NBA Day 6: Raptors forward Ibekwe leaves Cox on a stretcher

By Rob Miech

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 7:03 p.m.

After a hard fall on his face and a long delay to allow medical personnel to check his condition, Toronto Raptors forward Ekene Ibekwe was wheeled off the Cox Pavilion court on a stretcher Wednesday night at Cox Pavilion.

Ibekwe had gone up to defend a shot when a Phoenix Suns player clipped his legs out from under him. Ibekwe, unable to stop his fall with his hands, landed hard on his face.

UNLV trainer Dave Tomchek was among the medical personnel that tended to Ibekwe, whose neck and torso were stabilized on a board before he was moved to a stretcher. It took about 10 to 15 minutes for him to be evaluated and ultimately removed from the arena, to University Medical Center, on a stretcher.

NBA officials tried to keep photographers from taking pictures of Ibekwe.

Ibekwe, who turns 24 on Sunday, is a rookie out of Maryland who averaged 18.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in Turkey last season. In 2007-08, he played in Israel, Puerto Rico and France.

Ibekwe's block of a Goran Dragic layup attempt preserved a 74-73 victory for Phoenix, who is now 2-0 in summer league play. DeMar DeRozan and Quincy Douby combined for 36 points to pace the Raptors.

D-Leaguers hit triple digits

The D-League Select team remains a Cinderella of sorts, improving to 2-0 in the summer league with an impressive 105-89 victory over Sacramento.

They became the first group to top the century mark in the summer league.

Othyus Jeffers had 21 for the D-Leaguers, while Trey Johnson added 20.

The best individual performance came from Sacramento second-year forward Jason Thompson, who had 31 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.

Rockets, Nuggets emerge victorious

Denver earned its first summer league win with a 77-70 triumph over Washington in the Thomas & Mack Center. Arkansas product Sonny Weems had 17 points and 11 boards for the Nuggets, while Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 27 points and 15 rebounds.

In the nightcap at Cox Pavilion, Houston unbeaten (4-0) in summer league play, with an 87-82 victory over Portland. The Rockets got 17 points from second-round pick Chase Budinger, while James White scored 16 off of the bench.

Dante Cunningham followed up his 21-point performance in his pro debut with 22 points in the defeat for the Blazers.

Jennings and Bucks a win away from perfect summer

5:06 p.m.

Milwaukee rookie point guard Brandon Jennings crept to within a victory of his NBA Summer League goal Wednesday.

The Los Angeles native tallied 14 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals to lead the Bucks to an 87-72 victory over Chicago.

It boosted the Bucks’ record to 4-0, and Jennings was not shy in his pre-tournament vow to lead Milwaukee to a perfect Summer League record after his mediocre season in Italy.

His excitement about returning home to play in the States has been apparent.

Second-year Bucks forward Joe Alexander led everyone with 18 points, and Amir Johnson (17 points) and Jodie Meeks (16 points) chipped in for Milwaukee.

Forward James Johnson led the Bulls with 16 points, and Taj Gibson had 12 points and a game-best 10 rebounds.

Milwaukee and Jennings will try to go 5-0 when they finish the Summer League on Thursday at 1 p.m. against Toronto inside the Cox Pavilion.

Wink Adams underwhelms in Knicks debut

3:43 p.m.

Former UNLV guard Wink Adams made his debut with the New York Knicks this afternoon at the NBA Summer League.

But it was a forgettable 68 seconds in the first quarter against Detroit inside the Cox Pavilion. Adams, wearing a blue No. 3 Knicks jersey, committed two fouls and turned it over once in his short stint. In 68 seconds of action in the second quarter, he had a defensive rebound.

Adams finished with two defensive boards, two personal fouls, a turnover and an assist -- and he missed his only shot -- in seven minutes. The Knicks dropped to 0-2 with a 96-73 defeat to 3-1 Detroit.

He did not play in the Knicks' game Tuesday against Memphis. If it doesn't work out with New York, he told the Sun that teams in Australia, Germany and Turkey have contacted his agent, Noah Croom, about securing his services for the 2009-10 season.

Thumbs up on Jennings and Randolph, down on Casspi

12:40 p.m.

We’re officially at the halfway point in the NBA Summer League, as the sixth of 10 days tips off at the top of the hour.

So let’s cut to the all-summer team. It won’t look like our final all-star list, because some teams, have only played once and others have three under their belts.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets are the only undefeateds, at 3-0, and the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs are all 2-0.

(Note to Clippers owner Donald Sterling: throw the all-white Malibu bash this weekend. It might not get better than this for the next eight or nine months.)

After long consultation and maneuvering, Ryan Greene and I have deliberated on the best players so far:

PG – Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee

The kid from L.A. is all right. He vowed to come here and direct the Bucks to a 5-0 record, and they’re two victories away from that mark. He averages 15.3 points, 8.3 assists and 4.7 steals.

SG – Jodie Meeks, Milwaukee

The Kentucky product is scorching the nets, shooting 60 percent. He leads the Bucks with 16.7 points a game.

SF – Anthony Randolph, Golden State

“Slim” was the 14 th pick in the 2008 draft by the Warriors and is blossoming in Vegas, where he’s second in scoring (26.8 ppg). His powerful lefty finishes are the stuff posters are made of.

PF – Blake Griffin, Clippers

Fourth in the Summer League with 10.5 rebounds a game, also averaging 21.5 points.

C – DeAndre Jordan, Clippers

Texas A&M product has drawn comparisons to Dwight Howard. The second-round draft pick from a year ago is averaging 18.5 points and 8.5 boards. His given name, by the way, is Hyland DeAndre Jordan, Jr.

Sixth Man

PG – Tyreke Evans, Sacramento

The fourth pick in the draft last month, Evans averages 24.3 points and 7.7 boards. He has more turnovers (16) than assists (14), but that doesn’t mar his electricity.

MVP

We are heavily leaning toward Randolph, but we will be closely watching Nick Young, the former USC Trojan who blasted out of the gates with 36 points on Tuesday in Washington's first game

Bust

SF -- Omri Casspi, Sacramento

He is trying to become the first Israeli to make it in the NBA, has been entirely overwhelmed at stretches. He’s shooting 33 percent, and averaging 6.3 points and 3 rebounds. He’s getting pushed around, which has hurt him even on easy inside shots.

Attendance strong

Tournament director Warren LeGarie said attendance is up 40 percent from last year. He said more than 5,000 were in the Mack for Blake Griffin's debut, and Tuesday's figure was north of 4,500. For the five days, average attendance has been more than 4,000.

Game of the day

At 5:30 p.m., inside the Mack, the D-League Select team will try to go 2-0 against Evans and the Sacramento Kings. The D-Leaguers are the minnows of the Summer League, the guys who have the most difficult upstream swim to make names for themselves in the league. By beating Minnesota on Monday, they've started turning heads.