by Lang Whitaker

12:17 AM EST – And we’re finished. The Bobcats looked really good against Sacramento, controlling the tempo and pace basically from the jump, and winning it running away, 121-87. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) and Jeffery Taylor (17 points, 3-4 on threes) both looked great, and Thomas Robinson had as many ups as he did downs (19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 turnovers). But the great thing about summer league is that there’s always tomorrow.

My job today was to watch basketball and connect a bunch of words together that accurately conveyed what I was watching. I watched more consecutive games today than I’ve ever watched before, eight of them, one after another, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Hopefully I was able to make that happen. Thanks for reading and tweeting along all morning, afternoon and night.

Sure, summer league isn’t the highest level of basketball you’ll ever see. But the majority of these guys are playing for a job, playing really hard every moment they’re on the court, and that’s something you rarely see for every minute of an NBA game. I found pleasure in that, tried to replicate that effort, and I look forward to watching many more summer league games over the next week or so.

Though probably not first thing tomorrow. I’m dunzo for now.

Later.

11:52 PM EST — As we near the end of my marathon of summer league basketball, with less than one quarter remaining in a blowout between Charlotte and Sacramento, I think it’s time to discuss possible MVP candidates for today:

• Dionte Christmas — 19 points in a half for Boston
• My HD TV — pulled yeoman’s duty today
• My air conditioning — worked like a champ, made 90-something degree heat cool and comfortable
• Reggie Jackson — tomahawk dunked on Jeremy Evans
• Bradley Beal — poured in 22 points and got to the line 10 times
• WordPress
• My MacBook — only had to re-start once all day
• MarShon Brooks — tied Orlando Summer League scoring record with 34 points
• My dog — Starbury, my dog, slept here next to me almost all day long; strong emotional support from her
• Donatas Motiejunas — Rockets rookie went for 25 and 9 against Toronto
• Thompson and Barnes — combined for 47 points against the Lakers
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — has 18 points, 7 boards and 4 steals with one quarter left to play
• Delivery sushi — the crunchy spicy tuna roll just terrific

And the winner is? My couch. My poor couch has literally supported me through thick and thin, and today was no different, as I planted myself here from 8 AM until midnight, a 16-hour basketball-a-palooza. Without my couch, none of this works. So thank you couch, for being so couchy. You are the couchiest.

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