California Classic: Stephon Castle, Harrison Ingram Observations vs Hornets

Rookies Stephon Castle and Harrison Ingram played in their first Spurs Summer League game Saturday in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Saturday evening the Summer Spurs opened their Summer League schedule with a 97-65 loss in the California Classic against the Summer Hornets.

Let’s not spend too much time on the game and jump right into observations of rookies Stephon Castle and Harrison Ingram in their first Summer League game as Spurs players.

---

Stephon Castle

Observations on Offense

• Stats: 21 minutes, 12 points, 3 assists to 1 turnover | 4-of-12 shooting, 2-of-4 three point shooting, 2-of-3 free throw shooting

• Control and comfortability running the P&R - Watching Castle, you see how he’s comfortable running the P&R and he always seems to run sets at his own pace. He doesn’t get overwhelmed and he has the ability to get the defender on his back and either get closer to the rim or find an open teammate. With Castle coming in not known as an efficient shooter, multiple defenders would go under on P&Rs, giving him space to either shoot the mid-range jumper if he’s inside the arc, or shoot the three (more on that below). There was one play where Castle got the defender on his back out of the P&R, then he started to dribble deeper into the paint, a second defender came by and he threaded a dart pass to a big under the rim. The Spurs’ big missed the layup, but that’s the kind of pass Castle can create that Wemby will surely finish.

• Able to run the point - While Castle was primarily the shooting guard alongside Jamaree Bouyea as the point, there were multiple possessions where Castle was able to have the ball inbounded to him and he’d bring the ball up the floor to initiate a set. If Castle collected a defensive board, he was ready to push the ball up the floor and make his next decision quickly. There was also a play where he brought the ball up quickly before the defense could get set in the halfcourt, and he drew in two defenders, then found a big wide open for a layup. Something I noticed when watching Castle at UConn was his ability to read the floor when off the ball. He showed that communication skill Saturday, directing teammates to pass the ball to a big who had an advantage in the post.

• Passing skill set - Castle can make bounce or direct passes on the move, or when two defenders are going toward him. One of his unique passes he can make is when he dribbles into the teeth of the defense in the paint, then he’s able to find wide open corner shooters on either side of the floor. He threw these passes to corner shooters multiple times, only, most of his teammates missed the shots.

• Finishing near the rim - Castle commented earlier this week about how one of the biggest adjustments for him at the NBA level, is the physicality and strength of the players at that level. He did have a tough time finishing on his drives and when he attacked the basket, sometimes he took attempts against two defenders. Castle didn’t let his struggles stop him from attacking, in the second half, he had a possession where he attacked the defense at the rim on the break and drew free throw attempts. There was another play where he was running the break, his teammate found him, he used a spin move and finished a layup with contact.

• Jumper to be tested - As mentioned above, there were multiple possessions where Castle’s defender would give him space whether Castle didn’t have the ball or if he did, as long as he was outside the three point arc. In the first quarter, he was a little hesitant to take the three, but as the game went along, he started to pull from there, seeing what the defense was doing. One of the first 3s he made was a deep 27-foot shot with the defender several feet away. There was another play where he was bringing the ball up court, his big man screened his opponent near halfcourt, and as the opponent went under the screen to recover, Castle pulled up and drilled a 25-foot pull-up three.

Observations on Defense

Stats: 6 rebounds, 1 foul

• Size and ability to apply pressure - When looking at Castle compared to some other rookies entering the NBA, he has the size comparative to some veteran NBA players. He uses his size to put pressure on his opponent when guarding laterally. On one possession, he hounded his opponent with the ball, the player was trying to pass out of Castle’s pressure, and Castle got his hand on the ball. The ball went to the ground and one of Castle’s teammates scooped it up and finished a layup on the break.

• Rebounding - Castle is active around the glass and he’ll go up there to get a defensive board. Once he has control of the ball, he’s ready to take the ball down court and kick off the next possession quickly.

“I was just going out there open minded, I just wanted to go out there, feel free, kind of learn my teammates a little bit as we get into actual games, but, I was just going out there, trying to have fun, there wasn’t really too much looking up at the score or anything like, just going out there, just trying to play,” said Castle after the game of his first Summer League game.