SB Nation - Smush Parker

Some Thoughts on Kobe & Shaq

Josh Tucker — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:01:03 -0000

A few days ago, as you all remember quite well, Kobe Bryant hit this ridiculous game-winning bank shot over Dwyane Wade to beat Miami and keep the Lakers' winning streak (now at 9 games) alive. It was incredible, and yet, because it was Kobe, completely unsurprising. I was out of my mind, and yet, because it was Kobe, I should almost have expected it. It was an amazing shot, and yet, because it was Kobe, not a shocking one.

For me, as for many Lakers fans, the experience went beyond that single shot. In the day or so that followed, I found myself mentally reliving many of Kobe's previous buzzer beaters. Two of my favorites, of course, are the double-whammies versus Portland and Phoenix — in both of which, Kobe first ties the game at the buzzer to send it to overtime, and then, at the end of overtime, hits another shot at the buzzer to win it. (Side note: I wonder how many other players have hit two buzzer beaters in the same game, on more than one occasion? Anyone know?)

Suddenly, something occurred to me. My wife, who often watches Lakers games with me (lucky man that I am), had probably never seen either of those shots (or rather, pairs of shots). We got married in late 2006, and it was only after that that she started watching with me. So, of course, I called up YouTube and played them for her.

That's when I noticed something — something different about Shaq and Kobe...

Back in May of this almost-over calendar year, the NBA was busy applying fancy editing to some of the more dramatic moments in NBA playoff history, and the results were awesome. You had Dr. J's reverse layup, Larry Legend's inbounds steal, Magic Johnson's baby skyhook, and of course, Kobe's clutch alley-oop pass to Shaq.

When the Kobe-to-Shaq commercial ran, Jason Kottke noticed something about the play:

Bryant creates 95% of the offense here by crossing Pippen over and throwing a perfect lob to O'Neal. O'Neal throws it down and the camera follows him as he heads down the court yelling in celebration, totally blowing right past Kobe, who has his hand out to high-five Shaq. Kobe half-heartedly grabs at O'Neal's forearm as he passes; Shaq doesn't even notice.

Henry Abbott picked up on Jason's observation and ran it on TrueHoop, referring to it as "Where Amazingly Sad Happens."

Watch the video at the top of this post, and you'll see what they were referring to. Here's the unedited version, which further reinforces Kottke's point, making it even more clear that Kobe, not Shaq, is responsible for this play; Shaq was open for the lob because Kobe drew four defenders (Derek Fisher was keeping the fifth one honest).

Kobe created that play for Shaq. Kobe deserves most of the credit; all Shaq did was cash in on an incredible move and a gorgeous pass by Bryant. In fact, it's worth pointing out that in this situation, Kobe did what Magic didn't — pass the ball to his open big man. In light of Kobe's reputation as a supposed ball-hog (7 assists in the triangle offense, anyone?), even that is worth something — especially since Kobe had enough space to take the shot himself, and a free-throw jumper is almost automatic for him. But he made that pass, found his open big man, and created the biggest play of the game.

But what's Shaq's response, when the momentous play is completed? It's certainly not to show any appreciation to his very deserving teammate. Instead, he turns and points to the home crowd as he runs down the court.

It's as if to say, "I've done it! I've all but won us the game — give me the glory!" He's too busy exalting in his greatness and soaking in the adoration of the fans to even notice Kobe, let alone thank him. The star of the game, as Kottke also points out, was Kobe, who had 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks in the amazing comeback, as compared to Shaq's 18/9/5/1. The credit for the pivotal play belonged to Kobe. But there's Shaq, taking all the credit.

Watch the unedited video again. As Kottke points out (the dude was full of insights), it shows Shaq finally finding Kobe for a high-five, long after the play is over and he's sought out and received his props from the fans and his teammates. Kottke points out that "it's a brief moment; they slap hands and go their separate ways, foreshadowing Shaq's departure four years later." To me, it looks like more of the same from Shaq — his body language says, "High five me for that awesome play I just made." (To his credit, Kobe does just that.) Not that there's anything wrong with that, when it's deserved; players do that all the time, when they've just done something awesome. It's just that, in this case, it should have been a high five, or even a hug, that said, "I'm high fiving you for that play you just made."

Kinda like this:

Having been blown away by Kobe's game-winner over Miami, and having gone back to relive this previous clutch Kobe moments with my wife, I noticed something that reminded me of Jason Kottke's and Henry Abbott's observations regarding the Kobe-Shaq alley-oop.

Kobe deserved more credit for his game-tying floater than Shaq did for his alley-oop dunk. Unlike Shaq, Kobe created his own shot, and it was much more difficult. The presence of mind to know how much time was on the clock, and to know what kind of shot he could get in that time, was incredible. That left fake before he goes to the right around Raja Bell is simply brilliant. The twisting floater over Diaw to avoid the block was as perfect as it gets, and a very tough shot found nothing but net. As one commentator puts it (sounds like Hubie Brown, maybe?), "This is a miraculous shot."

But incredible as that shot was, it never would have happened without Smush freaking Parker's (!!) strip and deflection. And Kobe knows it. From stripping the ball without fouling, to dancing along the sideline while chasing a loose ball, to the presence of mind required to calmly make the controlled tap to an already-breaking teammate (Devean George), Smush Parker was, quite simply, playing way over his head. It was a brilliant, savvy, smart play that set up Kobe's shot. Get this right, folks: Kobe may have tied the game, but it was Smush Parker who saved it.

And Kobe knows this. He's just sent the game to overtime, and the crowd is going nuts for him, and he could care less about any of that. Instead of celebrating his own incredible shot or soaking in the crowd's mind-numbing adoration, he makes a bee-line for Smush. There's no simple high five here, no quick butt-smack. He freaking smothers the kid, and doesn't let go of him until Smush knows that he was the man on that play. Even after his teammates catch up and mob Kobe for making the shot, he still doesn't let go of his boy.

Smush Parker didn't put up 25/11/7/5 on the game. In fact, he was pretty bad on the night, going 2-12 for 5 points, with 3 rebounds, only 1 assist, and 5 fouls (and no free throws of his own). As hindsight has made so very clear, it had to be frustrating for Kobe to be playing the mighty Suns alongside a player of Smush's caliber (not to mention Devean George/Brian Cook and Kwame Brown, who, together with Smush, composed 3/5 of the Lakers starting unit). But in this moment, none of that matters, because as far as Kobe is concerned, Smush is the hero of the moment, and he makes sure his point guard gets every ounce of the appreciation he deserves.

Now, don't take this as being some sort of end-all point to completely settle the argument — but doesn't it seem a bit off to you, in watching these two plays, that Kobe had the reputation of being such a bad teammate, and Shaq, such a great one? Certainly, Kobe has had his flaws. But, as this video session suggests, perhaps it's not nearly so cut and dry — perhaps Kobe was never as bad as he was made out to be, and perhaps Shaq was never as good.

Just some food for thought, for the next time the Shaq-Kobe "relationship" comes up.

Gilbert Arenas talks about his struggles learning how to balance scoring and distributing

Mike Prada — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:49:22 -0000

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You've probably already read about how Gilbert Arenas admitted he's having trouble figuring out his role in Flip Saunders' offense. It's a pretty obvious thing to notice when you're watching, and I found it really enlightening, if still concerning, that Arenas opened up about it.

But I also disagree with both beat writers, who seem to wonder whether there's some sort of rift between Arenas and Caron Butler. Their evidence? Butler didn't get a shot down the stretch, and then made some postgame comment that indicated he liked how Earl Boykins got him the ball in good spots. The implication Michael Lee makes is that Butler was indirectly calling out Arenas, and while I don't think that's the case, I was talking to Arenas when Butler said that, so I suppose it's possible.

That said, I want to post Arenas post-game interview in full and then try to get at what might have actually happened down the stretch for Butler to not get any shots. I'm thinking the problem is that Arenas didn't step up to get the ball enough, not that he was hogging it and looking off Butler.

If you want to follow along with the Arenas interview transcript, here's the audio.

Gilbert Arenas talks after the Wizards' loss to Detroit.

Can you talk about the way Earl [Boykins] played tonight?

He did great tonight. But that's what Earl does. Me and Earl played together my second year. We went from 19 wins to 40 wins, and the only additions were me and him, so we played well together. I think he's going to help us this season.

Talk about getting all the pieces back healthy together as you approach the Cleveland game.

The funny part with Antawn coming back now is that now we have to jell and get him back into the flow. Hopefully, it can be a quick turnaround. Players have been dropping, players have been added, so we just don't have the rhythm we would like right now. But we've never really been a team that's played November very well. Since I've been here, December has been our month.

Why haven't you guys been able to sustain your effort for 48 minutes?

I don't know. I don't know if I'm sitting out there just watching. There's always a half or a quarter where I don't shoot and I don't score. Before, in Eddie [Jordan's] system, he needed me to score 30. In this system, I don't have to, so not shooting for a whole quarter doesn't really bother me because we have other player that are scoring. But then, when I try to get into a rhythm, I don't have that feel, so I have to find a way to keep myself in the game the whole time.

Is this system too complicated? Is that what's tough?

No, no. It's just that you have so many weapons. You have Mike Miller, you have Caron [Butler], you have Andray [Blatche], you have Earl. You can relax and let them go. But then I find myself in the fourth quarter realizing I haven't shot the ball yet, and I get up to the free throw line and boink it. I just have to find out how to keep my rhythm throughout the whole game.

(A question about the defense, which I'm skipping through)

What's been the toughest thing for you? Is it coming back and running the team? Is it finding your rhythm?

I think the assist to turnover ratio is what's bothering me right now. I find myself doing more thinking than I am just reacting off my instincts. Players in this league, they react. I was a reactor. Now, I find myself being a thinker. Just like the Miami game, I'm sitting there concentrating on getting assists. Averaging eight assists, averaging nine assists, because I want to be labeled a "point guard." So, I catch myself forcing assists. Today, I just found myself saying "I'm going to forget the turnovers, go out there, and just do whatever. I ended up getting 10, and I was like "Jesus Christ." (smiles)

Do you want to go back to the old free-flowing style of Gilbert Arenas?

You know, even Earl said it when he first came here. He said, "I remembered the angry Gilbert in Golden State. All that Gilbert did was get a whole bunch of technicals and tear up the locker room. You just got to go back to being yourself. Go out there, have fun, laugh, play silly. That's when you play your best.

Do you think you need to be off the ball more to get going?

I was off the ball in the fourth quarter (laughs).

So then, were the shot just not coming for you? Was the ball not finding it's way to you?

I don't know, I just relaxed. When Earl's out there, he's out there doing his thing, and I'm going to let him do his thing. When Caron got going, Caron got going. Sometimes, there would be periods where the ball just didn't find me.

You feel like if you stay consistently aggressive on offense, that'll spread the floor for others?

That's how it was before, in Eddie's system. He just told me "Attack, attack, attack, 24/7." In this system, I have the ball so much where if I just attack, attack and attack, I'll sit around and score 60. I'll just be ball-hogging. So I have to take myself off the ball and take my mind out of shooting. If I just attack, I'll just attack every play, and I can't play like that.

When you were talking about thinking too much about assists, is that from having been away the past two years, or is it being in a new system?

It's being in a new system. (Pauses). And being away. You see players out there like Chris Paul averaging 20 and 10. They consider him the best point guard [in the league], so you put in your mind that in this system, I can go average 20 and 10, so let me go average 20 and 10. And then I catch myself trying to force assists. Like, in the Miami game, I took 27 shots and had 3 assists. I'm sitting there saying "Shit, I can't do that." So the next game, we play Indiana, and I take 10 shots. Then, I look, and I see 3 assists.

Is there anywhere else in your game, other than the system adjustment, where you think you're struggling to get back into a rhythm from being off for a while?

You would think shooting, not having my legs. I can see in my free throws, I don't have a feel for it. I'm practicing them, and they feel good then, but in a game, I just don't have a rhythm for it. Other than that, not really.

Is it frustrating that you haven't found that comfort level?

It's frustrating because we know what kind of talent we have. It's frustrating for me because I know I can take over in fourth quarters like I have been doing, but I don't want to take away from the team. [DeShawn Stevenson] got mad at me today, because in the fourth quarter, I only took three shots. Before, this wouldn't have happened. He said, "You would have taken over the fourth quarter even if you had to take every shot." But I don't feel like I have to do that this early because of what we have here.

Now that it's not working, do you see yourself going back?

I don't want to get into that situation. We have Antawn [Jamison] coming back, and we have to get him into the flow. You know, it's only been nine games. We can find ourselves out of this.

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I always used to think that the whole "the true test of a superstar is how he makes his teammates better" theory was a load of bull spit. I just didn't really see how a superstar could wield so much control over his supporting cast. Did Kobe Bryant really become better at "making his teammates better," or did his teammates just change from Smush Parker and Kwame Brown to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum? Is Steve Nash responsible for making his teammates better, or did Phoenix just do an exceptional job at putting the right complimentary pieces around Nash?

But listening to Arenas talk, it's clear that there might be something to it. Here you have a Wizards team that, even when shorthanded, has some guys who can really put up points. They're being plugged into a system where sharing the basketball is the whole point. Without sharing the ball, the system doesn't work. It's also a system where the point guard plays such a huge role in determining who gets the ball when. When that point guard is also someone with supreme scoring ability, it's a tough role to balance. Hearing Arenas admit he's completely out of rhythm when he takes a backseat to let others score only drives the point home.

That's why I find it hard to believe that Arenas is ignoring Caron Butler. Butler is getting his shots. Nearly 25 percent of the Wizards' possessions when Butler is on the court end in a Butler shot attempt, drawn foul or turnover. That's not as high as Arenas' mark, but it's higher than where Butler was at in his two all-star seasons. The problem with Butler is twofold. First, he's not converting the attempts he gets, and second, he's not creating good enough shots for himself or for others when he does get the ball. It's hard for me to believe that Arenas is both freezing out himself and Butler.

What really happened down the stretch on Saturday displayed that Arenas the off guard in crunch time isn't a good idea. Boykins was the one who dribbled the ball up the court. Arenas was the one trying to pop out and catch the ball. When it didn't work, which happens a lot with Boykins because Boykins tends to pound the dribble a lot, Boykins created something himself. When Arenas doesn't get a chance to catch and create, then Butler suffers too. At least that's how it should be -- Arenas creating with Butler finding a way to play off him.

Basically, my read is that both Arenas and Butler were phased out, at least relative to how much they should have received the ball. I don't really think Butler should be getting the ball and isolating down the stretch. He's not as good at that as Arenas is, even with Arenas struggling to get into a rhythm.

All that said, something about our crunch-time setup needs to change. I have two suggestions for that, neither of which are mutually exclusive.

Give Arenas the damn ball and let him make plays. No more of this "playing Arenas off the ball down the stretch" garbage. The best closers in the game -- Kobe, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade -- always get the ball to start possessions in the fourth quarter and then consequently get help and make plays for themselves or others. Arenas is one of the few players in the league with the capacity to drive for a score himself or find an open teammate. He's still learning how to do both at the same time, but having someone else bring the ball up the court down the stretch doesn't fix any of that. Now, should Arenas go off the ball earlier in the game? Absolutely. It allows guys like Boykins and Randy Foye to do their thing and get into the game while Arenas still maintains a rhythm. But down the stretch, you need to trust your best player to make the right decisions. This Wizards team is sinking or swimming with Arenas anyway.
Run more Arenas/Butler screen plays late rather than early, and run them at the top of the key: The play I'd really like to see the Wizards run down the stretch is the one Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki have been doing for years in Dallas. Have Butler set a high screen for Arenas and the fade to the pinch-post/elbow area in the middle of the floor. Don't have Arenas jet to the hoop just yet. Instead, have him try to force a switch, so that a smaller guy gets switched on Butler. Then, either decide to take the bigger guy off the dribble, or lob it into Caron and let him go to work one step from the lane. If Caron gets doubled, swing it and get an open shot. This keeps Butler involved while ensuring that Arenas is trusted with the ball in his hands.

It's not an easy fix, of course, but it's also a problem Arenas is well aware of. This is a situation where the Wizards need to rely on him, now more than ever. This isn't the type for them to scale back his capacity for decision-making in the offense.

Lakers-Hornets Preview

DexterFishmore — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:00:35 -0000

Remember when the New Orleans Hornets were the next big thing? It wasn't that long ago, although to a Hornets fan it must seem like the Carter administration.

In the spring of 2008, the Hornets challenged the Los Angeles Lakers for best record in the Western Conference. They fell one game short of the conference's top seed, and then one game short of meeting the Lakers in the conference finals. With a seemingly young core of Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, David West and Peja Stojakovic, the Hornets appeared on the verge of securing a more or less permanent seat on the NBA Security Council.

I say seemingly, though, because within that core group only Paul was really on the upswing of his career. And sure enough, last season involved some textbook-quality regression to the mean. Paul remained awesome, but West's play slipped a touch and Chandler and Peja missed substantial time with injuries. The Hornets tumbled to seventh in the conference and got roundhouse-kicked out of the first round by the Denver Nuggets.

On Sunday night they arrive at Staples with a 2-4 record and looking not terribly formidable. There's no more telling indicator of their decline than this: the Hornets are the only team in the NBA to have lost to the New York Knicks. And when someone's losing to the Knicks, I assume they're either butt-awful or point-shaving. The two aren't mutually exclusive, I suppose.

On the other hand, one of New Orleans' wins came against the Dallas team that blasted the Lakers, so they have that going for them. Let's go to the numbers, with the usual caveat about small, early-season sample sizes:

	Hornets	Lakers
Net Points Per Game	-6.3 (25th)	+3.5 (11th)
Pace	93.5 (22nd)	95.4 (15th)
Offensive Rating	105.2 (12th)	104.6 (14th)
Defensive Rating	109.9 (28th)	99.6 (9th)

(For those unfamiliar with the above terms, Pace means average number of possessions per 48 minutes. Offensive Rating is the number of points scored per 100 possessions. Defensive Rating is the number of points allowed per 100 possessions. League rankings are in parentheses.)

Like the Grizzlies team the Lakers just faced, the Hornets have been decent on offense and an utter catastrophe on defense. Their strength has been their shooting, or rather Chris Paul's shooting. He's been unreal in the first six games, making 62% of his two-point attempts, 72% of his three-point attempts and 87% of his free throws. Solve Paul, and you've solved the Hornets.

It would help if anyone had any clue how to do that. Paul is a point guard of surgical brilliance. With the ball in his hands, which is almost always, he goes wherever he wants to go, and he's a master when it comes to passing out of the pick-and-roll and drive-and-dish. Laker fans who watched the Houston game last week will recall how Aaron Brooks repeatedly sliced into the lane and found the Rocket big men for easy hoops. Well, Paul makes Aaron Brooks look like Smush Parker, and he makes Smush look like you and me.

Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, who have the size to make Paul's forays into the paint less inviting, won't play tonight. DJ Mbenga has similar size and even better shot-blocking facility, but he'll need to play with discipline and stay out of foul trouble. The Lakers will also need some plan to slow Paul on the perimeter, before he gets a head of steam en route to the basket.

I'd argue that Derek Fisher hasn't been that bad on D this year. He got torched by Brooks, but I thought he did a respectable job guarding Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City. That said, asking Fish to guard Paul has the potential to be a complete, NC 17-rated horror show. It thus wouldn't surprise me to see Kobe Bryant draw the assignment at times. New Orleans has the worst set of shooting guards in the league - according to our sister blog At The Hive, someone named Devin Brown will start at the 2 tonight - so Phil could easily dial up that defensive switch.

(Devin Brown, by the way, could be the worst player to start an NBA game this year. I do not exaggerate.)

The central problem for the Hornets is the gaping void of roster talent after Paul. David West and Emeka Okafor (the latter obtained in a trade that sent Chandler to Charlotte) are above average for their positions, but they're not quite All Star-caliber, and everyone else is either a has-been or never-gonna-be. Peja isn't anything like the threat he was during the LA-Sacramento holy wars. He can still hit threes but does nothing else on the court except be old.

Will the Lakers need another 40-point Kobe explosion to win this one? If the bench plays as well as it did against Memphis or nearly so, and if Ron Artest continues his stellar work on both ends of the floor, the answer is no. Even down Bynum and Gasol, the Lakers have enough talent and system to get to 6-1.

But if the reserves fumble around incompetently as they've been known to do from time to time, or if Paul runs wild for 40 minutes, things could definitely turn sour.

In conclusion, how cool is it that New Orleans has an actual place called the Voodoo Spiritual Temple? If I ever get married that's where it's going to be.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 6

Jon L — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:00:48 -0000

See these guys? These guys are better than your guys.

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So...we're officially past the halfway point with this Summer League thing. It both feels like it just started and like it's been going on forever. Orlando probably had something to do with it. I had a pretty interesting conversation (well, sort of) on Twitter that got to the heart of what Summer League should be about. I've talked about this before, but there are several competing goals that teams have: see how their new draft picks look on the court with other NBA players, help young NBA players continue to develop, and see if any D-League guys or "Europe" guys can fill in the back of the roster. Is it worth playing your second-year center 35 minutes if he's generally having an awful game and you have undrafted free agents or D-League guys you could look at? Or do that center's struggles mean that he needs more on-court development, and as such should stay out there and lean from his mistakes? I'm not completely sure of what the answer is, but looking at the box scores and seeing so many DNPs makes me go back to the question of whether Summer League is worth it for players who don't already have NBA contracts. If you play a lot and play well, like Kasib Powell did in Orlando, then sure you could say that was a good decision. But too often guys end up sitting on the bench for the entire game, unable to show what they can do while that second-year center shoots 20 percent from the field and an undrafted free agent plays five uneventful minutes. And because teams are playing either every day or every other day, there aren't really any practices to show what a player can do. Perhaps the solution is for the D-League to field several Select teams, thus ensuring that guys get playing time in which they can show they can hang with NBA players.

By the way, if these recaps have seemed shorter the last few days, it's because a.) A lot of these teams have relatively few D-League guys (hence the Select team, I guess), and b.) Not a lot of guys have been playing well, D-League or otherwise. There are players who I expected to have been talking about a lot, but because I'm trying to avoid harping on poor performances (ahem, Blake Ahearn) I'm left with little to focus on. If this keeps up I'm going to have a hardedrtime writing a "which non-NBA players did well in Vegas" post than I did with Orlando. Unless of course I just talk about the Select team, which beat another NBA squad yesterday. Hit the jump for the recap of that one and the rest.

D-League Select 105, Sacramento Kings 89

The D-League team was actually down by seven at the half, but they dominated the second half, including a 31-14 fourth quarter. And hey, I can actually tell you who played well in this one! Othyus Jeffers, Othyus Jeffers, Othyus Jeffers. (That wasn't meant to be a Clarence Carter reference, but feel free to make it one if you wish.) Jeffers again led the D-Leaguers with 21 points on 7-12 shooting and a perfect day from the free-throw line, plus seven rebounds and two steals. I'll be really, really surprised if he spends all of next season in the D-League; a call-up (or an outright signing) should be soon in coming for this guy. This was the first game where Trey Johnson played well without caveat, and he shot 8-10 for 20 points and added a pair of rebounds. Gary Forbes has been playing pretty well, both in Vegas and in Orlando, and yesterday he had 17 points on 11 shots and four rebounds. Coleman Collins shot 100 percent on the day, shooting 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the line.Kurt Looby took zero field goals, which is probably for the best, but I'll take six rebounds and three blocks in less than 15 minutes any day (though I could do without the six fouls). Curtis Stinson has started both official games at PG, and he's been solid enough, but Walker Russell has been really impressive generally

Jason Thompson had a fairly solid game, with 31 points on 23 shots and 10 rebounds, but also nine fouls. Marcus Landry has played relatively well, and yesterday he had 10 points on 4-6 shooting, though he didn't do much else. Tyreke Evans is a very good rebounder for his position, but the shooting still isn't there. He cut down on his turnovers, though. Did I mention that the D-League team beat another NBA squad, this one also featuring several first-round picks

Denver Nuggets 77, Washington Wizards 70

Nick Young came down to earth a little bit, scoring only 17 points, but it came on 12 shots and he also had three steals. Andray Blatche's numbers looked good again, 27 points on 21 shots, 15 rebounds (eight offensive), three assists and two steals, but he didn't look great doing it. He was exhorting his teammates to make harder cuts on offense, but he had his share of boneheaded plays as well. If you expect me to say another Wizard had a good game, I can't. Those three assists were a team high. JaVale McGee finished with eight rebounds and five blocks, but he also shot 3-12 and by all accounts looked pretty terrible overall.

Sonny Weems bounced back from a poor game to score 17 points on 15 shots and grab 11 boards. Richard Hendrix had a nice, solid game, with 10 points on 4-6 shooting and six rebounds in 19 minutes. CJ Giles also played fairly well, with 10 points on seven shots and seven rebounds, though he also had seven fouls. Ronald Dupree saw his first extended action and finished with 11 points on 4-9 shooting along with three rebounds, three assists and a block

Houston Rockets 87, Portland Trail Blazers 8

Chase Budinger Summer League Jersey Retirement Watch: Budinger had an excellent 17 points on eight shots thanks to going 2-2 from behind the arc and 3-3 from the free-throw line. Maarty Leunen also had a fairly efficient day, with 14 points on eight shots, along with five rebounds and four assists. Jerryd Bayless had 13 points on 10 shots and six rebounds, though he also had only two assists and six turnovers. James White shot 3-4 but more importantly did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, and ended up with 16 points on four shots. Four turnovers, though. Pooh Jeter finished with 15 points on 11 shots and had a game-high six assists and only one turnover. Rod Benson only played a little over three minutes, but he had two rebounds in that time.

Milwaukee Bucks 87, Chicago Bulls 72

Not too much interesting about this one. Joe Alexander's shooting has been improving gradually, and he had 18 points on 16 shots yesterday with five rebounds and three blocks, and Brandon Jennings had 14 points on 10 shots with nine assists, but neither of those are really noteworthy. Taj Gibson has rebounded the ball well so far, and he had eight against the Bucks, but he also had 10 fouls. DeMarcus Nelson has been shooting the ball and rebounding fairly well, and he shot 6-12 with six rebounds yesterday, but he's not getting to the free throw line much and his overall efficiency is suffering (more with Nelson later today). My former college chum Linton Johnson (not really, but we were at Tulane at the same time) played just under five and a half minutes, but he had three rebounds in that time which isn't bad

Toronto Raptors 74, Phoenix Suns 73

DeMar DeRozan continues to impress, with 20 points on 16 shots, and only two fouls and a single turnover. Quincy Douby's also played fairly well, and he scored 16 points on 12 shots, though he also shot 1-5 on his three-pointers. Earl Clark can rebound, I'll tell you that, with 12 rebounds in just over 27 minutes, though he also had five rebounds and needed 12 shots to get 13 points. Smush Parker has pretty much disappeared since the first game against the Lakers. Coincidence? Paul Davis was injured and had to be taken out of the gym on a stretcher, so hopefully he's okay. He always stuck me as a guy who'd do alright in the D-League

Detroit Pistons 96, New York Knicks 73

This game was all about Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers. Daye had 27 points on 17 shots and 13 rebounds despite being what one person on Twitter called "all arms and legs." Summers finished with 26 points on 21 shots and eight rebounds. Jonas Jerebko was less efficient shooting-wise, but he had 12 rebounds, and he's generally been solid in that area. Toney Douglas has been racking up the assists so far, and he had 10 yesterday, but his shooting has been pretty terrible. Saer Sene played only nine minutes, but he had three rebounds and two blocks in that time. David Noel, Ron Howard, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Dwayne Jones all got DNPs. Booooooo. Just for that I stuck this recap at the bottom.

The Value of Jarrett Jack

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:48:10 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Raptors point guard ghosts of past and future collide. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Browse more photos »

Riddle me this:

If you're Bryan Colangelo and you have $6 million in MLE to spend thanks to a fortuitous trade, do you:

a) Immediately spend it on multiple players to shore up multiple holes in your lineup;
b) Take your time and wait for deals to fall through the cracks and hopefully grab some bargains; or
c) Spend the vast majority of it on a free agent that addresses one of your major needs.

When Colangelo decided to spend his hard-fought, hard-earned MLE on a player of Jarrett Jack's reputation and ability, I was at first, enthusiastic about the move. With Roko Ukic showing little improvement from last season during the Summer League action, and the point guard situation still very much up in the air (seriously, Smush Parker?!), the Raptors needed to shore up the position - preferrably with a player that would be a consummate professional, be able to take charge of the second unit, and perhaps most importantly, be able to play more than one position. By adding a versatile guard to the roster like Jack, it would allow the Raptors to include Ukic in the regular rotation should he show steady improvement over the course of the year.

However, at an announced $20 million over 4 years, Jarrett Jack will not only become one of the higher paid Raptors but his addition would also bring the team's total salary committment to the point guard position (Calderon, Banks, Ukic, Douby, and Jack) to just under $20 million per year! In a calculated move, BC offered Jack enough money to make it hard for Indiana to match. Should the Pacers decide to match the offer it would put them in a difficult salary cap situation. That being said if Jack does wear a Raps jersey this coming season BC can't be comfortable having almost 1/3rd of the salary cap tied up in the PG position - especially when two of those guys likely won't contribute.

Many fans in Indiana (specifically those over at Indy Cornrows) have talked about how Jack has really emerged in the past year as a professional who works hard and gets after the ball. He has been known to turn the ball over with some mental errors, but he has helped the Pacers with his toughness and willingness to attack the basket. At 6'3", Jack is rarely at a high disadvantage when covering the other teams PG and his strength doesn't allow the opposition to run isolation and back him down into the post. Perhaps Jack's real value to this Raptors team will be his ability to improve the play of just about everyone in the second unit. Jack is a willing distributor and can manage the floor. He did afterall, surpass TJ Ford on the depth chart last season...something Jose Calderon is all too familiar with.

Even with Jack's addition however, the Raptors still have some holes that need to be filled. With Patrick O'Bryant showing why he's been a 7 foot door stop for most of his career, the Raptors must find a way to shore up their front court. With only Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and Reggie Evans as suitable rotational players the Raptors are missing some size and depth. If the Raptors cannot come to terms with another big then signing Jack just isn't enough.

Should Tuesday roll around and we find out that JJ is the newest Raptor I will be satisfied with the move but it's going to be too early to break out the champagne. Rather, I'll be looking to see what Colangelo's next move will be.

NBA Summer League Day Four Recap - The D-League Shines

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:45:53 -0000

Spending 4 days in a gym can start to affect you in weird ways. The lighting starts to make everything appear washed out. The same uncomfortable chair starts to kill your back. The same conversations with the same people become boring and tedious. I mean, how many times can you say, "Hey, how's it going?" to somebody and expect them to have a witty response. And vice versa. At this point, everybody just shrugs an "eh" at you.

On the other hand, I did step out today and get some different things done. I will break it out into two or three different posts -- I haven't decided yet -- because I have a lot for you.

Btw, the games don't start today until 5:00 Spurs time so the preview will be coming later. Because, you know, all y'all are sitting around waiting for the preview.

First things first. I introduced myself to RC Buford and Dennis Lindsey. GM and Assistant GM. I handed out business cards that started a conversation about whether Pop knew I had a web site called Pounding The Rock. The discussion was about whether or not there were trademark issues involving it. I said I had kind of wondered about that myself. They said, with a bit of a chuckle, Pop would let me know when I met him. Or something like that. Good way to start the day.

As you would expect, they were very pleasant guys and Dennis thanked me for coming up and introducing myself. A rambling aside. Here's the thing with me. My memory is very good because I remember things visually and by association. I can remember where on a page a line from a book is. Left page, right page, top, bottom, middle. I can remember faces from situations then pull that face and situation out of my memory to say, "Hey, I saw you at the airport in Atlanta in 2005". Goofball stuff like that. Where I fail, and I fail massively, is when I get the data into my head incorrectly the first time. And that's what I've done with Dennis Lindsey. I got David in my head. I will guarantee you that I screw this one up in the worst possible way at some point in the future. Say it with me now, "Dennis. Dennis. Dennis." One more time, "Dennis".

Onto the games.

The opener was the Minnesota Timberwolves vs the D-League Select team.

The TWolves led 48-38 at the half and, I thought, the D-League guys were playing pretty scrappy to stay that close. They just didn't have the talent to compete with these guys. OR. SO. I. THOUGHT. In the second half, the D-League guys put on the best exhibition of team basketball I have seen in 16 games. They thoroughly dismantled the TWolves. They forced turnovers and ran them out of the gym. They displayed the best cutting and interior passing I have seen since Fabricio Oberto was running wild in the Spurs front court.

The D-Leaguers opened the second half with five straight layups and over the quarter outscored Minnesota 30-10. It was a schooling. And the D-League guys were as excited as any bunch that I have seen play here in Vegas. I really think they played with a bit of a chip on their shoulder and wanted to prove they belonged.

D-League Select players of note:

Othyus Jeffers - He poured in 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Gary Forbes - Also scored 20 points
Coleman Collins - 15 points and 7 rebounds.
Walker Russell - 9 points and 5 assists in 17 minutes

Minnesote TimberWolves:

Wayne Ellington - 22 points on 8-14 from the field and 4-7 from long range. Don't let this fool you. The only thing he did well in this game is shoot. He got absolutely destroyed on the defensive end. Add in 2 rebounds and 0 assists in 28 minutes.
Jonny Flynn - He really toned down his shooting in this one and did a LOT of passing. He ended with 14 assists. He had 7 of them in the 4th quarter when the TWolves started working him with the high screen and roll. Think the Tony Parker play. He basically Chris Paul'd them. He drove in the paint, maintained his dribble, and found shooter after shooter. It was a very impressive performance for him.
Oleksiy Pecherov - Who? That's right, the guy the TWolves picked up in the Foye-Miller for the #5 pick. He's a 7-footer who hasn't seen a long open jumper he didn't like. He had 15 points and 10 rebounds including 3-4 from 3-point. If he had space, he let it fly.
Garrett Siler - Who two? The big man from Augustana is listed at 6' 11" and 305 pounds. He is a BIG, BIG man. I would have put his height at 7' 1". He may stick. He moves pretty decent for as big as he is and has some athleticism.
Corey Brewer - I'm still unimpressed with his play.

Game Two - Suns vs Mavs

This was another foul-plagued disjointed game. The teams combined for 67 fouls and 77 free throws (it should be noted that the 77 free throws are much less than in a regular season game because they don't go to the bonus until they are under the 2:00 mark). The Suns got out to an early lead, 25-15 after one and the Mavs wouldn't go away and slowly fought back to tie the game going into the fourth. Robin Lopez aka Fropez aka Sideshow Bob dominated this game. I didn't realize how big he is. He is a very large man and the Mavs couldn't handle him. His 24 points and 16 rebounds were fairly quiet. I didn't know those were his stats until much later in the day when PhoenixStan of Bright Side of the Sun told me.

Phoenix Suns

Lopez - He's just too big and good with the ball for this level.
Taylor Griffin - Blake's older brother has some upside. He's physical and aggressive and could carve himself out a role on the Suns an energy guy at the 4.
Goran Dragic - The guy the Spurs traded to get Malik Hairston AND the pick that we used to draft DeJuan Blair. He looked pretty poor. Our best guess is that he didn't feel to good. Maybe a stomach flu or something. He bares some watching because he is slated to be the Suns backup PG this year.
Alando Tucker - The third year pro looked OK. At this stage of his career, he should be a better player against the competition. Again, another guy to watch over the next few days.
Josh Carter - Another Aggie. I was unaware he even played. No comment.
Earl Clark - the Suns first round pick took a DNP with back spasms. Apparently, he has a high degree of empathy and was feeling LatinD's pain.

Dallas Mavericks

Ahmad Nivins - He struggled today, but he does work hard. He had 12 points and only 4 rebounds in 27 minutes. He went 3-9 from the field. He's struggled with his offense since the first day.
Luke Jackson - Couldn't get his shot to fall. 1-4 from the field and 0-3 from distance. More on him in a bit.
Rodrigue Beaubois - He really fell from his electrifying performance on Saturday. He scored some points late to pad his stats. He ended with 16 points and 3 assists before hurting his knee very late in the game. Again, more on that in a bit. Overall, though, I thought he looked pretty average. He is an end of game nightmare for the other team though. He can hit the three of the dribble and when given a license to chuck is very dangerous.
Nathan Jawai - Another Aussie suiting up in Vegas. Nathan is an enormous man. He's listed at 6' 10" 280, but he looks bigger in every direction. He hurt his ankle also. More in a bit. I steeled myself, prepared my questions, and then interviewed him. Nathan Jawai Interview This was an epic low in journalism. Listen if you are a sadist. On top of all this, I stepped on his flip-flop he was wearing on his bad ankle and he was shuffling on his ankle the whole time. (I just listened to it for the first time. It's not that horrible, but I really felt uncomfortable.)
Curtis Jerrells - He got very little run this game with only 5 minutes. He scored 8 points in that 5 minutes though. I like him. He's a Acie Law IV kind of player. An in between guard who can be very physical. For him, I think it is about carving out a role with the right team.

Game Three - Raptors vs Blazers

I did something a little different for this game. Since I had seen the Raptors twice already, and the Blazers don't have a really compelling roster, I decided to put one guy under the microscope. DeMar DeRozan. There will be a separate post coming shortly about him. For the rest, here is my two cents from this 92-87 victory by the Raptors.

Portland Trailblazers

Jerryd Bayless - He is an animal at the point in this environment. He got whatever shot he wanted. He only went 7-17 from the floor though and finished with 22 points He also had 7 assists and 6 turnovers.
Dante Cunningham - He's the reason this roster is now MORE compelling to me. He had 21 points -- all in the first 3 quarters -- and 9 rebounds.
Jeff Pendergraph - 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Toronto Raptors

Quincy Douby - He continues to score points with 20 in this contest. They are playing him quite a few minutes at the point guard and he is using that time to get off shots. He did, much to my surprise, have 5 assists.
Smush Parker - DNP-CD. Interesting.

Game Four - Pistons vs Warriors

This is the game I wanted to watch from the beginning of the day. The Warriors have Anthony Randolph, Stephen Curry, Cartier Martin, and Anthony Morrow who suited up for the first time tonight. The Pistons young squad has been very impressive in their first two games. Plus, Connor Atchley is starting to get some burn for the Warriors. It was a disappointment. Well, the Pistons were a disappointment. I guess they hit their rookie wall because they got run out of the gym 97-69. In this game, I again did something different, and put the ATS microscope on DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko. A separate post will be coming on that later.

Golden State Warriors

Anthony Randolph - 21 and 10. Again. He's just good offensively and he was more effective defensively today. He also got clipped by Jonas across the cheek and had to be treated. More on that in a bit.
Cartier Martin - I'm not sure if his game will move to the NBA well since he is making his living at the line and they are calling tons of fouls here in Vegas. However, he has opened some eyes with his huge body and aggressiveness to the rim. He had 18 points and 5 rebounds with 12 free throw attempts.
Anthony Morrow - He showed what we expected from him. He can shoot. Just a beautiful shot. 17 points, 6 rebounds, on 8-13 from the field.
Stephen Curry - He stuffed the stat sheet today. 23 points, only 7-19 from the field though, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, 4 turnovers. While I still question how good he can be defensively in the league -- he was eating up Jeremy Pargo on the defensive end -- against good competition, he did show today that he can do things without having his shot going.
Connor Atchley - 7 points and 7 fouls. He's purely a shooter and he went 3-4 from the field with no 3-point attempts and 1-1 from the line. Defensively, he is a liability, but I don't think that we keep Don Nelson from looking at him seriously.

Detroit Pistons

Austin Daye - Whew, he flirted with the quadruple-double today. 11 points, 11 rebounds, 8 fouls, 8 turnovers. 0 assists. He looked gassed. In the 4th quarter, he just didn't have anything.
Deron Washington - The athletic wing husltes -- 7 rebounds and a bruised sternum, more in a bit -- but continues to struggle shooting. He misses chippies and has now gone 5-18 from the line in the last two games.
DaJuan Summers - 9 points on 3-11 shooting, 2 rebounds, and 10 fouls -- yes, you can foul out in Summer League and he did, in 28 minutes.
Jonas Jerebko - 16 points and 4 rebounds and 1 non-call that drew blood.
Jeremy Pargo - I think this was his first action of the week, I'm too lazy to look it up. He had 13 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes. However, he couldn't handle defensive pressure from Stephen Curry and got his pocket picked a couple times. He has a ways to go to be an NBA point guard. Hopefully, he will get some more time here.

The toll of the physical play

Yeah, I know that Jonas Jerebko mocked me for suggesting that the play here was physical, but people are showing up with injuries. Minor ones mostly, but lots of guys are sporting ice on places after games.

Deron Washington - ice bag on his chest. Nice guy. I talked to him a bit about it. He got an elbow and called it quits.

Nathan Jawai - Rolled his ankle in the first quarter. Ice bag on the ankle.

Rodrigue Beaubois - Knee contusion. Ice bag.

Anonymous - ice bag on the shoulder

Anthony Randolph - bloody cheek. Jonas Jerebko clipped him reaching for a loose ball. JJ then sought him out on the way down court and apologized. Unless you were looking for it, you would miss it. I'm always impressed when I see guys quietly showing sportsmanship like that.

DeMar DeRozan - ice bag on the ankle

Luke Jackson - two black eyes. I chatted with Luke for a minute or so today. I was right the Friday. Brandon Jennings did break his nose with an elbow. It was crooked. They tried to fit him with a mask but didn't have one that fit. In the second game on Saturday, he got hit on the OTHER side of his nose and it straightened it out. He said he is just trying to tough through it and that in a couple days they will have a doctor check it out to see what is up. Luke is a very nice guy, and very approachable but shy.

You guys get the picture. There is lots of ice being used.

Summer League Play Isn't Entirely Horrible

DexterFishmore — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:16:51 -0000

Because I live a rich and fulfilling life, I spent Monday afternoon watching YouTube highlights of NBA summer-league play. This isn't recommended for anyone with actual responsibilities, ambitions or even just errands to run. It's time-wasting distilled to its Platonic ideal. To give you something to watch instead of the home-run derby or the Tour de France, though, here are ten minutes' worth of "action" between the Lakers' and Raps' farm teams. I AM AN AMERICAN HERO.

This is actually a bit more compelling than I'd expected. There are players we've heard of, real offensive sets and spectators that might not have been paid to be there. But don't kid yourself: this is nothing but a cheap, temporary fix for the hoops addict who's way beyond help. Not that I'm one to judge.

Thrill to my commentary after the jump!

0:19 - You know how youth rec leagues name their teams after NBA franchises, like kiddy versions of the "Celtics" and "Rockets," even though they probably haven't properly licensed the intellectual property? And they give the kids crummy mesh uniforms manufactured by 10-cents-an-hour Burmese sweatshop labor? That's what summer-league uniforms look like.

0:38 - Is that David Aldridge on the color commentary? His career might be going sideways. Of course, I'd happily call summer-league games for $20 in chips and buffet comps from Excalibur. It's like traveling in a time machine to Arthurian England! If Arthurian England had Wheel of Fortune-themed slots and was overrun by Wisconsin tourists wearing Brett Favre jerseys.

0:55 - Aldridge becomes the 20,000th commentator to compare Adam Morrison to JJ Redick. This is still better than the Tour de France, but the gap is closing.

1:27 - Smush Parker, ladies and gentlemen! He will haunt Lakerdom for all eternity.

1:36 - Morrison hits a runner to put the "Lakers" up one. I actually clapped for a second before remembering this isn't real basketball.

1:46 - Smush again! He will have his revenge.

1:53 - Brent Petway, seen swatting away a jump hook, is well liked by our friends at Ridiculous Upside and, I'm told, won the D League's dunk contest in 2008. Similarly, I used to have a nerf hoop in my office that I dunked on when I was supposed to be listening to conference calls.

2:32 - DeMar Derozan gets whistled for a charge. My stathead friends generally think he's going to bust in the Association, but I think he might work out OK. He needs to either eat more or get on an HGH cycle.

3:00 - Fast break finish by Ben McCauley, who had a monster game (24 points and 15 ribs) in this one. He's a tweener out of North Carolina State and doesn't look half-bad, to be honest. He will never play for the real-world Lakers, however, so you have permission to resume not caring about him.

3:25 - If you're wondering about the difference in quality between the summer league and the actual NBA, please note that Adam Morrison is a devastating scorer in this game.

3:54 - Petway gets blocked on a dunk attempt. Jordan Crawford is unimpressed.

4:15 - But Petway redeems himself with the colossal basline flush! Chinemelu Elonu gets posterized, and the Nigerian version of Nike demands confiscation of the video.

4:42 - Holy crap... the "Lakers" are actually running the Triangle. I am legitimately surprised and impressed. It's really not a simple scheme to learn, and considering these guys have spent about 12 minutes together....

5:05 - I enjoy just making shit up, so here goes.... Morrison will be the summer league MVP. If not this year, then eventually.

5:32 - Sweet oop finish by Derozan. In regular league action, I suspect someone would have destroyed him with a Flagrant Two rather than allow that to happen.

6:04 - Morrison uncorks a brilliant 60 foot lob to someone named Tony Gaffney. I'm beginning to think this video was doctored.

6:26 - Taylor Rochestie puts the Lakers up one! My wife just scolded me for cheering too loudly hahaha just kidding. I am single and deeply antisocial.

6:48 - Look at that ball movement! This is a very credible version of the Triangle we're seeing.

7:08 - Someone named "Monds" scores for the Lakers. I have no intention of figuring out who he is.

8:05 - Aron Baynes is in the game. The boxscore indicates that he committed five personal fouls in less than nine minutes played. Somewhere, Andrew Bynum nods approvingly.

8:23 - Raptor plans will be pleased to learn that Derozan can't guard Morrison one-on-one.

8:52 - Smush is back on the court! Just in time to throw it away on a key late possession. That seems so unlike him.

9:18 - Morrison blocks Derozan. This video has absolutely been doctored.

9:33 - The mysterious "Monds" hits a key jumper after a travel that isn't called. The refs really want to get to the blackjack tables before the minimum bets get raised.

9:46 - McCauley FTW with 15 seconds left! Suck it, Canada!

In conclusion, if I were in Vegas I would absolutely gamble on these games. The end.

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!!!

NBA Summer League Day One Recap - It's A Grind

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:31:38 -0000

Alright, I'm back in the saddle. It's 9:00 Saturday morning. I have had my run, swim, shower, shave, and coffee. I almost feel human again. The long road trip caught up with me last night and I wasn't able to do the Day One Recap on time. Here it is now.

Summer League - What's It Like?

It's something else. The first day of games was played in Cox Pavilion. This is a smaller gym attached to the Thomas & Mack Center. The atmosphere is relaxed which put me in a strange position as somebody with press credentials for the first time. The weirdness was that the protocols were not apparent. Where could I go? Where couldn't I go? Who could I talk to? When could I talk to them? Who was in charge? All these things were a bit paralyzing for me. So, I just hung out in my spot on the baseline at the media table and watched the games. I didn't talk to any representatives from any of the teams. I chatted some with of the other media guys and took notes. And observed.

The strange thing about me, even though I am an outgoing person, is that I like to know what I am doing and I like to know whether I SHOULD be doing it. I can't just wander around and wait for somebody to tell me I can't do something. I'm a rule follower. I can't help it. It's not exactly the best trait to have in an environment this informal.

The Nature Of Play

The first thing that jumped out at me in the Rockets - Warriors game was how physical the play was. I didn't know if it was being so close to the action under the basket or if it was because Joey Dorsey was playing. After watching the rest of the games the answer became apparent. This is how the game is played. They flat-out beat the crap out of each other. I mean, there was a ton of hard contact that was not called as a foul. Tons. The most physical players, guys like Joey Dorsey, didn't even blink at the hard fouls they dished out and received. They didn't get angry. They didn't scowl. They just whacked the holy bejeezus out of each other and then helped the other guy up, asked him if he was ok, and patted him on the rump.

On one play, Dorsey went up for the dunk and Anthony Randolph came over hard for the block. Randolph got some ball, a lot of Dorsey's chest and arms, and kicked him square in the testicles. Dorsey kneeled down, Randolph came over and gave him a hand and asked him if he was Ok. Joey just shook his head like "Yeah, I'm fine. No problem". I would have been in the hospital if I had been on the receiving end of such a collision.

Somebody commented in the live thread about the number of fouls. I can only say that they didn't seem to call many cheap ones from what I could tell. My impression is that getting fouls is a matter of positioning. If you move your feet and stay in position, then they won't call a foul on you. If you get out of position, you either have to give up or you will get a foul if you continue to be physical with a guy.

In the Mavericks game, the Dallas coaching staff seemed to make a point of having Aaron Miles play physical pressure defense against Brandon Jennings. Jennings also returned the favor on the other end. It seemed like those guys were in a UFC match the way they were bodying up. I'm surprised Miles only ended 8 fouls.

Game One - Warriors vs Rockets

I already recapped this one. So I won't have much to say about the game itself. Just some impressions about the players.

Joey Dorsey - The guy was impressive. Not only was he physical,as I mentioned, but he only picked up 4 fouls even though he was involved in numerous collisions. He did a good job of moving his feet to get in position on help defense when he was responsible for containing the penetrator. He blocked shots coming from the weak side. He was just very solid. He doesn't have much of an offensive game though. He could really use a 8-10 foot game. Unfortunately for him, he's on a team that has two guys in front of him who do what he does in Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry.

James White - As I mentioned in the recap, I thought James was putting off a prima donna attitude. I got the vibe mostly in the first half. It's hard to describe exactly what gave me this impression. I can't point to one thing definitively that says, "Man, I can't believe he's acting like that". It was more a sum of the parts. The attitude toward the officials, the way he interacted with a coach, etc. Just some little things. In his defense, he seemed to put that behind him in the second half and just play. He was also very supportive of his teammates from the bench.

Chase Budinger - He didn't seem like he was able to handle the physical part of the game and got pushed around. The knock on him at Arizona was that he wasn't assertive or aggressive. Those traits will get you killed in the NBA and they got him killed here. He got trapped with a physical double team and turned it over. Later in the game, his man was attacking him and going right through him to the basket. He didn't seem quite quick enough to get position and not strong enough to hold his position. It seems like you need to be able to do one or the other.

Stephen Curry - Curry was the big name in this game. He seemed just a bit uncomfortable. Not overwhelmed like he didn't belong. Just uncomfortable. He spent a lot of time at the point for the Warriors in the first half. He was very competent handling the ball. He was able to initiate the offense without problem. On the other hand, I think the play making duties, when they fell to him, kept him from getting comfortable with his shot. I don't recall him getting any spot up opportunities off of other players. Everything he got was off the pick and roll, and him breaking down his man. He forced a couple shots and even airballed an 18-footer after a step-back move. I think he'll be a good one, especially when he is able to play off other guys.

Joe Ingles - One of two men from down under in the game. He has a nice feel for the game. He sees the floor well and he is pretty long. His stroke seemed very erratic and, as a guess, will probably be the thing that determines whether or not he makes it into the league. His first 3 was an airball and his second barely drew rim. They were both wide-open in-the-flow shots. Not forced at all. He drained his third 3-ball.

Anthony Randolph - The stat sheet stuffer almost recorded a triple-double. 20 points, 10 rebounds, 9 fouls. Randolph is a thin player, but he didn't shy away from contact in this game at all, which was impressive to me. He has a great ability to score in the paint on the move and was almost impossible for the Rockets to defend. He had 12 first quarter points on 8 shots, then seemed content to work on his outside game. I'm not saying he necessarily drifted. I think the Warriors weren't running sets for him to receive the ball on the move. I think they were wanting to get looks at other guys. That's my guess. I'd need game film to really know.

Game Two - Pistons vs Kings

Another physical game with 61 total fouls. Remember, NBA games are 20% longer as we are only playing 40 minute games out here in the desert. The Pistons, much to my surprise, whipped up on the Kings. The Kings feature several "name" players. 2008 first round draft pick and second year man -- and a player many around here wanted instead of George Hill -- Donte Green. Another 2008 first round draft pick and second year man, Jason Thompson. This year's #4 pick Tyreke Evans and #23 pick Omri Casspi. The Pistons, on the other hand, feature mid-first round pick Austin Daye and pair of second rounders in DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko -- teammate of James Gist at Angelico Biella.

DaJuan Summers - He had to have been the most impressive player of the day. He had 24 points and 7 rebounds, on 9 of 15 shooting, and completely dominated Jason Thompson. He had a nice jumper, he banged his way inside for points, he's rough and tough, he got to the line, and he owned this game. You should keep an eye on this guy. It didn't look like anything he was doing was a fluke.

Austin Daye - He showed both why he was drafted and what he has to work on. He's an offensively gifted version of Tayshaun Prince. However, he needs to get a little stronger to handle the contact and to work on his defense. If you are a Pistons front office guy, you have to like what you saw from him on day one.

Jonas Jerebko - He wasn't making his shots -- 1 for 6 in 13 minutes -- but he might be able to make it. He's a tough guy who isn't afraid to mix it up. He's not a "soft Euro".

Michael Bramos - While bones may be familiar with this former Miami, Ohio player, I sure wasn't. He's a 6'5" guard, and he was very impressive. He scored 13 points in 15 minutes and he did it by attacking the rim AND hitting the outside shot. I doubt he will make the team, but he probably opened some eyes in Europe.

Jason Thompson - He was in a war with Summers and he got the worst of it. He only had 3 rebounds and was completely unable to contain Summers. I'll be interested to see how he does in the next couple games.

Donte Greene - Donte is known for his shooting, including a monstrous 40-point debut in last year's Summer League, but he only went 3 for 9 in this game and missed both his 3-ball attempts. The big knock on Donte last year was his defense, or that thereof, so I found it humorous that on numerous occasions he was telling the guys on the team how to position their bodies and where to be. The best part, is that he was dead on.

Tyreke Evans - I was very impressed with Evans. He's a very big and strong point guard. He probably needs to work on the passing part of the game, but he seemed Ok in every other way. He's big enough to be aggressive going to the rim and draw fouls -- he went to the line 10 times, he was immune to be bodied by the opposing point guard bringing the ball up, and showed great athleticism.

Game Three - Raptors vs Lakers

While this was the closest game of the day, it was also the least impressive. These teams would have been crushed, almost literally, by the previous four teams. The game was far less physical. In addition, there were not many players of interest. The Lakers' team features Adam Morrison -- who was sporting a Rage t-shirt so he has gone way up on my list of guys I like (very coveted list to be on, I know) -- and that is it. The Raptors have #9 pick DeMar DeRozan and point guard Roko Ukic who you may remember from the torching he gave the Spurs this year in Toronto.

The Lakers won this back and forth game 85-84. The best part is that with 5:00 left and a tie game I called the game winner. Meet Ben McCauley from North Carolina State.

Ben McCauley - Ben scored the Lakers first 6 points and, along with Morrison, carried the team. McCauley finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds. He hit the game winner with 14 seconds left, just as I said he would. Other than the fact that the guy seemed to never miss, I don't know how good he is.

Adam Morrison - He played a team-high 33 minutes and also scored 24 points. For a guy known as a shooter, he seems to have the most off-balanced looking shot. He hit big shots for them down the stretch though. He had an interesting match up with DeMar DeRozan as they went head-to-head on both ends. DeRozan is a better athlete, but not as good a shooter and not as experienced. On on one drive to the hoop, Morrison blocked the crap out of DeRozan's shot.

David Monds - 17 points in 14 minutes. He had a great stroke from 18 feet. Thick guys who can shoot from that range have a knack for sticking around.

DeMar DeRozan - He played decent defense against Morrison in the first half, but was invisible offensively. In the second half, he was a bit more aggressive with the ball and showed some flashes. He can also jump and liked to attack the offensive glass coming up with very nice put back slam, but also had a missed put back slam.

Roko Ukic - He ran the point. Maybe a couple 3's, didn't miss free throws. Unspectacular, but solid.

Smush Parker - Yeah, that Smush Parker. He made some of the nicest passes of the day on the pick and roll leading to dunks by Patrick O'Bryant. He hit 1 of his 2 threes. Missed a bunch of free throws. Had 6 assists. Only 2 turnovers. He's an enigma for me.

Patrick O'Bryant - He's a very long man at 7 feet with very long arms. He's not a big thick guy, but he's not too thin as he comes in at 250 pounds. He showed the ability to finish against the Lakers under-sized front line. He made 7 of this 9 shots on a variety of dunks and nice moves in the post.

Brent Petway - Try to find video of his dunk to end the first half. He tried to throw down over somebody and wasn't able to get all the way to the rim and ended up THROWING IT IN from about 2 feet away.

Game Four - Bucks vs Mavericks

This game promised the most interest and turned out to be horribly painful to watch. The Bucks have a lot of big names participating in Summer League with Brandon Jennings, Joe Alexander, Amir Johnson, Luc Mbah a Moute, Jodie Meeks, Chris Richard, and Salim Stoudamire. The Mavericks have Rodrigue Beaubois -- Spurnando's teammate from Cholet -- and Ahmad Nivins, a second round pick from St Joseph's.

This was a hideous brick fest with tons of fouls and sloppy ball handling. Alexander went 4-18 from the field and Jennings got hot late to go 3-12. The teams combined for 65 fouls and 46 turnovers. Both teams erupted in the fourth quarter, 21 for the Bucks and 20 for the Mavs, to push the scoring all the way up to 65-59 in the Bucks victory.

Joe Alexander - A superb athlete. He just couldn't make a shot. He was the focal point of the Bucks offense and received many isolation opportunities. He routinely got by his man but wasn't able to finish over the help defender near the basket. He was a fiend on the offensive glass and made his free throws.

Amir Johnson - He fouled a lot and turned the ball over a lot. He blocked a couple shots, but his 4 rebounds in 21 minutes is disconcerting.

Luc Mbah a Moute - He can still play some defense.

Brandon Jennings - He didn't blow me away but he was quietly effective. That's what I thought at least. He shot a poor percentage, but he handled the pressure defense I mentioned earlier, drew a lot of fouls -- Miles and Beaubois combined for 16 fouls -- and only had 2 turnovers. He's electric quick but doesn't seem able to use it to get his teammates open as evidenced by his 3 assists in 25 minutes.

Jodie Meeks - The dude has a sweet stroke. When he shot it, you knew it was going in. I don't know what else he has to give them, but he'll knock down shots if people leave him open.

Salim Stoudamire - An unspectacular 13 minutes with 6 points, 5 fouls, and 3 turnovers

Rodrigue Beaubois - Easily the most disappointing player of the day. He turned the ball over on the first 2 possessions and only his teammate's hustle kept him from the first three possessions. He was passive defensively in the first quarter to the point that Darrell Armstrong, who is coaching the Mavs team, was yelling at him (from the bench to the court to be heard, not to chastise) to play attacking defense. He showed poor shot selection and not a good ability to finish around the rim. He finished with 6 turnovers, and while he over penetrated the way Tony does some, he did show decent court vision.

Ahmad Nivins - He looked like a serious player. He was just a notch below DaJuan Summers for most impressive. He was 8 of 10 from the field. He had some nice put back dunks and showed a really nice jumper from 17-18 feet. He'll probably step right into Brandon Bass' role. He screams keeper.

Random Observations

In each game, there was one female referee. Never zero, never two. Always one.

Acie Law IV hit his head so hard on a quarter-ending play I could hear it at the other end of the court with a loud WHUMP (some onomatopoeia for you, I know you guys have been into it lately).

In the very last play of the last game, I wasn't watching, the guy next to me says, "Did Jennings just give him a late elbow?" Luke Jackson was bent over holding his face. It looked to me like a broken nose. It will be interesting to find out if there is anything to it.

The crowd was more or less tame, and by the last game the gym was pretty empty. A group of about 6-8 guys were harassing Jennings loudly in the last seconds of the game. One hollered, "Jennings, you aren't even the best #3 on the court" -- Beaubois and Jennings are both #3. Jennings looked up and laughed. I'm thinking if you are going to taunt somebody like that, at least be accurate.

That's all for day one. On to day two.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 1

Jon L — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:00:12 -0000

Hello. How about that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City. Ha ha.

So...Vegas. Pretty much everyone on the basketball internet is there right now, including Scott Schroeder. I haven't heard from him in a few days, though, so in all possibility he's stuck on the roof of his hotel trying to signal for help with his mattress. (And end "Hangover" references...now.) In all seriousness, this is the Summer League everyone seems to be paying attention to, and the NBA in its infinite wisdom has decided that people should pay $15 to watch relatively low-quality internet video of glorified scrimmages. I just hope this isn't a preview for next season's Futurecast. Oh right, the games.

Houston Rockets 73, Golden State Warriors 69

Anthony Randolph showed off his all-around talent in this one, scoring 20 points on 17 shots, grabbing 10 rebounds and picking up three assists and two steals, though he also had nine fouls and three turnovers. We all knew Stephen Curry was going to shoot, and he did, throwing up eight three-pointers and 14 shots overall, though he only made four of them. He did a decent job getting to the line and had three assists, though he also had seven fouls and four turnovers. Joey Dorsey didn't have a great game offensively, shooting 2-6, though he had 12 rebounds and two blocks. Also, five turnovers. Maarty Leunen had a pretty efficient game. Leunen was drafted by the Rockets a year ago and spent the last season overseas, and yesterday he shot 4-7 with seven rebounds.

Cartier Martin, who got called up from the D-League by the Bobcats last year, played okay with 14 points on 11 shots and four rebounds, though he also had six fouls and missed all of his three-pointers. Rod Benson had six rebounds in 11 minutes, though he didn't do much on offense and missed a pair of free throws. Will Conroy did a decent job running the point for Houston with four assists, and even though he missed both of his three-pointers he did a good job getting to the free-throw line.

The rest of the opening day Vegas action after the jump.

Los Angeles Lakers 85, Toronto Raptors 84

You know who played well in this one? Adam Morrison. I guess that's not all that surprising, this being Summer League and all, but it's still proof that he remembers how to play basketball. Morrison had 24 points on 17 shots and added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Ben McCauley also played well, and since we didn't get to the Lakers' SL roster breakdown I'll just say that he's a 6'9" big man who had an up-and-down career at NC State, though his rebounding improved every year on a per-minute basis. Yesterday McCauley had 24 points on 19 shots and 15 rebounds, though he also had four turnovers. Paul Davis also had a good rebounding day with nine, and he also had three steals. Roko Ukic had a decent enough game with 16 points on nine shots, though he also had four turnovers to his three assists.

Brent Petway didn't do a ton on offense, though he apparently had a monster left-handed dunk that got Twitter all, uh, atwitter, but he also showed off his great shot-blocking ability, finishing with three in a little over 18 minutes. David Monds did well offensively, with 17 points on 10 shots, and he added three rebounds. Smush Parker didn't do much scoring-wise, though he had six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Detroit Pistons 86, Sacramento Kings 77

Most of the Pistons had a rough day, though DaJuan Summers played well with 24 points on 15 shots with seven rebounds, two steals and a block. Tyreke Evans didn't have a great shooting day, 4-10, though he did a good job getting to the free-throw line and had four rebounds, though he also had four turnovers and four fouls. In fact, several Kings had good rebounding days, including Donte Green, who had seven to go with his 11 points on 9 shots and two blocks, and Jon Brockman, who had eight rebounds in 21 minutes.

Robert Battle, a 6'8" forward who got on the Kings' Summer League team by being friends with the owner of a Vegas watch store who knows the Maloofs (that is true), had nine rebounds and shot 5-5 in less than 16 minutes. Clay Tucker showed his efficient scoring, shooting 5-7 and adding two assists. Dwayne Jones only played three and a half minutes, though he had two rebounds and an assist in that time (also three fouls). Michael Bramos had a decent game, with 13 points on 6 shots, and he threw in a block as well.

Milwaukee Bucks 65, Dallas Mavericks 59

I know we're not supposed to judge these as actual games, but...woof. Neither team scored 20 points in a quarter until the 4th, when they both did (but just barely). I know I said I would emphasize positive performances and not talk about bad ones very much, but that's going to be hard with this one. Ahmad Nivins had the best game out of everyone with 19 points on 10 shots and six rebounds, though he also had six fouls. Jodie Meeks was an efficient scorer at Kentucky, and he had 14 points on nine shots, though he didn't do much else aside from two rebounds. In this game, though, that's pretty stellar. Need some evidence? Rodrigue Beaubois had eight fouls and six turnovers and missed all of his three-pointers. Joe Alexander had seven rebounds but needed 18 shots to score 14 points. Brandon Jennings shot 3-12. Amir Johnson had seven fouls and six turnovers. Aaron Miles missed all of his field goals and had eight fouls and seven turnovers. Let's just move on and hope these players do better from now on.