Tomorrow’s story tonight …
LAS VEGAS — The Lakers kicked off summer league play with a 24-second violation, a missed shot, a turnover and soon enough a double-digit deficit in the opening minutes against the Golden State Warriors on Friday at the Cox Pavilion.
The Lakers finished with lots more turnovers, lots more missed shots and a lopsided 90-50 loss as Klay Thompson scored 24 points and Harrison Barnes added 23 for the Warriors, who had no such troubles with their offense.
Andrew Goudelock scored a team-leading 14 points for the Lakers, but made only 5 of 15 shots in 24 minutes, 53 seconds in a reserve role in his summer league debut. Although he was drafted in 2011, he missed out on a summer rite of passage.
Goudelock was one of a number of players who were shortchanged when the NBA lockout forced the cancellation of the annual summer league. Teams play only five games in Las Vegas, but it’s an invaluable experience for young players.
“This is my first time doing this, so I kind of feel like a rookie again,” said Goudelock, who averaged 4.4 points and 0.5 assists in 10.5 minutes in 40 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. “I’m still learning a lot. This is really good for me.”
Goudelock could be a good depth player for the Lakers in their backcourt next season. He’s been a shooting guard his entire basketball life, but at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he lacks the size of a prototypical shooting guard in the NBA.
So, he’s been learning the point guard spot, too.
“They see me as a point guard who can score,” said Goudelock, who made an impression on Lakers coach Mike Brown with his deft shooting touch. “I’ve always been a scorer, but my height doesn’t allow me to be a scorer on this level.”
Goudelock said he was looking forward to mastering the point guard spot, with the help of the newly acquired Steve Nash when training camp opens in the fall. Goudelock admitted he’s not well versed on the pick-and-roll, a Nash specialty.
Goudelock also said he looked forward to adopting Nash’s pass-first philosophy.
“I don’t think I’m a selfish guy, but I’ve never seen a shot I didn’t like,” he said. “It’s a learning process. I’ve been doing one thing my whole life and it’s hard to change it in just a couple of months.”