The ugly streak that’s been referred to as Bucks summer league basketball this week continued with another loss Friday evening, this time at the hands of the Miami Heat 78-58. A new point guard in Sun Yue was in the house, but he could do little to make up for the struggles for the rest of the team.

Yue’s debut with Milwaukee came quickly in the first quarter and he did not disappoint. Yue showed off sweet court awareness with a number of nice passes and converted on a difficult spin-move-and-one jumper. After his strong start to the game, Yue had little impact and dealt with some turnover issues. Yue’s 6-foot-7 size seems like it could be a help on defense, but his lack of foot speed made it difficult for him to stay in front of Miami’s guards.

Milwaukee turned the ball over a whopping 29 times in this one, with eight of those coming from Tiny Gallon. We’re a little early in Tiny’s career for him to be a reliable post up option, and he showed that time after time on Friday, barreling into defenders for offensive fouls and getting stripped in double teams numerous times. Gallon has an okay looking midrange jumper and can step out and hit a three here and there, but he’s got a ways to go before Milwaukee will be able to dump it inside to him to get two with much consistency. Gallon did rebound the ball well once again, grabbing nine boards and he does it in a pleasing way. Gallon grabs rebounds with two hands and holds the ball high. With his monsterous paws, it’s rare he loses a rebound in traffic.

Larry Sanders struggled from the field again, shooting 5-14, but he blocked a summer league personal best five shots and grabbed eight rebounds. Sanders motor and athleticism are the kinds of skills that will translate from summer league to the regular season, not true of all skills on display in summer. The form on his jumper suggests that it may become more consistent in time, but I don’t think we’ll see a lot of that from him come October. But the rebounding and defense he’s been providing all week, that should shine through as long as he’s getting consistent minutes upon the start of the regular season.

Micah Downs has shown some sneaky athleticism all week, but it was his shooting touch that was on display Friday. He connected on 5-7 from three, including one that left him sitting in a seat courtside. Downs probably won’t have much of a chance with the Bucks, but I wouldn’t rule out him getting a camp invite somewhere and maybe earning a D-League call up at some point. He’s obviously got some skills.

After earning his first start, Dominic James showed his ability to get by his man with a number of penetrations into the lane. Unfortunately, James often was unable to reel himself in and turned the ball over a couple times trying to force passes inside once he beat his man. James tallied six assists, the highest number of any Buck this summer league, but his lack of confidence in his perimeter shot showed once when he refused to take an open look from the corner. That’s the shot he’ll need if he wants to stick eventually.

When Dominic James hit the ground after crashing into the side of the backboard on a tip slam attempt, oohs and ahhs came out of the collective mouth of the Cox Pavillion crowd Tuesday night. James didn’t give them more than a second to react though, bouncing back up nearly as quickly as he went down.

Rising to great heights is not new to Dominic James.

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In a game that ultimately means nothing, things certainly got dramatic. The Bucks dropped their summer league opener against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in grand, overtime fashion, 73-72.

Milwaukee took a 66-64 lead on a Deron Washington offensive rebound putback after an errant 3-pointer from Darnell Jackson. Yes, that Darnell Jackson. Milwaukee’s first option appeared to be Larry Sanders, but after the play broke down, Dominic James drove and kicked it to Jackson in the corner where he had to get a shot up. Fortunately, Washington was on the spot and able to convert what appeared to be the game winning basket.

Alas, J.R. Giddens of Dallas sent the game into overtime with a buzzer beating catch and shoot lob backdoor play with .3 seconds remaining.

But the theatrics would continue. After a three from Rodrigue Beaubois put the Mavs up two with under 30 seconds to go, Washington gave the Bucks a one point lead with a three of his own. With less than six seconds on the clock, Beaubois calmly came back down and hit a jumper from the left elbow to give the Mavs a victory.

But summer league is about so much more than who wins and who loses. It’s about guys like Larry Sanders. One thing Sanders wasn’t worried about in his NBA debut, was being perfect.

And that’s probably a good thing.

“I’m not going to be perfect and I’m not thinking about being perfect,” said Sanders after his Monday summer league debut.  “Coach Skiles told me to focus on controlling what I can control and don’t try to be perfect.”

Six turnovers, five fouls and 4-15 shooting later, Larry Sanders had finished his NBA debut. Those aren’t perfect numbers. But things weren’t all bad for Sanders.

Nine points, three blocks and seven rebounds are all numbers the Bucks are interested in seeing. Even more interesting was Sanders style of play and always running motor. The Bucks young power forward was hell bent on blocking every shot he could, the kind of effort the Bucks expected when the drafted Sanders 15th overall in June.

Occasionally, it paid off, like when he rejected an Omar Samhan attempt inside in the third quarter. Other times it didn’t go as well, like when Jeremy Lin drew a Sanders foul on a fast break and finished for the and-1.

Still, defensively his effort was good.

However, as expected, Sanders offensive game appeared a ways behind his defense. As rough as his night on offense was, there certainly were flashes that he could be a capable scorer down the road. Like the fadeaway jumper out of the block for two in the second quarter. Or the mid-range jumper that hit nothing but net in the third.

But that’s not why the Bucks wanted Sanders. The Bucks front office acknowledged that adding length and athleticism were two things high on their to-do list this off season. Their hope is that adding Sanders can go a long way towards helping on both fronts. They’ll live with his offensive limitations and hope that his aggressiveness on defense results in more blocks than fouls. If he can block a shot or two and grab a handful of rebounds every night, that’s all Milwaukee will ask of him.

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There’s always a lot worth watching in Vegas Summer League. Names from all over crop up, players no one recognizes populate rosters and team basketball often becomes an afterthought. Everyone loves to key in on a few guys that could end up making their team come October. With that in mind, I’ve highlighted a few things to watch from the Bucks this week.

• How will Larry Sanders fare?

Joe Alexander was a miss. Brandon Jennings was a hit. There were hints of both of these things by the time the Bucks left Las Vegas the last two years. Where will the Bucks most recent first round draft pick end up? I’d put my money on him falling somewhere in the incredibly wide gap between those two. Sanders isn’t likely to take over games offensively in Vegas, few big men do, but he could immediately impress if he looks like a capable shot blocker and rebounder. Sanders ability to run the court could serve him well in the fast paced wide open Vegas games. Read more…

The Bucks made last minute additions to their summer league roster in adding a couple local guys, Dom James of Marquette and Ricky Franklin of UWM according to JSOnline.

James, you may recall, was on the Bucks summer roster last season before an injury kept him from joining his teammates in Vegas. James was in training camp with the Bucks, but left quickly upon receiving an offer to play in Turkey. James averaged 14.4 points and 4.2 assists in the Euroleague last season. The Bucks were taking just one point guard to Vegas and were thought to be looking at using Darington Hobson at the point some, but he may miss time with an injury. There should be some minutes for the athletic former MU star.

Franklin averaged 14.7 points and 3.9 assists for UWM last season. Franklin was a workhorse for UWM last season with 35.6 minutes per game. The Bucks summer roster now looks like this: