Summer League Impressions (other than Kings)
- Thread starter Blob
- Start date
Bogut was slow but won a championship with the Warriors. Zaza isn't quick but won a chip. You sometimes need a true big on a team. And we saw during last season, that Papa is able to protect the rim and rebound, he even hit some smooth jumpshots here and there. What's happening now is, that the Kings for whatever reason decided to still play offensive sets, that were implementent when DMC was still with the team and therefore ask our bigs to post up or make plays out of the high post. That's way beyond Papa's skill level. In a lesser role he might look quite serviceable.
Everbody is big on bringing the young guys around slow this time, because more playing time could somehow destroy their confidence. But then we ask guys to do things in SL, that aren't there for them yet. What's that going to do with their confidence?
Everbody is big on bringing the young guys around slow this time, because more playing time could somehow destroy their confidence. But then we ask guys to do things in SL, that aren't there for them yet. What's that going to do with their confidence?
I wonder how many "fanboys" of Lonzo (who I thought was mediocre at best yesterday) ever saw Jason Williams play??? J-Will was an incredible talent and athlete and passer. He puts Lonzo ball to shames in terms of showmanship and fearlessness and bravado on the court. The difference between J-Will and Lonzo is J-Will would force you to guard him. He was also relentless in attacking the paint to draw and dish or finish on his own. I actually find Lonzo Ball to be a boring basketball player. He is a boring personality and his game is boring. J-Will was undeniably a better passer, shooter and athlete.. Once the hype wears off and he is averaging 7 PPG 9 APG and 38% FGs in February I think most NBA fans will be bored with him, even Laker fans.
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I may have underestimated Dennis Smith. The main issue I had with him was his effort towards the end of the college season. He was completely disengaged. He looked engaged yesterday. And unlike Fultz he is definitely a PG. But he is going to struggle defensively and he does not cover a lot of ground with his strides. The escape quickness is not there. That is a concern for a player of his length (6'3"). He is more of power PG than a speed PG. He does have pretty good court vision though and held his own against Dunn. Good debut. And Lauri M. can put the ball down on the floor which makes him formidable when he gets run off the line. He showed something. The guy who was a disaster was Cameron Payne, looked worse than a rookie, and who the Bulls gave up a lot to get. So glad we didn't trade for him.
Ball's passes have nothing to do with showmanship. It's not razmattaz, it's not passing behind the back and between the legs, it's putting the ball on the money with 9 other players on the floor moving at top speed. It's interesting how we've gone from the Jimmer comparison to J-Will in the span of a few weeks. We'll see what the comparisons are in a couple of years.
Although I wasn't unhappy with Fox selection, I liked them both. I thought of Fox as the defensive player, with Smith Jr the offense. Many on the boards more or less dismissed Smith, but his highlights were there. He's like gang-busters in summer league. We'll see how consistent that is. He'll start for Dallas I think.. As I've mentioned a few times, I was really hoping on Juwan Evans instead of Mason - that's what irked me in the draft. The Giles pick was a complete gamble. They targeted Justin Jackson, and was able to take a swing on Giles. From the press comments sounds like Giles will not be playing much.
Some observations.
-Dennis Smith Jr. looked great. I flip-flopped on whether I wanted him or Fox; would've been thrilled with either. Just one game though.
-Some second year guys struggling. Chriss, Bender, Maker, Zubac, Murray. Most of these guys are bigs, but they're struggling in different ways. Chriss is out of control, Zubac seems invisible. Murray has just been flat out terrible.
-Jaylen Brown hasn't dominated Summer League like I thought he would after the first game. I've heard they're experimenting with him at point-forward or something, though.
-Ante Zizic is nothing special.
-Dennis Smith Jr. looked great. I flip-flopped on whether I wanted him or Fox; would've been thrilled with either. Just one game though.
-Some second year guys struggling. Chriss, Bender, Maker, Zubac, Murray. Most of these guys are bigs, but they're struggling in different ways. Chriss is out of control, Zubac seems invisible. Murray has just been flat out terrible.
-Jaylen Brown hasn't dominated Summer League like I thought he would after the first game. I've heard they're experimenting with him at point-forward or something, though.
-Ante Zizic is nothing special.
Dennis Smith Jr is the real deal. Mavs let him thrive by letting him play pick n roll with great spacing. Kings have Fox running an outdated system where he cant drive to the basket because there are two non shooting bigs clogging the lane so he has to do all his work on fast breaks and mid range jumpers.