NBA Summer League: 7/14/08
In my first post on the Summer League, I forgot to mention one thing: O.J. Mayo's defense. It's supposedly a strong point of his, but he hasn't looked great so far on that end of the court. In Saturday's game vs. the Bucks, for example, someone named Trey Johnson was tearing him up. Defense isn't always something to worry about in Summer League, because some teams simply choose not to play very much of it, but the concerning thing here is that Mayo looked like he was trying to play good D and simply wasn't able to keep up.
On to Monday's games of note:
New York 97, Cleveland 94
After a first half in which he scored zero points, Danilo Gallinari ended up with 14 points on 5 for 11 shooting, and did nothing to change my opinion that he's got an NBA-style game. It may have taken the first half to adjust to his teammates, who simply weren't sharing the ball. Is anyone surprised that the Summer League Knicks don't pass?
The real story of the day was Cleveland's J.J. Hickson, who was an animal on the glass and displayed good post moves, as well. He had at least two followup dunks on the offensive glass, and another two where he got the rebound but wasn't able to slam home the putback. The best part of his performance, though, was that he spent a lot of time going head to head with Ronaldo Balkman. There aren't too many proven NBA role players in Summer League, but when you find one, performances against them have a bit more meaning. Hickson dominated Balkman -- a noted energy guy, remember -- on the glass. Cleveland has to find a place to play this guy.
Houston 100, Phoenix 97
If we are to be more impressed with Hickson's performance based on who he played against, we must do the opposite for Robin Lopez. Lopez did some positive things offensively -- he made 9 of 11 free throws and hit a little lefty jump hook at one point -- but he's not in the NBA because of his offense. And his defense and energy left a lot to be desired. He pulled down just five rebounds in 27 minutes against Houston's no-name front line.The really interesting thing, though, is that after his first seven-or-so minute stretch on the court, during which he looked fine, he couldn't play two minutes afterwards without getting fatigued. Is conditioning going to be a factor, or was he sick or something? Hard to know, but it's certainly a concern. The Suns don't play again til Thursday, but then they play the next four days in a row. We'll see how Lopez holds up.
My boy Donte' Greene put on the show of the Summer League. The official box score has him down for 40 points on 12-of-20, including 5-of-10 from deep. The problem with Greene, as I mentioned to one of my friends who was watching the game with me, is that while he won't always shoot that well, he'll always shoot that much. He's got a great-looking shot -- as good or better than anyone here not named O.J. Mayo -- but he's definitely a chucker (although he did have the assist on a key basket on one of the game's final possessions. It's a littled crowded on Houston's wing, but I have always thought and continue to think that Greene has a chance to be very good in the NBA.
There was a guy in the crowd this day wearing a University of Miami Jack McClinton jersey. i think this marks the first time that someone other than McClinton himself was wearing his name and number.
On to Monday's games of note:
New York 97, Cleveland 94
After a first half in which he scored zero points, Danilo Gallinari ended up with 14 points on 5 for 11 shooting, and did nothing to change my opinion that he's got an NBA-style game. It may have taken the first half to adjust to his teammates, who simply weren't sharing the ball. Is anyone surprised that the Summer League Knicks don't pass?
The real story of the day was Cleveland's J.J. Hickson, who was an animal on the glass and displayed good post moves, as well. He had at least two followup dunks on the offensive glass, and another two where he got the rebound but wasn't able to slam home the putback. The best part of his performance, though, was that he spent a lot of time going head to head with Ronaldo Balkman. There aren't too many proven NBA role players in Summer League, but when you find one, performances against them have a bit more meaning. Hickson dominated Balkman -- a noted energy guy, remember -- on the glass. Cleveland has to find a place to play this guy.
Houston 100, Phoenix 97
If we are to be more impressed with Hickson's performance based on who he played against, we must do the opposite for Robin Lopez. Lopez did some positive things offensively -- he made 9 of 11 free throws and hit a little lefty jump hook at one point -- but he's not in the NBA because of his offense. And his defense and energy left a lot to be desired. He pulled down just five rebounds in 27 minutes against Houston's no-name front line.The really interesting thing, though, is that after his first seven-or-so minute stretch on the court, during which he looked fine, he couldn't play two minutes afterwards without getting fatigued. Is conditioning going to be a factor, or was he sick or something? Hard to know, but it's certainly a concern. The Suns don't play again til Thursday, but then they play the next four days in a row. We'll see how Lopez holds up.
My boy Donte' Greene put on the show of the Summer League. The official box score has him down for 40 points on 12-of-20, including 5-of-10 from deep. The problem with Greene, as I mentioned to one of my friends who was watching the game with me, is that while he won't always shoot that well, he'll always shoot that much. He's got a great-looking shot -- as good or better than anyone here not named O.J. Mayo -- but he's definitely a chucker (although he did have the assist on a key basket on one of the game's final possessions. It's a littled crowded on Houston's wing, but I have always thought and continue to think that Greene has a chance to be very good in the NBA.
There was a guy in the crowd this day wearing a University of Miami Jack McClinton jersey. i think this marks the first time that someone other than McClinton himself was wearing his name and number.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 10:46 AM
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