SB Nation - David Harrison

Big 12 All Decade Team

Evan Pfaff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

With almost a full year yet to play, Kansas center Cole Aldrich muscled his way onto the Big12Hoops.com First Team All Big 12 Decade Team (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

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In the first full calendar decade of the Big 12 conference, one thing was apparent: there were two schools that produced a good majority of the talent. And while the best individual players may not have come from Kansas or Texas, a look at the Big12Hoops.com All Decade team reveals that a majority were either Jayhawks or Longhorns.

Don't see your favorite? The Honorable Mention list is after The Jump

First Team All Big 12

PG – Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa St
SG – Tony Allen, Oklahoma St
SF – Kevin Durant, Texas
PF – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
C – Cole Aldrich, Kansas

Second Team All Big 12

PG – Kirk Hinrich, Kansas
SG – Acie Law, Texas A&M
SF – Michael Beasely, Kansas St
PF – Marcus Fizer, Iowa St
C – Chris Mihm, Texas

Third Team All Big 12

PG – TJ Ford, Texas
SG – Andre Emmett, Texas Tech
SF – PJ Tucker, Texas
PF – Drew Gooden, Kansas
C – Nick Collison, Kansas

[UPDATE: Lots of good suggestions and opinions in the comments section. Lemme give a little insight into how I compiled this list.

I started with a list of Big 12 Players of the Year. My rationale was that if someone was good enough to be the best in the league, even for one year, he warranted entry into this exclusive club. 9 of the 10 Big 12 Players of the Year made the top three teams. The only one who didn’t was Wayne Simien, and that is because he played a PF position that, if you look at the past decade, was just STACKED. Blake Griffin, Marcus Fizer, Drew Gooden. Really you could put Simien in there, but who gets bumped off?

As for PG, Tinsley over TJ Ford and Kirk Hinirich has also garnered a lot of attention. Tinsley’s place as the 2000-01 POY got him on the first team. But you really cant go wrong with any of them.

Lastly, there is this question on what to do with Durant and Beasley. Each only played one year, but they dominated the league (and the country). Durant was a Naismith winner as the best player in the country and Beasley was a finalist for the award. Both were league POYs. Because they didn’t play a full 4 years, they didn’t accumulate career stats that some others players did, but my list was based on selecting the best players, during their time in the Big 12, at each position.]

All Big 12 - Honorable Mention

Baylor Bears
LaceDarius Dunn
Lawrence Roberts

Colorado Buffaloes
Reggie Roby
David Harrison

Iowa St Cyclones
Craig Brackins

Kansas Jayhawks
Wayne Simien
Aaron Miles

Kansas St. Wildcats
Cartier Martin

Missouri Tigers
DeMarre Carroll
Clarence Gilbert
Arthur Johnson
Kareem Rush

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Aleks Maric

Oklahoma Sooners
Taj Gray
Hollis Price

Oklahoma St Cowboys
Byron Eaton
Joey Graham

Texas Longhorns
DJ Augustine
LaMarcus Aldridge

Texas Tech Red Raiders
Jarrius Jackson

Texas A&M Aggies
Bernard King

A Look Back at Vegas Summer League: Part 1

Jon L — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:00:21 -0000

Nik Caner-Medley, seen here playing for Cajasol Sevilla in Spain, played some pretty good ball in Vegas.

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I had a nice, long intro for this but then it disappeared into the internet, much to your delight I'm sure. Basically, I'm going to take a look at some noteworthy performances from Vegas Summer League that came from "non-NBA" players, just as I did for the Orlando league. I split them up into two groups, D-League players and non-D-Leaguers, and I'm going to start with the latter. These are players who have been over in Europe or are otherwise not under any NBA contract, and who played in the Summer League to show teams that they deserve a spot. I focused on players who had appeared in at least three games, so if there's a player you thought did well and you don't see him here, that may be why not. A look at six notable non-NBA, non-D-League players from Vegas Summer League after the jump.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili (7'0" F, New York Knicks) - There may have been no bigger reclamation project being attempted in Vegas than Skita's career. He did pretty well, too, making 43 percent of his three-pointers (and he shot a fair amount of them), and he averaged a solid nine rebounds per 48 minutes. He also, somewhat surprisingly to me, tied for the team lead in total blocks with eight. Summer League isn't the best place to showcase one's defense, and I didn't see the games so I have no idea how that looked, but there is room for optimism here, and there certainly are players with similar profiles currently in the NBA.

Warren Carter (6'9" F, New York Knicks) - In my breakdown of the Knicks' roster I noted that Carter was a backup for three years in college before becoming a decent scorer and rebounder in Europe, and it's that latter ability that really shone through in Vegas. True, Carter made 55 percent of his field goals, but he didn't score a whole lot. He led the team in rebounds on a per-minute basis, though, with 14.4 per 48 minutes. He also had only four turnovers total, and didn't get into too much foul trouble. He'd be an interesting player to put on Mike D'Antoni's bench, especially if David Lee leaves.

Pooh Jeter (5'11" G, Portland Trail Blazers) - For some reason I think I may be the only one on this, but I thought Jeter played really well in Vegas. His shot wasn't overwhelming and his rebounding is almost non-existent, but he did a great job running the point for Portland. He had six more total assists than Jerryd Bayless in about six fewer minutes of playing time, and he had less than half as many turnovers. Just over nine assists per 48 minutes is nothing to laugh at, especially if it's from a bench guy. Of course, we were here last year, too (or at least Jeter was). This is what DraftExpress had to say about his 2008 Summer League performance: Jeter is generously listed at 5'11" and lacks the ideal size for an NBA point guard, but does just about everything well on the court, and could potentially make an NBA roster.

Nik Caner-Medley (6'8" F, Los Angeles Clippers) - This one's also a bit of a surprise, at least to me. Not that Caner-Medley isn't talented, I had just assumed it wouldn't actually manifest itself, for some reason. Instead, Caner-Medley played the second-most minutes on the Clippers roster and started all five games. He also made a full 50 percent of his field goals and shot 94.4 percent from the free-throw line. He also rebounded the ball fairly well, averaging 13.4 per 48 minutes. The Clippers seem to be clearing the frontcourt more than adding to it, but based on his Vegas performance, Caner-Medley could be a decent pickup for another team looking for a fifth forward.

Andre Owens (6'4" G, Detroit Pistons) - "he's a pretty efficient scorer overall, though not always consistent." Those words turned out to be a bit of an understatement. Not in the efficiency department, but in terms of consistency. Owens scored only seven points total in Vegas, and all of them came from the free-throw line. Owens is listed here because he was second on the Pistons with 16 total assists in 64 and a half minutes over four games. That comes out to a solid 12 assists per 48 minute average. He also averaged nine rebounds on a per-minute basis. Just as impressively, he only had two turnovers. The Pistons have been looking for a backup point guard for almost an entire season now, and perhaps Owens could help them out there.

David Harrison (7'0" C, Cleveland Cavaliers) - I have to say, this one surprised me a bit. Harrison only attempted 10 field goals in five games, so it's not like he's an offensive juggernaut (though he made eight of them). Like Carter, it's Harrison's rebounding that stood out. Harrison grabbed 22 rebounds in 82 minutes of action, which works out to 13 rebounds per 48 minutes, a solid number. He's also apparently a member of the Sarcastic Clapping Family of Southhampton (sorry, the video/audio quality is pretty bad). Harrison got busted for marijuana towards the end of his time with the Pacers and he was never all that consistent to begin with, but the talent is still there, and a team looking for some help on the boards could do worse.

Looking at the Free-Agent Big Men

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:40:05 -0000

More photos » by Lance Murphey - AP

Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi, top, of Iran, gets denied a shot by Atlanta Hawks forward Solomon Jones (44) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 15, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Lance Murphey)

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With Jarrett Jack all locked up there is still work to be done by the Legomaster. With a shallow font court and little defensive resistance in the paint, Colangelo needs to round off this active summer by adding another big.

It should be official today that Jarrett Jack is a Raptor. I am a big supporter of this signing. This addition will help this team more than any other move made this off-season. Jack is the perfect "ying" to Calderon's "yang" and Toronto now has one of the best PG combo's in the league. Should Calderon go down the Raps can simply insert another starter-quality PG into the line-up. Some may view this signing as a bit of a luxury but I see it as a perfect insurance policy.

Right now Jack will lead a second unit that will likely feature Antoine Wright, Reggie Evans and possibly Devean George. Although not the most offensive minded group of players, they will bring a defensive intensity and a toughness not seen in Raptors land for many a season. This team finally has some grit.

Of course BC can't be done making moves.

Despite having added Evans, the front court cupboard is fairly bare. Currently Coach Triano has little to work with in terms of a big man rotation and I don't want to think about what should happen if one of Bosh or Bargnani ends up on the shelf for more than a couple of games.

Although Evans adds a toughness and rebounding prowess the make-up of the front court is still worrisome. This teams ability to rebound the ball still causes me grave concern (Hedo doesn't rebound nearly as well as one would hope), the Raps don't have a true shot blocker and frankly neither Bosh, Bargnani nor Evans are a defensive force.

With a limited amount of cash left to spend (bi-annual and veterans min) it's a tall order...in particular when guys like Chris Wilcox and Joel Anthony are quickly being taken off the market. I do feel like the reward of signing a player of Jack's caliber was worth the wait, even if it meant less choice when it comes to serviceable bigs, but there is not much left to choose from.

So who's left?

The list of available bigs features a number of first round busts, some grizzly vets and a few unknown commodities. Out of the guys who are left here are 5 guys I would like to see the Raps take a flyer on.

Shelden Williams – To date there is no debating that Williams has been a first round bust. For as much heat as Andrea takes for being selected ahead of the likes of Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay, Williams was also selected before these players. Currently Sheldon's only claim to fame is that he is married to the best female player on earth in Candace Parker. The man formerly known as "the Landlord" has truly struggled since he left Duke. Injuries and lack of opportunity have resulted in a lack of production. In his rookie season Williams showed he could continue to rebound and man the paint at the NBA level but he has not developed as hoped. If Williams could stay healthy his propensity to work the glass and play some hard nosed D could be a welcome addition. If the adage that rebounding is the one skill that translates from the NCAA to the NBA there is still a chance he could develop into solid PF.

Fabricio Oberto– Despite having changed teams countless times this summer Oberto is a solid player. Oberto has always played for winning teams (Agentina and the Spurs) and is a veteran player who would fit in seamlessly with team United Nations. At this point in his career Oberto is more of a cerebral player and provided he is healthy, would be able to provide some quality back-up minutes. Although he doesn't address the team's lack of shot blocking and he is a mediocre free throw shooter, Oberto plays smart fundamental basketball and would bring more positives to the team than negatives. Although there is a sentiment among many Raps fans that Rasho should be the guy I would favour this move.

Rasho Nesterovic– There is nothing about Rasho I can tell you that you don't already know. Solid, steady player. Nothing flashy. Solid fundamentals. Good locker room presence. I am just not sure what he brings to a team that plans on running at every opportunity. He has never been a fantastic rebounder but he is a reliable player. Triano will know what to expect out of this guy, good or bad.

Solomon Jones – We have been talking about Jones since his draft year. The former high second round

pick of the Atlanta Hawks is far from a finished product but during his first few years in the league he has demonstrated an ability to block shots and rebound reasonably well. Jones is uber athletic for a man his size and given the Raps desire to run the ball he could be an excellent addition. Although slight of frame he does have a shot-blocking presence and still has upside. He doesn't bring much offensively but he is a decent free-throw shooter and the Raps could do worse. Jones is a restricted free-agent so unless BC is sure Atlanta won't watch I don't see an offer coming unless there is no-where else to turn. Considering the lack of big men available having money locked in for seven days would be a bad call.

David Harrison – Harrison was recently profiled in the Denver Post where Harrison's personal troubles over the past few years were put on full display. Harrison, despite the NBA body and skill set is currently out of the league having played last season in China. It appears he is trying to put his life and basketball career back on the right track. Franchise and I saw him in Vegas (originally mistaking him for Michael Olowakandi) and he is absolutely HUGE. His performance in Vegas wasn't particularly noteworthy but during his time with the Pacers he did show the ability to rebound and block shots. His willingness to acknowledge his personal problems and his seeming desire to straighten things out reminds me of Chris Anderson. Although completely different players perhaps one more shot is all Harrison needs to make his way in the NBA. A guaranteed contract might be a little rich at this point but a training camp invite wouldn't hurt anyone. He is a true center, something this team needs.

IC Cold Links: Wrapping Up Jack's Departure, O'Brien Up To Speed

Tom Lewis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:35:23 -0000

While Jim O'Brien took a special tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indiana Pacers offered their final good-bye's to Jarrett Jack. Indy Star reporter, Mike Wells also had some interesting nuggets of info to share which should wrap up Jack's departure from Indy. This and more after the jump.

Pacers don't match Toronto's offer for Jack
Bruno's Caught in the Web offers the final word on Jarrett Jack from Pacers' Pres, Larry Bird.
"It was a very difficult decision because Jarrett proved last season what he can bring to a team," said Pacers President of Basketball Larry Bird in a statement released by the team. "We thank Jarrett for his contributions to the Pacers, both on and off the court, and wish him the best in Toronto."
The Pacers are FINALLY tying to make defense a priority
Mike Wells offers up his thoughts on the defensive-minded decisions coming out of the Fieldhouse this summer.
Larry Bird spoke with Derek Schutz yesterday to wade through all of the offseason issues facing the Pacers. Sounds like we should expect Earl Watson to be announced by the end of the week.
Mike Wells was also on with Dan Dakich (audio) and Kravitz & Eddie (audio) yesterday and mentioned a couple of things that made me happy about the Pacers letting Jack go. First was their frustration with Jack's faulty decision-making late in games during a key stretch in the middle of the season. The other point was that the Pacers initially offered Jack a 2-year deal worth about $3.5 million. In my mind, they had Jack pegged perfectly as a solid back up point guard and weren't willing to risk the money in hopes he develop beyond that role.
PACERS: OBrien exhilarated by high-speed laps
Bruno reports from IMS on Jim O'Brien's thrill ride around the track with Sam Hornish.
Bosh, Jack reunited
Frank Zicarelli has the Toronto angle on Jarrett Jack reuniting with former Georgia Tech teammate, Chris Bosh.
David Harrison on the road back to NBA
Chris Dempsey has an interesting feature on David Harrison's attempt to return to the NBA. Harrison goes deep into his problems in Indy. Man, I hope he gets it all straight and finds some success.
Bill Simmons talks with Dan Klores (download audio link) about his documentary on Reggie Miller as the MSG villain for the New York Knicks. Can't wait to watch this!

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 8

Jon L — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:00:15 -0000

Gary Forbes has played well for the D-League Select team at Vegas Summer League.

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Phoenix Suns 95, D-League Select 89

So, it finally happened. The D-League team lost, and to a team featuring Robin Lopez and Taylor Griffin. The Select squad was actually ahead for most of the game, but were outscored by 11 in the final quarter. The D-Leaguers were missing Othyus Jeffers and Trey Johnson due to some minor injuries, though, so I'm confident that a full squad would've won last night. Coleman Collins and Gary Forbes held things down in their absence. Forbes finished with 26 points on 18 shots, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Collins had 19 points on 11 shots, six rebounds, zero fouls and only one turnover. Jasper Johnson's final line isn't great (11 points from 12 shots), but he was pretty solid in the first half. Kurt Looby had five rebounds in nine minutes. He's close to being in the NBA, people. Walker Russell and Curtis Stinson both struggled with turnovers, picking up seven apiece, though Stinson also had ten rebounds and Russell's passing was otherwise on point, and he shot 10-11 from the free-throw line.

For Phoenix, Micah Downs saw his first extended action and made it count, scoring 19 points on 8-11 shooting and picking up five rebounds, five steals and three assists. I had never heard of Jiri Hubalek before yesterday, but he had 20 points on 11 shots, four rebounds and four blocks. Reading about Hubalek, his game sounds a little similar to Oleksiy Pecherov, in that he's a 7'0"(-ish) guy who shoots and rebounds, and that's about it. Former Dakota Wizard Carlos Powell played well for the Suns as well, with 10 points on five shots.

The rest of the games are after the jump, as usual.

Sacramento Kings 84, New York Knicks 71

If nothing else, Jon Brockman is a rebounding monster. He had 15 in just under 33 minutes yesterday, which makes up for his 1-5 shooting a bit. Nikoloz Tskitishvili has actually been really consistent in Summer League. Three games with 12 points, and each time it came on either eight or nine shots. The only real difference is how many threes he takes (anywhere from five to eight), and whether he blocks any shots (he had two yesterday). The numbers are all right in line through three games, which is sort of interesting (sort of) considering how flaky he was in Denver. Warren Carter's rebounding has been pretty good in Vegas, and he had six yesterday in under 14 minutes along with seven points on 3-5 shooting and a pair of blocks. If he doesn't get a preseason contract out of this, he might want to spend the season in the D-League, because I think he'd do well there and get some more NBA notice. Blake Ahearn finally had a decent shooting game, with nine points on five shots, though he also had five turnovers in 10 and a half minutes. Sigh.

Denver Nuggets 111, Portland Trail Blazers 93

Ty Lawson played well and has generally impressed people watching these games, and he had 26 points on 16 shots, five assists and five rebounds. Jeff Pendergraph also has gotten people talking, and while he didn't shoot the ball particularly well, nine rebounds in 23 and a half minutes is pretty solid. Denver has a fair amount of D-Leaguers on their squad, and they all played fairly well yesterday (to varying degrees). Sonny Weems did his thing to the tune of 24 points on 17 shots, four rebounds and two steals, and while he made only one of his five three-pointers, he was a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line. Coby Karl was solid, shooting 5-6 and picking up four rebounds and three assists. Richard Hendrix shot 3-3 and grabbed three rebounds in 11 minutes. Ronald Dupree had 16 points on 10 shots and six rebounds, though he also picked up eight fouls. I don't care what people say, I still like the way Pooh Jeter's been playing in Vegas, and he had 15 points on 10 shots and five assists with only two turnovers in 30 and a half minutes.

Minnesota Timberwolves 89, Washington Wizards 82

TrueHoop's David Thorpe commented on Twitter that Nick Young is "too good" for Summer League, and while that may be true talent-wise, he's learning a new offense this year and will have to come off of screens a lot probably for the first time in his career. He's looked pretty good doing it, and yesterday he had 23 points on 17 shots, and he finally picked up some assists (which was worrying the Wizards fanbase) with three. Jonny Flynn has been playing well overall here, showing some nice speed and generally good decision-making. His shot hasn't always fallen but it did yesterday, as he had 21 points on 11 shots along with five assists and five rebounds. Wayne Ellington also has played well. John Edwards started off well before starting to foul a lot, and he finished with 11 points on 5-7 shooting, six rebounds and seven fouls. Garrett Siler had what some people refer to as a "Kevin Martin game," wherein he scored 11 points on two shots by going 8-9 from the free-throw line. Adam Parada's been rebounding really well, and he had seven in a little over 16 minutes, though he's not doing much else

Detroit Pistons 92, Cleveland Cavaliers 86

Austin Daye had another game in the point-rebound department, with 20 points on 14 shots and 10 rebounds. He had seven fouls and four turnovers, though, so there are still things to work on. Darnell Jackson has been pretty inconsistent this last week or so, but yesterday scored 13 points on seven shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jonas Jerebko was solid as well, with 19 points on eight shots and five rebounds. The Pistons had two players play 10 minutes each and combine for zero points and four rebounds. I reallllly hope Dwayne Jones isn't playing because he's injured (I don't want him to be injured, but you know what I mean). Jawad Williams has been playing fairly well, and he had 13 points on 11 shots yesterday (and made two of his three shots from behind the arc) and grabbed five rebounds, though he also had four turnovers. I haven't mentioned David Harrison much, because he hasn't done a whole lot (though he played okay the day before last), but he got two technical fouls yesterday. I don't know if that's an ejection, since you can't foul out of Summer League games, but he got two technicals. In a Summer League game. Think about that.

Chicago Bulls 80, Oklahoma City Thunder 74

James Harden has looked like a really solid pick for the Thunder, scoring efficiently along and picking up assists, rebounds and steals at a decent rate. He shot 7-15 yesterday, including 49 on threes, and had five assists. DJ White has had a solid Summer League of his own, and against Chicago he had 15 points on 11 shots, eight rebounds and two blocks. James Augustine was a perfect 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from the line, and he added 10 rebounds and two steals. Linton Johnson has apparently bulked up a bit in order to play some power forward this season, and he doesn't seem to have been too negatively affected by it. He shot 5-8 yesterday with five rebounds. DeVon Hardin had a "Kevin Martin game" of his own, with nine points on two shots along with four rebounds.

Recap: Bucks 80, Cavs 69

Frank Madden — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:05:00 -0000

Jennings: Young Money in Vegas

Box Score / Liveblog / Paschketball

Vegas has seemingly been a perpetual buzzkill for Bucks fans--from Andrew Bogut's poor showing against the immortal David Harrison in 2005 to Joe Alexander's non-showing last year, there's rarely been much to get excited about when it comes to July basketball. So it was perhaps not surprising that the Bucks' first outing of the 2009 Vegas league was once again a lackluster performance, "highlighted" by a conservative but uninspiring 10 points and three assists by Brandon Jennings and a 4/18 shooting night from Joe Alexander. Yes, they won the game, but when you've got six roster players in Vegas that should be expected. And yes, the fact that I had flown all the way from Boston to see it made it a bit more of a letdown.

Thankfully, Sunday was a brighter day in spite of less-than-ideal travel planning on my part. I was booked for a redeye flight back to Boston at 10:30 Vegas time, and knowing I was headed straight to work from the airport, I was forced to don pants and a collared shirt in the 100+ degree heat. Not that I was actually outside much--no one ever goes outside in Vegas, afterall. Still, knowing I had 36 mostly sleepless hours ahead of me added a bit more anticipation to the Bucks' 7 pm tipoff. A good showing from the young Bucks would make it a bit easier to deal with--and while not perfect, it is at least something to build on.

Brandon Jennings
30 min, 7/18 fg, 4/8 3fg, 5/6 ft, 23 pts, 8 ast, 2 rebs, 5 stl, 3 to, 3 pf

This was everything Bucks fans thought they'd be getting from their 19-year old lottery pick--the explosivness, the confidence, the playmaking, and the inconsistency, all rolled into 30 minutes. While other players may have had better performances in Vegas over the weekend, few could claim to have so controlled the flow and style of a game the way Jennings did on Sunday night. Jennings pushed the ball immediately off every Cleveland rebound or turnover, creating a slew of transition chances himself thanks to his five steals. But he also looked at ease in the halfcourt, setting up his shooters coming off curl screens or settling for jump shots himself while turning it over a not-unreasonable-for-Vegas three times.

Which brings us to perhaps the most controversial side of BJ's game: his jumper. David Thorpe tweeted during the game that Jennings "flings" it, which hasn't bother me as much since I'm used to Michael Redd's even more exaggerated slinging motion. Half the time Jennings' hands end up at his hips when he shoots, providing more of a pose than a follow through. And don't even get me started on his feet. I'll probably make reference to this about three million times this season (and I've already brought it up a dozen times), but he has this perpetual need to kick his legs out and put himself off balance when he shoots. It's not even that he's fading away per se, but he almost always ends up with his body 20 or so degrees off of vertical. I'm sure coaches have already drilled him on this a million times, so we're probably just going to have to get used to it.

Not surprisingly his inconsistent mechanics mean he's incredibly streaky; this is afterall a guy who once hit 13 threes in a high school game. So it wasn't all that surprising to see him start the contest 1/7 from the field, only to then turn the game around almost single handedly. The Bucks trailed by 10 in the waning minutes of the first half, but a three by Jennings followed by a breakaway lay-up helped bring the Bucks back to within 41-39 at the intermission.

And perhaps his most impressive play of the half wasn't even one where he scored. In the final minute of the half he caught Darnell Jackson by surprise in the post, tearing the ball out of big man's hands for his fourth steal. Sprinting the other way, he cut inside a couple of Cavs defenders and went for the up-and-under lay-in, only to have it blocked by Green. But Jennings was now in his rhythm, and eight points in the opening two minutes of the third quarter put the Bucks up ten. Kelvin Sampson curiously took Jennings out just a minute later, but his statement had been made.

Of course, it wasn't all good. Jennings is a gambler on defense, which leads to steals and transition opportunities, but also sees him get caught behind the play at times. In the middle quarters his offensive flow seemed to make him all the more zoned in defensively, but by the time the fourth quarter rolled around he started to look a bit, dare I say, slow on defense. We can probably chalk it up to lagging effort in the late going of a meaningless blowout, but he can do better.

We also haven't seen Jennings take it to the hoop much, his quickness evident more in pushing the ball up the court than in taking it to the rack. Then again, with so many non-roster players having 10 fouls to spare, it might not be the best idea to send your slightly built PG into the heart of the defense all the time.

Joe Alexander
29 min, 1/7 fg, 1/1 3fg, 5/6 ft, 8 pts, 5 reb, 0 pf, 2 to

Alexander once again struggled to make the most of his good looks, back-ironing a pair of contested dunks (one where he got a charitable foul call) and going without a field goal until he hit an open triple late. He did once again bully his way into the paint on a couple occasions, and has now made 11 free throws in two games, but overall the story was again a disappointing one. At PF Alexander has been more active crashing the offensive glass, and I even saw him box out once or twice on defense. But he's still leaving something to be desired on defense, where his main positive is that he's quick enough to show/recover well on the pick/roll.

Jodie Meeks
32 min, 7/14 fg, 0/1 3fg, 2/2 ft, 16 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 to

Meeks looks to be enjoying his new backcourt partner, and I'd guess the feeling is mutual. Five of Jennings' eight assists came courtesy of Meeks, who continued to show a Rip Hamilton-like ability to catch and shoot from mid-range. For a guy who frequently shot from well beyond the college three point line we've seen only 1/2 three shooting in two games, but that's perfectly fine. Meeks is now averaging 15 ppg on 56.5% shooting from the field in two games, the kind of perimeter scoring consistency the Bucks will probably need a few months from now. Meeks also showed he could put the ball on the floor a little bit, most notably when he drove and scored on a left-handed scoop in the second half.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
29 min, 3/6 fg, 6/8 ft, 12 pts, 8 rebs, 2 stl, 3 pf

Just another quiet but solid all-around game from the Fresh Prince. He even made a quick catch-and-shoot jumper from the wing in transition, which would be a nifty shot to have in his bag of tricks. Other than that he mostly did his thing around the bucket--slicing and squirming his way around defenders to get layups or get to the line.

Amir Johnson
24 min, 4/9 fg, 1/3 ft, 9 pts, 6 rebs, 8 pf, 3 stl, 1 to

I think it's safer if we all just accept that Amir is what he is--a physically talented guy who's probably not going to stay on the court long enough to be a big impact player. He's definitely got the talent to be more than that, but expecting him to suddenly become a star would make us no different from...well, Pistons fans for the last three years.

But that's OK. His contract is modest and he can block shots and rebound when he is on the court, which is more than we can say for any of our other bigs not named Bogut. To his credit, Amir did finish with more points (9) than fouls, and all of his buckets were pretty nice--a righty hook in the lane, a couple nice catch and finishes around the bucket, and a drive and score that started all the way out by the three point line (it's in the clip above).

Game Thread: Bucks/Cavs

Frank Madden — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:44:29 -0000

Bucks/Mavericks: hide the women and children

0-1		1-0
	vs.
July 12, 2009 - 9:00 PM CT
Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas
TV: NBA.com Stream
Probable starters:
Jamont Gordon	PG	Brandon Jennings
Tarence Kinsey	SG	Jodie Meeks
Danny Green	SF	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Darnell Jackson	PF	Joe Alexander
David Harrison	C	Amir Johnson

Summer slugfest. They're having UFC 100 here in Vegas this weekend, so it's perhaps fitting that the Bucks and Mavs slugged it out Friday night on the court. An ugly game, but ugly basketball is better than no basketball, right? Check out my recap, my liveblog, video highlights (above), and some Brandon Jennings audio.

Like Friday, I'll be sitting courtside and will be liveblogging the entire day's action in the comments as it happens. The Spurs and Hornets kick things off at 3 pm CT.
Joe and Luc. The Green/Mbah a Moute matchup could be an interesting one--both guys were versatile role players on Final Four teams (Green winning a title last year) and Green scored 16 on 7 shots in yesterday's loss to the Lakers. Meanwhile, Joe Alexander and Amir Johnson could have their hands full up front with the 6'9", 253 pound Darnell Jackson and the 7-foot, 280 pound David Harrison.

But as much as the Bucks might be featuring the two sophomore forwards together in Vegas, John Hammond says it's probably not be something we'll see a lot of in November.
"I think it's purely a summer league thing. I don't now that you would see us necessarily putting a team on the floor with those guys together getting extended minutes. But they both can play those positions. Luc might be a better offensive four man, just because he can do things at the four position that you need that player to do, but he's probably even better defensively at the three spot.
"Joe on the other hand is probably better offensively at the three spot, because he can get a shot for himself and he's going to get to the free throw line. Joe had kind of an ugly box score last night, but he missed three or four looks right near the basket. If he finishes a few of those and goes 8/18 then his line looks a lot different, and out of those 18 shots he took maybe three bad shots. But his ability to create shots for himself makes him an asset to us."

NBA Summer League Day Two Recap - The Breakouts

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:27:33 -0000

Yours truly rebounded from his day one exhaustion to go to all four games of day two. We had three very good games and one stinker. I performed my first interview. I was well prepared. I chickened out of other interviews because I felt poorly prepared.

Onward my friends, into the brink for your day two data dump.

Game One - Pistons vs Raptors

The Pistons squad rolled on again with a 91-87 victory and Joe Dumars has to be thrilled. His three 2009 draft picks were again solid and his second rounder from last year proved to be the best athlete playing today. In the second half, it seemed like the guys all gelled and things got easy for them. The best evidence I can present is that they only 7 turnovers for the game with only 1 in the fourth quarter. In an attempt to appease OClatinD, I will separate the players by team so as to not confuse the anal retentive out there.

Detroit Pistons

Austin Daye - Daye looked fabulous, especially early. He had 18 points and 9 rebounds. 2 assists and 1 turnover. He didn't score or get a reobound in the fourth quarter. He did play the entire game. He looks GREAT. I can't emphasize this enough. He's composed. He can handle. He can shoot. To paraphrase Bon Scott from Whole Lotta Rose, "You could say he's got it all".
DaJuan Summers - The day one standout was not spectacular today, just very good. He had 19 points and 6 rebounds. He was only 7-17 from the field with 1-4 from distance. He did hit all his free throws and only picked up 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He looks like an NBA player. He has great body control in the paint, he can bang, he spent some time guarding DeRozan. He's a keeper.
Jonas Jerebko - The victim of my interview had a solid game. He had 12 points on a not so good 5-14 shooting including 0-3 from three and 2-6 from the line, 7 rebounds, and 8 very hard fouls.
Deron Washington - Last year's second round pick had two spectacular dunks off missed shots. Other than those two dunks, he was 2-9 from the field and 4-12 from the line. He's quite the leaper, but his offensive game is not good. I didn't really pay attention to him on the defensive end so I can't say if he has a future. If he does, it's because he can lock guys up. Not because he can score.
Michael Bramos - aka The Gross Pointe Gunner. I stole that from somebody, but I'm not sure they want to be credited. Yesterday he had 13 points in 15 minutes. Today it was 5 points in 4 minutes. I love this guys attitude. He has a nice shot and he isn't complacent with it. He also like to take it to the rack.
Clay Tucker - He has quietly had two very nice games. He hasn't received a lot of minutes but he has been very efficient with them.

Toronto Raptors

Demar DaRozen - Demar got all the post game attention. Mostly because he was the highest draft pick, and the biggest name, and he had a good game. He didn't have a great game. He did have 20 points, but he took 20 shots and he only got to the line for one free throw. He had 0 assists, but also 0 turnovers. What you should take from this is that when given the ball he can score some. He took a lot of jumpers and is able to create some space for himself. He doesn't create for others and he wasn't a playmaker. For the most part, he was taking jumpers. That's not to say he wasn't impressive. He was. He was aggressive against his man and he showed a decent handle. One big ATS thumbs up. Or, if I may borrow it, a JTU. He has work to do, but he's a good player. Us dorks in the back row did have one obsrevation about Demar. You don't get the sense that he's explosive. I'm not sure what to make of it, but we did talk about it. I'll keep my eye on that one.
Quincy Douby - The one-time Kings guard was feeling it today. He was the games leading scorer with 21points and he did it efficiently on only 13 field goal attempts. Quincy is a scorer and his place in the league, if he has one, is scoring points off the bench. He is aptly named. When he comes in, he fires one up. Get it?
Patrick O'Bryant - He had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he wasn't nearly as effective offensively in this game. I think it is because he was playing against some size in this one where he wasn't yesterday. He'll continue to get some interest from teams because of his size I'm sure. He has some potential as a banger and I like his demeanor.
Smush Parker - He wasn't as effective today. He picked up 7 fouls in 13 minutes. He was 1-3 from the field, 0-2 from 3-pt, 2-4 from the line, and had 3 turnovers to go with his 2 assists. Meh!

Game Two - Cavaliers vs Lakers

This game was a dog. My cohort left in the first quarter to save himself from seppuku. The Lakers, by some miracle, are 2-0 making them the worst team to ever start 2-0 in the 2009 Vegas Summer League.

Los Angeles Lakers

Adam Morrison - He tickled the twine 22 points. He had it going from 3-pt with a 4 for 6. He had some REALLY bad passes on drives though. I don't know if he has shown enough to pick up his $7 million qualifying offer for next year. Well, in fact, I am sure. He has not. No knock on Adam, but $7M is a lot of dough and the Lakers are in luxury tax land. Ain't. Happening.
Ben McCauley - Dude's a baller. 10 points and 7 rebounds. He only took 6 shots.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Danny Green - He proved to be a VERY good spot up shooter. When he set his feet and let it fly, he knocked them down. He was 4 of 6 from long range. One of those misses was a forced shot off the dribble. He just might be a very good option for the Cavs as somebody to play of Le B.
Darnell Jackson - The Cavs second round pick from last year looks out of shape and wasn't very impressive.
David Harrison - The former Pacer and big man from Colorado is, well, big.

Game Three - Warriors vs Kings

The Warriors 98-95 overtime victory over the Kings featured two top picks in the 2009 draft showing why they were top picks. The downside of this game is that Evans and Curry almost never went head to head.

Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry - He was abysmal in the first half going 0-8 from the field and scoring 2 points. In addition, he twisted his ankle and had to leave for a while. The second half was a different story as he went for 27 points after intermission. He was 10-11 from the line -- for some odd reason when the Warriors were awarded a technical Anthony Randolph shot the free. And missed of course -- and made everything down the stretch when the Kings were sending him to the line.
Anthony Randolph - He's still unstoppable on the move. He racked up another double-double with 24 points, on 10-13 shooting, and 11 boards. He cut his fouls down to 4 this game, but did have 6 turnovers.
Cartier Martin - He, much to my surprise, finished with 27 points. He's a very strong two-guard, and he made his living at the line. He showed the ability to make the 3-ball tonight. I will definitely have to keep my eye on this guy next time.

Sacramento Kings

Tyreke Evans - He was very impressive even though he didn't have a great shooting night. He was 8-19 from the field, 2-5 from wayback, and 7-12 from the line. Add it all up and it is 25 points. The impressive part was his work on the glass. He pulled down 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end. He was even able to initiate a fast break off the defensive glass. One JTU to Tyreke.
Donte Greene - His stats weren't good, but I like him more than I thought I would. He seems to be involving himself in the rough stuff. 5-17 isn't what you want to see from a guy who's a shooter, but he's not drifting around lost.
Jason Thompson - He had another unimpressive outing. He should be standing out. He is, for the wrong reasons.
Jon Brockman - 7 rebounds in 9 minutes for Marcus Williams' old high school rival. Enough said.

Game Four - Mavericks vs Rockets

This was a Rockets runaway that turned into the Rodrigue Beaubois show. Represent, Eti. The Mavericks hit 4 straight 3-pointers in the last two minutes to make it an interesting game. Beaubois and Jackson missed 3 balls in the last 4 seconds to avoid a second straight overtime game for me.

Dallas Mavericks

Rodrigue Beaubois - I hammered on him about yesterday. Naturally, the dude went OFF. To the tune of 34 points and 8 assists. He was 7-12 from range. He didn't miss a free throw. He finished around the rim. He did pick up 9 more fouls. I like his 8 assists and 2 turnovers. He showed a hell of a lot more than he did last night. His attitude was much better.
Ahmad Nivins - He wasn't nearly as good tonight though he did finish with 11 points and 8 rebounds. He struggled with his outside shot and didn't show an ability to score when asked to do it on his own. On the other hand, he did get his points by crashing the glass which is exactly what the Mavs will ask of him.
Curtis Jerrells - He's solid but unspectacular. He handles the ball well. He works the team into the set. Honestly, he reminds me of The JV.

Houston Rockets

Chase Budinger - Another guy I ripped who responded in the second game. Coincidence? I think not. I call it the "Putting it in ATS' face" syndrome. Budinger was 9-10 from the field and 6-7 from the line for 25 points. I still don't think he's going to be able to handle the physical defense, he did show that he can shoot.
Jermaine Taylor - The Rockets other second round pick showed he can also score by getting 15 points. He's definitely one to keep an eye on.
Joey Dorsey - The Beast Mugabi had a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds. He reminds me of the OLD Spurs. He's a Bruise Brother(search for 'bruise')
Will Conroy - Another JV clone. Effective. Does what he needs to do.

More on the refs

For the 8 games, they have run one female ref in each game. Tonight, in the last game, it was obvious that the lead ref was the woman, Kim Hobbs. We were watching her up in the stands during an early game. From a distance, it was interesting to see her critiquing different parts of the official's game. For a while, she was exercising the correct way to signal numbers with her fingers like she was calling a foul on a player. It was one of those odd things where from a distance you know exactly what somebody is doing and they have no idea anybody is watching.

During her game, I was playing a little closer attention to the way the refs worked. From up close, I could tell that one time she got aggravated about the way one of the other refs called a play. The most entertaining part to me was when, at the time out, the three refs met to discuss. The two guys pulled out their handkerchiefs to dab their sweat and she didn't. It was like she made them nervous and they couldn't contain their nerves. If I was reading poker players, I'd say she would have out played them every time. Girl Power!!!

Cavaliers release Summer League roster

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:57:25 -0000

The Cleveland Cavaliers released their Summer League 2009 roster earlier today as they get set to play 5 games over the next 10 days or so. The roster consists of -

2009 cavaliers Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
26	Leo Lyons	F	6-9	244	Missouri
15	Christian Eyenga	G-F	6-5	210	Congo (Zaire)
5	Jamont Gordon	G	6-4	225	Grand Valley State
14	Danny Green	G-F	6-6	210	North Carolina
35	David Harrison	C	7-0	280	Colorado
0	Darnell Jackson	F	6-9	253	Kansas
8	Tarence Kinsey	G	6-6	189	South Carolina
6	Maureece Rice	G	6-1	225	George Washington
31	Jawad Williams	F	6-9	220	North Carolina

Cavaliers Assistant Coach Chris Jent will lead the team.

The team's first game from Las Vegas is tomorrow at 6PM est. All Summer League games can be watched live on the Web(for a fee of $14.99) HERE.

Larry Bird Building Pacers With An Eye Toward The Future

Tom Lewis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:31:02 -0000

After the Indiana Pacers drafted Tyler Hansbrough last Thursday, one of the many thoughts I had was that the pick should ilicit a good round of Pacers' whitewash jokes. You know, because Hansbrough is white and there are currently five other white guys on the roster. Hee hee. Fair enough, just show some creativity.

But then I started hearing some, not a lot, but some comments on the radio and reading a few things on the web that insinuated that Larry Bird was a racist and his priority in running the team was to amass as many white players as possible, regardless of talent. And these people were serious, which ended up being funnier than any of the actual jokes I've heard.

Most of these types of comments seem to arise from people who begin with a bias of their own, normally from one of two camps. Either they hate Tyler Hansbrough and don't think he was worthy of any first round pick, let alone the 13th pick so Bird must be hung up on race to take Hansbrough so high OR they've been longing for Larry Bird to be replaced in the Pacers'front office so they are quick to criticize any move and the easiest (laziest?) dagger to throw with this pick is to hit the racial angle.

It's easy to be led astray when you don't follow a situation real close and instead take a snapshot in time or simply monitor in a general sense. So please indulge me a moment while I offer up a little history along with a glimpse to the future to make sure we're all working with facts. Now my apologies if this is a repeat for regular readers, but I feel the need to lay it out one more time, then I promise I'll stick to basketball.

Front Office History

Larry Bird has been in the Pacers'front office since 2003, working under Donnie Walsh until last summer. The initial plan was to have Bird groomed under Walsh for a few years before eventually taking over all basketball decisions. But in the aftermath of the brawl one year later, Walsh took back a more active role in the basketball operations and after a few francise-marring situations in the community handled the complicated trades that had the Pacers dealing Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson.

Peja Stojackovic was swapped for Artest and played for half a season, not to placate all of the racist fans in Indy, but because Sacramento said, "OK, we'll take Artest." Among the players that arrived in the Stephen Jackson deal were Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. Murphand Dun were in a bad situation in Golden State and were admittedly overpriced, hence the reason they were moved. It turned out to be a pretty good deal, since both have played better than expected when the deal was completed. For some reason, though, Donnie Walsh is never pegged as a racist. Probably because he's from New York instead of French Lick.

During this time, Bird worked hard to bring in free agent Sarunas Jasikevicius, outbidding the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Lithuanian player who had lit up some of the NBA's best in the Olympics and had a few huge year in the Euro leagues. At the time, the Pacers had Jamaal Tinsley, Anthony Johnson and Eddie Gill so the reasoning was that Runi would provide a change of pace and be able to knock down threes. This was a huge miss by Bird when it became apparent that the two steps back pushed Runi out of his shooting range. Despite his skin tone, Runi's presence certainly didn't placate all of the racist hoop fans in Indy. After two years, Jasikevicius was included in the trade that brought in Murph and Dun.

Bird Draft History

While Walsh maintained the final say in trade negotiations, Bird handled the draft from the time he arrived back in town. Since his arrival, his overt plan to whitewash the Pacers has netted draft picks James Jones (2003), David Harrison and Rashad Wright (2004), Danny Granger and Erazem Lorbek (2005), Shawne Williams (2006) Stanko Barac (via trade 2007), Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert (via trades 2008) and Tyler Hansbrough and A.J. Price (2009). Yeah, I know, Lorbek and Barac are white, but in fairness they were drafted as assetts to be developed on someone else's dime in Europe as opposed to placating all of the racist hoop fans in Indy.

Bird Trade History

Last summer was Larry Bird's first with full control of the basketball operations. He overturned the roster by bringing in seven new players. In the J.O. trade with Toronto, Bird brought back T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and Maceo Baston along with the draft rights to Roy Hibbert. Birds sinister and methodical plan to whitewash the Pacers did produce Rasho, but he was actually more valuable as an expiring contract than as a white player to placate all of the racist hoop fans in Indy.

The other three new players Bird dealt for came from a draft deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. Ike Diogu and the rights to Jerryd Bayless for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and the rights to Brandon Rush. Now to say Josh McRoberts was the key piece to that deal in order to placate all of the racist hoop fans in Indiana requires the suspension of any basketball knowledge said detractor may profess.

It just so turns out, that in the minimal minutes Josh McRoberts was given last year he actually showed some promise. Now don't go running to a box score or look for old game reports to call me crazy. You actually had to watch the games to see why the team would be willing to bring him back for a minimal salary and he will get the opportunity to earn his way on the team with a good showing in summer league.

Where Is Bird Taking The Pacers?

This is where Bird's efforts to placate all of the racist hoop fans in Indy gets a little rocky. The Pacers are trying to rebuild with a core of players who treat their game as a profession, focused on developing into the best player they can possibly be. Bird prefers a mature player who has faced adversity and succeeded in hostile environments. Unless the talent overwhelms, he appears set to error on the side of experience.

The problem with this rebuilding project is that the team is desperate to win back fans, and while the shallow thinkers may believe the plan to win back fans is as simple as trotting out as many white guys as possible, the reality is that the fans want a team that plays hard and wins. So instead of gutting the roster for a horrible, lottery-improving season, Bird and team have gathered players to bridge the franchise from the depths of despair a couple of years ago (specifically after missing the 2006-07 playoffs with a nearly unwatchable team) to a future built on the foundation of players described in the preceding paragraph.

This plan is dicey since playing hard is not a problem but the wins part remains a struggle. The team needs to win more this year to build on the positive end to last season. Although in reality, any wins next year won't have a positive impact on the long term future from a basketball sense. But since the team needs to create some excitement to generate revenue, the short-term focus on winning as much as possible is understandable, not to mention far more entertaining to follow.

For lack of a better term, the "bridge players" include anyone currently on the roster whose contract expires after the 2010-11 season. The team prefers to think of it as their three-year plan. Either way, after 2010-11 the contracts for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, T.J. Ford, Jeff Foster and Jamaal Tinsley will all expire. Travis Diener's contract will expire after next season. The Pacers didn't pick up the team option for Marquis Daniels. Parting ways with Daniels was a financial move, since picking up his $7.5 million option would've left the Pacers with about $2 million to fill out the roster while avoiding the luxury tax.

So to look at the future core of the team, check out the 2011-12 roster. There you'll find Danny Granger, Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough. Consider Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and A.J. Price to be wild cards at this point, but obviously not yet considered core players. There's plenty of work to be done for the future team and I expect the bridge players to be used as leverage to gather future assetts between now and the end of the 2010-11 season.

But one thing I don't expect is for Larry Bird to consider all of the racist hoop fans in Indy when trying to fill out the roster. Fortunately, he doesn't care what anyone thinks, he just wants to work with players that want to work to improve the team while also keeping the roster's financial situation in check and under the luxury tax.

So there you go. Make sure you understand me. I'm not saying there's racial harmony in Indiana nor any hoop fans who view the game through a personal racist lens. I'm also not saying the Pacers won't add white players in the future. In fact, I'd love it if they could swing a deal with a bridge player or two to land Ricky Rubio and Brian Cardinal's expiring contract from Minnesota. We can dream, right?

What I am saying is that Larry Bird has enough factors involved in trying to build a roster for the future without also trying to execute some sinister conspiracy to make the team white. And if you actually take an honest look at the basketball decisions which led to the current roster (not to mention who was making the decisions), that line of thinking based on a general, current snapshot unravels. In fact, looking at the core future, if Bird's desire is to "whiten" the Pacers, then he'd be failing miserably.

So to conclude, Larry Bird is wading through several complicated issues while trying to build the Indiana Pacers for a successful future. Race just isn't one of them nor is the opinion of any fan. Oh, and Tyler Hansbrough was a selected as a solid player in a draft that isn't expected to be league-altering. Deal with it.