hannes Steinbach made his NBA summer league debut.
Hannes Steinbach made his NBA summer league debut. | Dave Sizer photo

He didn't start the basketball game nor did he finish it, but Hannes Steinbach made his NBA Summer League debut on Thursday night an encouraging one.

He proved himself to be everything the Charlotte Hornets thought they were getting when they drafted him 14th overall two weeks earlier.

The former University of Washington power forward finished with an efficient double-double outing -- where have we heard that before -- with 15 points and a game-best 11 rebounds in the Hornets' 86-74 victory over the Orlando Magic in Las Vegas.

Wearing a turquoise Charlotte jersey, the 6-foot-10 Steinbach entered the game after four and a half minutes had been played and joined an overly physical and sloppy competition.

Play was so ragged, it was hard to watch at times, whether in person or through the Prime TV broadcast that was part of a triple-header.

His first time down the floor, he had a teammate throw the ball over his head and out of bounds.

He got horse-collared with hard fouls a couple of times.

Steinbach himself backed his way in while trying to get to the hoop, fell down from the contact and gave up the basketball.

Yet the young German stuck with it and good things began to happen.

Hannes Steinbach modeled his Charlotte Hornets uniform.
Hannes Steinbach modeled his Charlotte Hornets uniform. | Charlott

He scored his first points at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter on a layin and came back with his trademark and silky smooth reverse layin two minutes later. Two free throws gave him 6 points at halftime.

The Hornets trailed 43-37 at the break, but Steinbach helped give his team a big lead once play resumed.

He controlled the boards much of the way and his 15 points were the second highest output on his team, trailing only Liam McNeeley's 28.

Overall, Steinbach pulled 22 minutes of game time and connected on 4 of 7 shots from the field and all four of his free throws.

He showed off his all-round game by dishing out a pair of assists, blocking 2 shots and coming up with a steal.

With 2:27 left to play, Steinbach scored on a layin to give the Hornets an insurmountable 82-69 lead and he was given the rest of the night off.

The NBA looked good on him.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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