Grades: Kings Summer League GAME 2, 7/9/17

[Ozymandias]

Frank Mason was overhyped x10. I was ok with the Kings picking him at 34, but got upset when I realized we passed on much more talented players. I don't think enough people watched Frank Mason enough at Kansas. The one thing I am disappointed in Mason is seeing how much he's chucking in the SL paired with his inability to breakdown defenses. He's going to spend a lot of next year in the GLeague. It's the 34th pick though, we can't be too mad at that. Most 2nd rounders never pan out anyways... (even though I thought there were much more talented players available at 34 including Semi Ojeleye, Ivan Rabb, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jawun Evans, Jordan Bell, Jonah Bolden, Thomas Byrant, and Damyean Dotson).

Different type of players but when I watched Kansas I always liked Devonte Graham better. Mason had a prolific Sr. season and boosted his stock tremendously in the process. I really hope he proves me wrong but I'd have taken an even longer list that you just made over him at #34.

The thing that always bothered me about Mason was his shot selection so if he cleans that up I'll withdraw my complaints and my concerns will subside, because he's plenty fast and strong and plays the game with ferocity and an indomitable will.

I kinda disagree with the whole #34 is ok to miss on type of mindset though, I'm of the belief that there's 1st rd talent to be found that got passed up in tht spot, it's a premium pick inthe 2nd rd. the late 40's and 50's is when you start taking fliers.

 

[ESP47]

Papagiannis has been worrisome. His summer league performances have reminded me of the big dumb centers of yesteryear who constantly get the ball slapped out of their hands and embarrassed on defense. The guy has yet to be able to rebound in traffic. Anytime the ball touches his hands, it's immediately knocked away by the opposing players. Skal is having the problem but at least he's skinny and needs to strengthen up. Papa should be as strong or stronger than anyone out there but he still plays like he's made of styrofoam.

Mason has not impressed me at all with his work in the lane. He reminds me of myself back when I played pick up basketball against bigger guys. It's like he's running full speed and trying to throw a baseball into the hoop instead of floating it in or using the glass.

Fox and Jackson's defense has been really nice to see. I can see both of these guys turning into above average defenders at the NBA level. Jackson's shot wasn't falling but that's going to happen once in a while.

I can almost feel Hield's frustration through the TV screen. The guy probably makes those shots all day long and then for whatever reason they just aren't going in during the game. He will be less aggressive once the season starts but it's good to see him working on his ball handling and driving skills.

 

[The_Jamal]

The analogy I will make is with IT. Many of us Kings Fans watched him come in as a Rookie. He played his college ball at Washington. He played 3 years there and had some pretty good stats:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/isaiah-thomas-1.html

As a Rookie he looked OK at times. Better than Jimmer most nights. But nobody saw an All Star. I thought Sixth Man of the year was a possibility. The point is it is way too early to predict what these young Kings Players will be. I mean you can project what they might be but they will end up somewhere between IT and Jimmer in most cases

Fox does look special

Actually, I did The IT wars are some of my fondest memories on this board.

 

[ppine]

Not really fun to watch. clank. But they still came back and made a run even though they could not hit a thing.
I got the impression that several Kings' players realized for the first time that NBA defense is serious business and that they can't just glide around and make shots.
Skal and Papa are very ho hum players at this point. The guards had a crummy game but will bounce back.
It is scary to think that Cooley was the second leading scorer.
Major underachieving so far no matter how you slice it.

 

[hrdboild]

Actually, I did The IT wars are some of my fondest memories on this board.

I've been scanning through some of the Celtics forums lately and I've seen a familiar refrain developing there ... you can't give a max contract to a guard who plays no defense and expect to be competitive down the line, IT is probably best as a sixth man, etc. So it seems like the only thing that's changed about the IT wars is the zip code. He's always going to be a polarizing player. Some people see a dynamite scorer who is basically unguardable when he gets rolling and some people see a reckless bordering on selfish gunner who only plays one half of the court. Both might be true. This is sortof the same pro/con argument we had about Dennis Smith this year. Is he an All-Star level player? Probably. Is it possible to be an All-Star level player and still hurt your team? I don't know, but I was nervous about drafting Smith partly because he reminds me so much of IT, in terms of attitude more than play style.

 

[hrdboild]

One of my most enduring memories of Summer League is that time Donte Greene randomly scored 40 as a Rocket, which is probably the ultimate reminder that we shouldn't take these mid-July glorified scrimmages too seriously.

I kid you not, that's exactly the example I was thinking of Tetsujin! I remember that game too primarily because I really liked his potential coming out of his Freshman season at Syracuse leading up to the draft (I'm pretty sure I had him as a lottery pick) so that Summer League performance had the added weight of confirmation bias behind it. I also remember that one game early in his career where he came off the bench and locked up Kobe Bryant for a quarter or so and this message board went crazy about his defensive potential. When Tyreke won ROY and then we traded Spencer Hawes for Samuel Dalembert on draft day (possibly the happiest I have ever been about a Kings news blurb -- I was walking on air that day let me tell you!) and then Petrie knocked it out of the park when he got DeMarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside in the same draft and we all knew it instantly too. I remember thinking this is it, we're on our way. We've got two great bigs an unstoppable force at PG and a Kobe stopper at SF so surely multiple championships are coming. Right? Right?!

 

[hrdboild]

So yeah.... Summer League. It's a lot of fun to watch but in the end it don't mean nothin. The truly great players only get to that level after years of dedicated hard work and less than a month after draft day (or a year for some) is far too soon see the workout freaks who will keep getting better long after most players plateau begin to truly separate themselves from the pack.

(Sorry about all the consecutive posts, but it's the only way I've figured out to get around the internal server error messages)