Charlotte’s two first-round picks got their first Summer League test against Orlando, and both showed exactly what you’d expect from rookies: flashes, rough edges, and a whole lot left to sort out.
The stronger debut belonged to Hannes Steinbach. The 6-10 center made his presence felt in Charlotte’s 86-74 win, and it didn’t take long for teammates to notice what he was doing on the glass.
“That boy can rebound,” said forward Liam McNeeley. “He got so many offensive rebounds and got his hands on so many long rebounds and stuff. He just makes the game easier.”
Steinbach finished with 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting in 22 minutes, and he added 11 rebounds to go with it. He started slowly, which may have had something to do with coming off the bench for the first time, and Orlando also made life difficult for him early. Once he settled in, though, he took over the way a big man should in this setting.
Christian Anderson’s night was a different story. The 6-1 point guard came into Vegas with questions about his size, and Thursday didn’t do much to quiet them. He struggled to make an impact and finished 2-11 from the field, with the physicality of Orlando clearly bothering him.
Hornets summer league coach Blaine Mueller pointed to that edge from the Magic as part of the challenge.
“We've been playing against ourselves for three days, and you see a team like this, and they're big, they're physical, they're into you,” he said. “Our guys need to feel it and see it and go through that, fight through it.”
Anderson did at least handle the ball a little better than Sion James, who had four turnovers. Anderson had two, which was an improvement, even if it wasn’t enough to change the tone of his performance. For most of the game, he was simply there rather than driving the action.
Mueller said Anderson looked better as the game wore on.
“I saw Christian kind of get into the paint, get to his mid-range, pull up, and see some shot goes in,” he added. “He was playing under control and with confidence from that.”
For a rookie debut, that’s about the whole story: Steinbach gave Charlotte real production, Anderson took his lumps, and both now have a starting point.
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The supporting cast did its part, too, as Hannes Steinbach added a strong all-around showing and Ryan Kalkbrenner chipped in with a productive night on the boards. Charlottes ability to recover after the rough opening stretch was encouraging on its own, but the bigger takeaway was how quickly McNeeley looked comfortable carrying the offense once the game opened up. [Read more 🡒]