Mavs’ Mekel happy with Summer League showing

While he had already signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks prior to the start of the Summer League, Gal Mekel had plenty to prove in Las Vegas.

By ALLON SINAI
Gal Mekel 370 (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Gal Mekel 370
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
While he had already signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks prior to the start of the Summer League, Gal Mekel had plenty to prove in Las Vegas.
An unknown commodity to most local observers, the 25-yearold Israeli guard turned heads with his performance, significantly strengthening his position in the Mavericks’ guard-heavy team.
With fellow rookie Shane Larkin out with a broken right ankle, Mekel started at point guard and made the most of the opportunity.
Mekel led the team in minutes, averaging 27.8 over six games, while registering 9.7 points and 5.0 assists. He now looks set to start the regular season as the main backup to Spaniard Jose Calderon.
“I love the point guards that involve everyone and getting all the other guys better, controlling the team with tempo,” Mekel told NBA.com’s Hang Time blog.
“[Like] Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, a long list, that’s the style of game I like to play.”
With Dallas playing its final four Summer League games on consecutive nights, it was hardly surprising that fatigue eventually caught up with Mekel.
“I was dead in the end,” he admitted. “We really tried hard to bring energy and it’s not easy. But for me I think it was a great week, first time getting to know the NBA game. I think I played pretty good for the first time. That’s it. I’ll work on my game, stuff that I saw to work on this week and I’ll be ready for training camp.”
Mekel even caught the attention of the Mavs’ flamboyant owner Mark Cuban.
“There are basketball skills and then there are skills above the neck,” Cuban said. “In terms of understanding the game and basketball IQ, he sees it before it happens, and that’s rare to find.
You don’t see that a lot.
“I’m excited to see how well he’ll do. He’ll keep on getting better.”