In his first pro game on Friday night, former Alabama standout Noah Clowney made one of his nine shots in the Brooklyn Nets’ 101-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA 2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas.

And his coach was fine with that.

“I loved his activity,” Nets Summer League coach Trevor Hendry said. “I loved the fact that he went 1-of-9 from the field, and he kept shooting. He never shied away from taking the next shot, and I think a lot of guys his age wouldn’t do that. They would, ‘Nah, I missed four in a row. I’m not going to shoot the fifth one.’ I loved that from him.”

The 21st selection in the NBA Draft on June 22, Clowney said his performance didn’t shake his confidence.

“I work too hard not to be confident in my own game,” Clowney said.

Clowney had four points, seven rebounds, one assist and two steals as Brooklyn’s starting center. He played 19:06 in his first pro outing.

Clowney’s one basket was a 3-pointer, but he also missed six times from beyond the arc.

“At least two or three went in and out,” Clowney said after the game. “They felt good when they left my hand. I would shoot that shot again. … Today, every shot I shot felt good. The one I lost in the corner, air-balled it. Every other shot felt good.”

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Both Hendry and Clowney said the rookie had room to improve on defense.

“Defensively, he can be more of a presence,” Hendry said. “He can talk. He can fix the pick-and-rolls if he’s on the weakside. He can come protect our rim. The one time that he did, it was in transition, they kicked out for a 3, I loved it. His job is to protect our rim at all costs, and he will get better as we go on with this process.”

Clowney said of his defense: “I could have done better, for sure. Defensive rotation is a little bit different here with the defensive three-second, so you’ve got to play it a little bit differently. I can do that.”

The Nets return to the court at 4:30 p.m. CDT Sunday, when they play the New York Knicks.

“We had a couple of practices, so I caught on to the physicality part,” Clowney said of his first pro outing. “It’s what I expected. People make more shots. Shots you can live with in college, you can’t live with them out here. Better scoring, better talent.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.