#ProTops: Breaking Down Dwight Coleby’s NBA Summer League Debut
Ed. note — In an effort to cover Dwight Coleby’s summer with the New Orleans Pelicans, I reached out for help on various Pelican hangouts…
Ed. note — In an effort to cover Dwight Coleby’s summer with the New Orleans Pelicans, I reached out for help on various Pelican hangouts on the internet and today’s guest writer, Marlon Ortega, offered to help and to cover Coleby for us.
Marlon is a New Orleans native who is a lifelong basketball fan, and a follower of the NOP since their inception as the Hornets in 2002. Welcome Marlon to the TTR family, and enjoy his breakdowns and evaluations of Dwight as the summer continues.
On Saturday, former Hilltopper Dwight Coleby saw his first minutes of NBA Summer League action as the New Orleans Pelicans faced off against the Miami Heat in New Orleans’ second game of the event.
Coleby didn’t see minutes in the Pelicans first game on Friday, despite a blowout victory over Toronto.
From the start, it became quite evident from Coleby’s body language that he lacked confidence in his pro debut. A missed dunk and some mishandling of the ball led to a turnover equaled two big missed scoring opportunities. This seemingly led to his confidence dropping even more, as he was mostly absent on offense, getting outmuscled on rebound opportunities on both ends of the floor, and not calling for the ball or participating in the pick and roll often.
The two players ahead of him in the rotation, Cheick Diallo and Cliff Alexander, both played with much more energy and aggression. With other forwards of similar height in structure, it was going to be tough for Coleby to make an impression and get more minutes in future games. Diallo was aiming high, saying he wanted to be the “MVP” of the summer league. In addition, Alexander was stealing the show in the beginning of the third quarter, adding three explosive dunks, displaying nice footwork and a nice midrange stroke.
In order for the former Hilltopper to see more minutes, it is evident he has to play with confidence and be willing to impress with the short minutes he currently has.
Moving forward, I do not see the Pelicans giving him a chance, but it is still too early for the final verdict on him. Confidence goes a long way in basketball and Coleby will need to shake off the nerves and show what he is capable of if he hopes to earn himself more minutes this summer.