SB Nation - Luke Jackson

Bob MacKinnon Hired as New Stampede Coach

Jon L — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:00:21 -0000

New Idaho Stampede coach Bob MacKinnon, who won the D-League championship last season with Colorado (via www.nba.com)

The Idaho Stampede hired Bob MacKinnon as their new coach yesterday, replacing Bryan Gates who is now an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. We briefly looked at MacKinnon's credentials on Saturday, but now that he's been hired a closer look at the work he did last year is probably in order.

If there's one thing the Colorado 14ers did last season, it was run. As the local CBS affiliate's news story notes, the team averaged 120 points a game last year, which is still on the high side even for the uptempo D-League. They relied on a bevy of athletic players including John Lucas, Trey Gilder, Sonny Weems, Dominique Coleman and James Mays as well as dependable veterans like Josh Davis, Eddie Gill and Joe Dabbert, and finished the season first in both pace and offensive rating. Small lineups were not uncommon to see, with Davis at center and Gilder playing power forward alongside three guards. In part this was due to the foul trouble that all three of the centers on Colorado's roster towards the end of the season were foul-prone, but it also made smart use of the team's personnel. The team also had several players leave at various points due either to injury or being called up by the NBA, such as Mays, Cheikh Samb and Sean Williams. As MacKinnon himself noted in this "A Day in the Life" piece, flexibility is a trait he prizes, so he is likely confident in his ability to adapt his style if need be.

Will MacKinnon be able to implement the same style in Idaho? At the risk of asking a question then immediately copping out, I'm not sure. Idaho finished 14th (out of 16 teams) in pace last season, but a few of the players on that roster who may have preferred that pace, such as Nate Jawai or Lance Allred, are no longer around. However, there are some players who may thrive in MacKinnon's offense, such as Coby Karl and Luke Jackson, who won't be back either. Should Mohammed Abukar return, however, I think he'd do well, and he has experience playing at a faster pace from his time in Austin. MacKinnon also will be without the services of lockdown defender Brent Petway, and while Colorado's defense was about average last year (8th in the league), Petway's absence, perhaps in conjunction with MacKinnon's running style, makes it unlikely that the Stampede will repeat as the D-League's best defense.

A few closing comments: one fun aspect of this hire is that the "feud" between MacKinnon and Utah Flash owner Brandt Andersen (which as far as I know may be completely one-sided, which is the best/most hilarious kind of feud) may be kept alive. This also means that Rio Grande Valley is the only D-League team without a head coach in place. Congratulations to MacKinnon on being hired, and to the Idaho Stampede for finding a solid coach for their team.

NBA Summer League Recap - It's a Wrap

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:21:19 -0000

9 hours short of two weeks and 2690.3 miles later, I'm finally back at home. That was one hell of a trip. I'm wrapping it all up for you right here, right now.

Vegas

Las Vegas is like no other place on Earth. I didn't really get out at all, but I still got my tastes of it. On the way back from the Whole Foods -- yes, I ate at Whole Foods every day -- I was driving through the hotel parking lot when two guys flagged me down from a passing car. I figure they wanted directions. The passenger says, "Hey. You want a man's diamond ring? Three carats." Me, "Um. No thanks." Passenger, "Real cheap." Yep, I knew I was in Vegas.

The Hooter's Casino and Hotel is a bit of a dive. They bought the old San Remo -- I think that was the name -- and I believe they are in the process of renovating it. They ain't done yet. On the plus side, I was in their "Bungalows" which is a two-story building right next to the parking lot. For me, that was great. I was able to get in and out of my room very quickly. When you stay in a big casino it can take you quite a bit of time.

The location was perfect though. I was able to get to the arena in about 5 minutes and I was able to get to the Whole Foods in about 5 minutes. I don't know if any other location would have been as convenient for me. Additionally, their AC was top-notch.

Women dress differently in Las Vegas than they do in Austin. Just saying it takes some getting used to. I mean, in Austin, I don't see many hookers with their kids in the grocery store. Oh wait, those aren't hookers. That's just your regular mom. My bad.

The Real Summer League

I read a couple posts regarding the NBA Summer League around the intertubes that made me laugh. One said something like "The Summer League is like a pick up game with room service." The other was "You can't expect intensity in the Summer League". I'm just going to say it once so you all get it. That's bullshit.

These guys, outside of the first round picks, are all playing for jobs. The talent may not be the best, but these guys played their asses off. They aren't just playing for a chance at the NBA. They are playing for a shot at a contract overseas too. This is the 10 days a year where marginal NBA players are doing job interviews. Their livelihood is on the line and they play HARD. Sitting behind the baseline for however many games I saw, you couldn't help but be aware of the physical sound of the game.

Case in point, Luke Jackson. Luke got elbowed in the nose by Brandon Jennings at the end of the Dallas Mavericks first game. His nose was broken and crooked. He played the next day and got hit on the other side of his nose. The blow straightened out his nose and gave him a second black eye. He continued to play the rest of the week without a mask to protect his nose.

He looks real happy, no?

This is what a game saving block got Ekene Ibekwe

Thankfully, he only ended up with sprained wrists

Jonas Jerebko clipped Anthony Randolph with an elbow.

Plus ice

Lots and lots of ice

The Characters

I met a lot of interesting people. I talked to a scout who said he'd stop by and read my appraisals of players. I talked for a bit with a referee supervisor. I met the guys who run the following SBNation blogs: Bright Side of the Sun, Clips Nation, Liberty Ballers, Brew Hoop, Blazers Edge, Bullets Forever, and Ridiculous Upside. I met almost the entire Spurs front office including Pop, RC, Dennis Lindsey, and Tom James. It's embarrassing to not know who people are. Just saying. I met the Vice President of Communications for the NBA. The person in charge of PR for the D-League. I met beat writers from several papers. I met a host of other bloggers including, gasp, a woman. I met an PR intern from Russia who had the funniest line of the week. I was asking her if she was heading back to Russia and she said she had more traveling she was doing. Then she said this was her second year at Summer League and asked me if I was going to be there next year. I hemmed and hawed and said, "I'm not really sure yet." She said, "Just lie to me and say yes." I met Mark Cuban. I met Jonathon Givony from Draft Express.

The Seedy Underbelly

One thing I wasn't prepared for at all was the autograph hounds. Man, it just isn't pretty. They constantly yelled at players to come over and sign things. They constantly approached coaches. But, it was later in the week that things got ugly. As players finished their last games, they started yelling at the players to give them their Summer League uniforms. Shirts, shoes, whatever. And it was constant. It was adults and kids. Ick!

The Road Home

I left Las Vegas on Monday morning headed for Albuquerque where I met up with SiMA for dinner. I'm a red chile guy and he is a green chile guy. Draw your own conclusions. When I left Vegas it was 110 degrees. When I hit Flagstaff it was 57 degrees. Between Vegas and Albuquerque I drove through 4 thunderstorms. I believe one lightning strike I saw my have started a fire as the area was smoking as I drove by. I also got this picture for JRW. Yeah, I think I win.

My Thoughts

That was a hell of a lot of basketball to watch. I watched basketball for 8 hours for 9 days -- I missed one day. I spent another 3-4 hours a day writing about what I watched. I wrote the most on the day I didn't watch games and this is my third post of the night after getting back. It was fun, but it was a grind.

Easily the highlight of my week was my interview with Ian. He's a very funny guy. He even asked me a couple questions that had me thinking.

I'm not much for the interviewing though. I'm just not comfortable going up to people I don't know and asking them questions. I like talking to people. Conversing with somebody means that information is going in both directions. I need some sort of bond with them. I'm a fan. I'm not a reporter.

Hell, I felt bad about my negative evaluation of Jordan Hill under the microscope once I had the opportunity to interact with him at the concession stand because I realized what a good guy he is with a sense of humor.

I felt like an ass for asking Luke Jackson if I could "Get a picture of your face". He is working to get a job. He has a twice broken nose. They had just lost their fourth game out of four and were made to run wind sprints after the game. Everybody on the team, including Luke, was exhausted. He then had to do an interview with a reporter from Oregon. And then there is some ass who wants a picture of his face. He did it, but I could tell right then that this gig wasn't for me. I never in a million years would have thought I would ask somebody something like that when they were so clearly not in the mood. Seriously, I mean, was my set of pictures above that important? I had talked to Luke a couple times earlier in the week and he is a really good guy. Luke, I'm sorry. Thanks for putting up with me and good luck getting a job.

NBA Summer League Day Six and Day Seven Recap - Spurs still undefeated

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:47:43 -0000

I'm a day behind on my recaps, so I'm going to knock this one out in crazy speed-like fashion. However, at the end, for you Spurs fans, I have a mini-microscope of several of our guys from the Thunder game.

The Pistons forwards Daye, Summers, and Jerebko were dominant again against the Knicks. Daye is the real deal and is stuffing the stat sheet. The Pistons can not be happier with their draft.
The Bucks beat up on the Bulls. Brandon Jennings was magnificent. His court vision and ability to get easy shots for his teammates is unparalled here in Vegas. Joe Alexander got the microscope treatment in this game. Report coming shortly.
The Raptors beat the Suns in a back and forth affair 74-73. Ekene Ibekwe had the game-winning block shot of Goran Dragic at the buzzer. He left on a stretcher in a neck brace for his efforts. He was wearing wrist braces the next day, but otherwise is reported to be fine.
The Rockets beat the Blazers in another rugged affair. Joey Dorsey and Dante Cunningham went at it pretty hard. Some Blazer who didn't play, I think Deji Akindele, was running his mouth at Dorsey. Joey had 9 points and 11 rebounds. Chase Budinger had another good game with 17 points on 8 field goal attempts. Dante Cunningham had 22 points and 5 rebounds and showed the ability to hit the mid-range jumper similar to LaMarcus Aldridge.
DeMar DeRozan posterized Joe Alexander in Thursday's first game, an 84-83 Raptors win that ended the Summer League for both teams. As a bonus, there is some great commentary. I think it is your George Bell guy. The game overall was great as the Raptors hit a shot to win with 1.4 seconds left. Lots of amazing plays and talent. DeRozan finished with 20 and 6. He averaged 17 for the Summer League on 49% shooting. Joe Alexander had 19 and 8. Jodie Meeks went off in the second half as he poured in 25 after the break. Brandon Jennings was very uneven. He had 13 points -- all in the first half, 7 assists, and 8 turnovers.
The Warriors ran the Hornets out of the gym as Anthony Morrow scored a Summer League record 47 points.
The Mavericks lost again and had to run wind sprints after the game. I was then a bit rude-ish to Luke Jackson. More on that later, but I want to apologize to Luke. He was tired and he's had a rough week.
The Grizz routed the Clippers in a game I didn't watch.

The Spurs beat the Thunder

We trailed this one early because we were playing very sloppy basketball. We had 14 turnovers at the half and had given up 8 offensive rebounds. We cranked up the defense in the fourth quarter and ran away with it. Classic Spurs basket ball. For the Thunder, Robert Vaden was hitting from 3-point going 4 for 5 totaling 16 points. DJ White had 17 and Serge Ibake had 15.

Some Mini Microscopes

Jack McClinton - I had targeted Jack for the microscope, but had to pull an audible when he didn't get the start. All in all, I thought Jack played much better than in the first two games. He still hasn't made a shot, now at 0-8, but he was very active defensively. He fought through screens and did a really good job of working early in the possession and chasing his man.

George Hill - George had another dunk. Didn't he know that Pop was in the crowd? Outside of his turnovers he was very good. He covered Shaun Livingston for long stretches. Shaun was 2-9 from the field. Surprised? George is the obvious leader of this team. On the downside, he seems to get irritated with the officials. Almost to a distraction. He also got clocked in the head a lay on the court for a little while. He's been getting beat up pretty good in these games.

James Gist - He's almost invisible in these games. However, he really turned it on late getting 5 points and 4 rebounds in his 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. Those were his only points and rebounds.

Ian Mahinmi - Ian was much more solid defensively. I don't know how he only ended up with 2 blocked shots. He was very good about moving his feet early and getting his arms up straight as he only had 3 fouls. He had 13 points on 4 field goal attempts and 5 rebounds.

DeJuan Blair - He had 20 and 5. See the DeJuan Blair microscope piece for more.

Malik Hairston - He was pretty good again. He had 16 points and 6 rebounds. The rebounds led the team. He also had 4 turnovers. He's doing a really nice job of hitting his spot up jumpers, which is something he would have to do on the Spurs.

Donnell Taylor - The Spurs are running him as the back up point guard and I don't think he is a good enough ball handler for the job. He had 3 turnovers in 13 minutes and seemed just a bit out of control.

Other Tidbits

I asked Ian if he was going to sit out any of the remaining games and he looked at me like I was crazy. He REALLY wants to play and has missed basketball. I forget things like this. This is what he does and he loves it. Expect to see Ian in the next two games.

James Gist told me the atmosphere in the Italian League playoffs was crazy. Like nothing he'd ever seen. Since he played ball at Maryland in the ACC, I have to think that is some crazy shit indeed. I'm putting it on my list of things to do.

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.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 2

Jon L — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:00:15 -0000

One thing you should know about me, readers, is that I'll never lie to you. So first be aware that I haven't shelled out the $15 for watching these games online, because paying money to watch Summer League games via internet stream is dumb, and as such I'm relying on box scores and accounts of others to write the Vegas recaps. The second thing is that I didn't start writing this particular recap until about 2 AM because I was out at a concert starring my new favorite live band. So I apologize if this isn't as in-depth as it could be. Of course, for me "in-depth" mostly means "long," so you'll probably be happy with it.

Houston Rockets 98, Dallas Mavericks 95

Joey Dorsey continued to show why he may be ready to step into the Rockets lineup next year, with 13 points on 8 shots, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. He had seven fouls, though, and only shot 3-7 on his free-throws, which isn't great. Maarty Leunen had another good game as well, making five of his six field goals and adding five rebounds and three assists. Rodrigue Beaubois showed a dramatic improvement in his second Summer League game, with a much more efficient 34 points on 21 shots, including 7-12 on three-pointers, and he had eight assists, five rebounds and only two turnovers. Now he just needs to work on his fouling (he had nine). Chase Budinger had a pretty good game off the bench, shooting 9-10 for 25 points in 22 and a half minutes. Jersey retirement ceremony, here we come!

Luke Jackson didn't have a great shooting day, 3-11, but he did a good job of getting to the line and made all eight of his free throws. Herbert Hill played less than seven minutes, but he made them count with 4-5 shooting, though he didn't contribute much else. Will Conroy had a good day running the point for Houston, with 12 points on six shots and team-highs in assists and steals with four and two, respectively, all in 18 minutes.

The rest of the day's action after the jump.

Detroit Pistons 91, Toronto Raptors 87

DeMar DeRozan has been the talk of Vegas so far (or maybe I just follow a lot of Raptors fans on Twitter), and while he's been an exciting scorer, he hasn't been all that efficient doing it. He had four rebounds and a block, though, to go with his 9-20 shooting. Quincy Douby also had a good game (and a more efficient one), with 21 points on 13 shots, five rebounds, three assists and a block. Austin Daye had a big game, and played 40 minutes (which, even if he's a rookie and you're trying to see what he can give you, is still way too much for Summer League; save some for Will Bynum!). In those 40 minutes he had 19 points on 14 shots and eight rebounds. Deron Washington played well, uh, as well, with 13 points on 11 shots and six rebounds, though he also only shot 33 percent on his free throws.

Brent Petway didn't showcase his shot-blocking as much yesterday, but he shot the ball much better than the first game, going 3-4. Patrick O'Bryant (remember him) still doesn't shoot the ball particularly well, but he 10 rebounds and two blocks (though he also had six fouls and five turnovers). Andre Owens had a game-high nine assists off the bench with only one turnover, though he missed both of his field goals.

Golden State Warriors 98, Sacramento Kings 95

An overtime game! In Summer League! Feel the excitement! Anthony Randolph again showed why he's drawn comparisons to Lamar Odom, with 24 points on 13 shots, 11 rebounds, five blocks, two assists and two steals. He also had six turnovers, but Warriors fans have to love the rest of it. On the other side, Kings fans have to like what they're seeing from Tyreke Evans, as he had 25 points on 19 shots, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Evans also had too many turnovers, though, with five. Stephen Curry had a pretty terrible shooting day, 3-8 from three and 8-22 overall, but he made up for it by getting to the line and making 10 of his 11 free-throws. He also had six rebounds and three assists. In just a few days Jon Brockman has shown himself to be a very solid rebounder, and yesterday he had seven in just over nine minutes.

Cartier Martin had a big scoring day, with 25 points on 15 shots, including shooting 60 percent on his three-pointers and making 10 of his 11 free throws. Marcus Landry also shot the ball well, with 14 points on eight shots. Seven of those shots were three-pointers, and he made four of them. Other than Martin there weren't too many D-League guys in this game, and those who were didn't play much (and they didn't play all that well besides).

Los Angeles Lakers 88, Cleveland Cavaliers 82

You know who had another good game? Adam Morrison. 22 points on 16 shots, including 4-6 on three-pointers, four rebounds and three assists. Ben McCauley also was solid again, with 10 points on six shots and seven rebounds. Chinemelu Elonu was a Lakers draft pick out of Texas A&M who a lot of people thought needed at least another season in college, but he shot 4-6 yesterday and had five rebounds and two blocks.

David Monds had a good game, making all of his five field goals and grabbing four rebounds in about 15 and a half minutes. Jawad Williams also played well, with 14 points on 10 shots, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and best of all he only had one turnover and no fouls in 20 and a half minutes. If Williams doesn't get any playing time with the Cavaliers this season, he should maybe start looking elsewhere.

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.

Recap: Bucks 65, Mavs 59

Frank Madden — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:13:44 -0000

Box Score / BrewHoop Liveblog

No one ever claimed summer league was pretty, did they? Despite fielding six probable roster players against a pretty thin Mavs team, the Bucks' subpar shooting (36%) and general sloppiness kept the score down and the game close throughout. The Mavs somehow managed to turn it over 27 times in 40 minutes while the Bucks managed 22 of their own, and neither team managed more than 16 points in a quarter until the final period when the Bucks outscored Dallas 21-20. Anyway, what you're really interested in are the player reviews, so let's cut to the chase after the jump.

Brandon Jennings
25 min, 3/12 fg, 3/4 ft, 10 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 pf, 2 to, 2 stl

Jennings' matchup against fellow speedster Rodrigue Beaubois pretty much fell flat, as neither guy ever looked to get into a comfort zone. Beaubois seemed to neutralize Jennings' quickness for much of the night, but despite a better shooting line (4/9 fg) he also racked up eight fouls and six turnovers in 22 minutes. In contrast, Jennings actually looked pretty conservative, turning it over just twice and not showing much of the flash he's been hyped to have. That's probably fine with Scott Skiles, who sat by himself on the opposite side of the gym from John Hammond, Billy McKinney and Jeff Weltman. Beaubois played pretty aggressive defense and had a couple athletic finishes around the rim, including a two-handed alley-oop where he lost Jennings on the backdoor.

Jennings struggled with his shot for most of the night, starting 0-7 before draining a three from the right wing with two minutes to go in the third. He followed it up with a quick yank and pull-up jumper from the top of the key and also dropped in a tough, scissor-kicking floater from the lane early in the fourth. Overall he had a hard time getting to the hoop and he doesn't look like he's strong enough to be much of a finisher--at least not now. He did have his share of nice passes on the night but thanks to the Bucks' cold shooting he finished with just two assists. At least he can feel a bit better about the second half, when he was 3/5 from the field and scored all 10 of his points.

Joe Alexander
30 min, 4/18 fg, 6/7 ft, 14 pts, 7 rebs, 1 ast, 4 pf, 2 to, 1 blk

Well, you can't accuse the guy of not being aggressive. Joe's shot wasn't falling despite creating some pretty good looks, but that's kind of been the story for him, hasn't it? It didn't seem to bother him as he continued to work hard on both ends, operating mostly from the high post against rookie PF Ahmad Nivins, who had a very fine, active game with 19 points on 8/10 fg. The Bucks worked out Nivins before the draft but passed on him in the second round as he dropped to 56th overall. He had a couple nice putback dunks when no one boxed him out, in addition to showing a feathery touch from the mid-range. I like him a lot.

Kelvin Sampson mentioned this week that they would try to get Alexander more isos and that certainly happened, as he had a series of faceup isolation plays run for him, most notably in the first half. We saw his excellent first step on numerous occasions last year and that was also apparent playing against bigger, slower defenders like Nivins. He almost had a tremendous drive and dunk on the baseline in the first half, but he lost his grip on the ball as he was about to finish. Despite grabbing a game-high seven rebounds he still doesn't seem to ever box out, instead relying exclusively on hustle and athleticism.

Amir Johnson
21 min, 2/5 fg, 4 pts, 4 rebs, 7 pf, 7 to, 2 blk, 2 stl

No one's arguing that Amir played well, but I was still kind of shocked to see he had 7 turnovers--it seemed like he barely touched the ball. Looking at the box score play-by-play, three of those were on loose ball fouls following Bucks' misses, which I didn't even think counted as turnovers since neither team theoretically has possession off a missed shot. Whatever.

He also continued to foul like it's going out of style, but it's important to put that in the proper context. It's not like he was getting worked in the post; he got the aforementioned three fouls on loose balls and had another couple defending the rim after somebody else lost their man. I can live with that, especially given the way he came out of nowhere to block a couple shots.

I'm not sure whether it's something he'd look for in a regular season game, but he also was 1/3 on long two-pointers. C'mon Amir, let's not go all Gadzuric on us.

Jodie Meeks
27 min, 6/9 fg, 1/1 3fg, 1/2 ft, 2 rebs, 2 pf

Hey, somebody actually played well! Meeks was exactly as advertised, shooting mostly from mid-range and looking as comfortable as you'd expect from a guy who averaged 24 ppg in the SEC. Unlike Jennings, Meeks always keeps excellent balance as he shoots, which helps explain how consistent his stroke is. Pretty much all his points were off catch-and-shoot plays, and I don't remember him even trying to drive to the rim.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
30 min, 2/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 4 pf, 1 stl, 3 to, 1 blk

I wasn't focusing on Luc as much as the other roster guys, and he didn't do that much out of the ordinary. He played SF against Luke Jackson much of the night, and showed his usual good footwork defending the perimeter. Offensively, he had a couple finishes around the rim but didn't show off any newfound range or anything else we didn't already know.

Salim Stoudamire
13 min, 2/4 fg, 0/1 3fg, 2/2 ft, 6 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 5 pf, 1 to, 1 blk

Stoudamire hasn't played competitive basketball in about a year, so this week is really just a chance for him to get used to the pace of almost-NBA-action. He played sparingly alongside former UAB PG Paul Delaney, though Stoudamire seemed to handle a bit more of the PG duties and neither guy did anything to distinguish himself.

Morning Quack Fix: Pflugrad enrolls at ASU

jtlight — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:06:56 -0000

Besides the big headline, not much going on out there today. What can you do, it's the middle of July, the absolutely worst time to be a college football fan.

According to Scout.com, Aaron Pflugrad has enrolled at ASU, and will sit out the '09 season, then have two years to play two. While this isn't a huge blow to Oregon, it is just irritating. I was hoping we wouldn't have to play against Aaron Pflugrad, as he has the football smarts to produce, especially if he can gain more strength and speed over the next year. Good luck to Aaron, but not when he's playing against us.
A couple articles also out there on Pac-10 coaches. Jon Wilner has yet another list, this time running through the top coaches of the past decade. Mike Bellotti comes in at number 2. Also, Nick Daschel writes about how coaches outside of the west coast have trouble succeeding in the Pac-10. There are definitely a number of failures, but a very very notable successes.
College Football News has a preview of Oregon for the upcoming season. It's nothing we don't already know, but it's still quack.
Lastly, the GoDucks.com blog has a basketball alumni update. Malik Hairston, Luke Jackson, Maarty Leunen and Bryce Taylor will be taking part in the NBA summer league. This will be another chance for them to get onto an NBA team, so good luck to them.

And...that's about it. Got any thoughts on Plfugrad? Leave 'em below. GO DUCKS!

Phoenix Suns Summer League: The Game Plan

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:01:09 -0000

In less than a week from now the "Summer Suns" will kick off their five game 2009 Vegas Summer League season.

I along with numerous other SBN bloggers will be on hand taking it all in. This year I will be doing double duty covering our boys both for this site but also working on behalf of Suns flagship radio station Sports 620 KTAR. I will be in Vegas July 12th to the 18th catching three of the Suns five games and taking the opportunity to watch a lot of other young players and perhaps, just maybe have a little fun too.

The key thing to remember about Summer League ball is to ignore the game and focus on the individual play. These are teams thrown together with a wide range of talent. They get little opportunity to practice together and each and every player is out there to show his stuff and advance his own agenda.

Typically, we deride this "me-first" ball but in Vegas it is totally acceptable and expected so in other words ignore the score and focus on who does what in the context of the five on five competition.

Going into anything as monumental as the Vegas Summer League, you have to have a game plan and here's what I've got.

Roster

Our good friends over at Ridiculous Upside have taken the time to give us the skinny on the various roster filler on this year's team, They will have the privilege of mainly watching four guys with guaranteed contracts and one 2nd round draft pick get the majority of the minutes.

There's only two guys in that group that might be of interest. Jiri Hubalek a 6'11" F/C who played (well I thought) for the Suns last season in Vegas before departing early for a contract in Europe and Kaspars Berzins, a 7fter who's athletic and mobile. If nothing else, these big guys will be interesting to watch.

Enough about those guys though, Summer League for the Suns this year anyway isn't about trying to find a diamond in the rough. It's about gauging the development of three or five young Suns players and draft picks

Returning players development

The Suns are one of the only teams that will start three guys with NBA experience (Lopez, Tucker and Dragic) and each one will come to these games with something to show.

Goran Dragic - Goran's summer so far has kept him primarily in the gym. I haven't seen him yet myself but several people have told me how much muscle he's put on and how cut he looks. Aside from that improving his chances with the young Slavic girls at ASU, this additional strength will help him finish after contact and fight through screens. That's the plan anyway and what I will be looking for.

Talent wise, we know that Dragic has average handle and above average court vision and decent shooting and defense. For his development at point guard I am hoping to see a lot more floor leadership. It is a lot to ask from this young kid from Slovenia and I don't expect him to show up and be Chris Paul but I will be looking for how well he handles this team.

Goran's a nice kid with an out-going personality. Good sense of humor. Smart. He's a guy you kind of want to like and perhaps date your daughter but I've yet to see the "eye of a killer" in him. My expectations aren't high in this regard but perhaps on the court against a lot of guys who he will have a significant advantage over he might put the hammer down on occasion. I definitely want to see him respond tough to some physical play. He can be a nice guy off the court. In Vegas he's going to need to starting earning his reputation as a guy that isn't going to be pushed around.

Robin Lopez - The key for Robin has long been his will and desire. He had a tough rookie season playing in the shadow of both a revitalized Shaq and his brother Brook who turned consistent playing time into a great rookie season. How Robin responds to that challenge could be the key to his entire NBA career.

After seeing him down right dominate at times last summer in Vegas, I am convinced he has all the physical tools needed to be a Chandler-like defensive center. He also has the ability to be a better post player than Chandler with decent improvisational moves and counters and the opportunity to have range out to 10 or 12 feet.

In other words, Robin has a LOT of untapped upside and next week will give us a peak into how much of that he's ready to show next season. Or maybe he's just a laid back kid who enjoyed his time off and will coast through his contract until he's out of the league in a few more years. That could happen too.

On the court we probably won't see much post play from the up tempo Gentry-led Suns but we will have plenty of opportunity to see if Robin plays defense with as much intensity as last year but with more smarts. His rebounding was also a big question in his limited minutes with the Suns last year so I will be looking for how much he's learned about cleaning the glass. Offensively, I would be shocked if we don't see him in the pick and roll on numerous occasions. He can catch and finish both over the top and on bounce passes. He's no Amare but he's not a stiff either.

Alando Tucker - Tuck had a fantastic summer last year on both ends of the court. He showed me a lot of maturity and leadership and is a big reason why I am still sold on his potential. Tucker has nothing to prove to me other then his health.

I want to see him fully recovered from his knee surgery and continue to selectively dominate offensively both attacking the rim as well as shooting off screens. Perhaps his biggest room for improvement will be his outside shooting. He's done pretty well from behind the arc but his flat shot is a problem and will limit his consistent range. I am curious to see if he's changed his form.

I fully expect Tucker to be the leader of this team and I think he will have a lot of fun in that role.

Paul Coro recently suggested that the Suns may not want to pay Tucker $1.9m next year to get limited minutes behind Barbosa and Richardson. As much as it pains me, Tucker's main purpose for being in Vegas might be to showcase him to other teams and to increase his trade value.

Rookies first look

Earl Clark - Having never seen Clark play it will all be new for me. I can't wait to see how he uses his size and athleticism on both ends of the floor and I want to see how he interacts with his teammates. There's a fine balance between being overly aggressive and too passive and on a team like the Suns it is hard for guys to get a feel for their role. Jason Richardson struggled with this last season and it might be a tough adjustment for Clark coming into this situation. Obviously, playing in Vegas in July won't be the same thing as playing in Phoenix in November but at least we will get a first look.

The one area that Clark doesn't need to hold back is on the defensive end. If he can come in as a rookie and focus on impacting the game on that end he will earn more playing time and buy himself time to let his offensive game develop.

With that in mind, it may seem boring but I don't want to see Clark taking many (barely any) jump shots and I am hoping to only see him with the ball in his hands on limited occasions.

Taylor Griffin - Taylor by no means is certain to earn a roster spot on this team. He was a bit of a flyer with a second round pick and while he might be a cheap 12th or 13th guy he also is easily replaced by some other non-drafted player that might stand out.

Playing as a tweener 3/4 he's fighting an up hill battle on the Suns team with Dudley, Amundson and now Clark all standing in front of him in line. While the Suns are deep in that 6'7" to 6'9" range they are thin at center. I would not be the least bit surprised if the roster spot Taylor is fighting ends up going to a cheap big man that the Suns see in Vegas. A guy like Steven Hill, Courtney Sims or even one of the two bigs on the Suns squad.

Oh, and did you hear his brother got drafted 1st and is supposed to be pretty good? I am guessing we will see a bit of Blake hanging around the Suns games.

Other big names

My primary mission in Vegas is to cover the Suns with a big fat eye on the items mentioned above. But there's a lot of basketball being played and it is a great opportunity to get a look at some other interesting names. Last year I got my first look at Kevin Love (impressed) and Joe Alexander (meh). I also saw Jerryd Bayless destroy DJ Strawberry's NBA career and was impressed with Aaron Brooks and CJ Watson. It was the last time Alexis Ajinca has been heard from despite being drafted 20th by Charlotte.

I can't wait to see what happens this year. Here's some guys I am going to watch for...

Chicago - Taj Gibson and James Johnson
Denver - Coby Karl, Sonny Weems and Ty Lawson
Detroit - Will Bynum, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko
Golden State - Stephen Curry and Anthony Randolph
Houston - James Flight White, Joey Dorsey and Chase Budinger
LA Clippers - Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon (this should be a fun tandem!)
LA Lakers - Adam Morrison?? (where's Sun Yue?)
Memphis - Thabeet and Hamed Haddadi (the biggest pair in Vegas since Dolly Parton)
Milwaukee - Joe Alexander, Brandon Jennings and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Minnesota - Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington and Gerald Hendeson (on load from the Bobcats)
New Orleans - Courtney Sims and Julian Wright
NY Knicks - Nikoloz Tskitishvili (!), Jordan Hill, Blake Ahern and Mouhamed Sene
OKC Thunder - James Harden!, Russel Westbrook, Shaun Livingston, BJ Mullens
Portland - Jerryd Bayless, Jeff Pendergraph, Patty Mills
Sacramento - Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, Omri Casspi, Donte Green (this team is loaded!)
San Antonio - DeJuan Blair, Malik Hairston, George Hill, Nando De Colo
Washington - Javale McGee, Nick Young
Dallas - Nick Calathes, Mikael Gelabale, Luke Jackson
Cleveland - TBD
Toronto - Demar DeRozan, Nathan Jawai, Brent Petway, Roko Ukic, Quincy Douby, Patick O'Bryant
D-league Select team - Othyus Jeffers, Trey Johnson

Any other interesting talent

There should be a few guys you've never heard of that jump out. Last year a funny looking white guy with a pony tail really stood out for his energy and defensive effort. He was ALL over the court and really made an impression. He turned out pretty good.

Suns matchups

1. Dallas: Monday, 3pm

The Mavericks are one of many weak Summer League teams. It will be interesting to watch Dragic and Calathes hook up but beyond that there's not much here to get excited about. I've always like Gelabale and Luke Jackson is a very good D-league player that has a legit chance at a NBA contract. Rodrigue Beaubois might be interesting to watch as well. He's a 6' point guard from France that the Mavs picked 25th overall. That's all I know about him until I see him on Monday.

2. Toronto: Wednesday, 5pm

This one should be the best game of the week for the Suns. Ukic and Douby can play and should be a good test for Dragic and it will be fun to see how Tucker handles DeRozan. Up front they are thin but Petway is a great defender and O'Bryant and Jawai are...big

3. D-league Select: Friday, 7pm

Ugh...There's a lot of very good D-league players balling in Vegas but most of them are playing for an NBA team. That leaves this group as not much more then a gimmick with only a couple of decent (D-league) players. Othyus Jeffers is nice. Walker Russell is an interesting PG that got a try out from the Suns last year in their big 6 player PG audition. And Trey Johnson can play basketball.

4. Memphis, Saturday, 5pm

The Grizzlies present two big match ups for Robin Lopez and Thabeet and Haddadi. This should definitely be a fun one for Robin to battle those two. He should have the strength advantage on Thabeet and quickness on the big Iranian but still, they are tall. Darrell Arthur was a starting power forward last year in the NBA. That's something. Not much but something. There are no guards to speak of on this team.

5. LA Clippers, Sunday, 730pm

This might be a decent game if it weren't on the last game on the last day of the entire event and is the 3rd game in 3 days for the Summer Suns. In other words, even though Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon are exciting young players this isn't the match up to see them at their best. Shame the Suns aren't playing them on Wednesday or Friday but they aren't and based on last year there's a good chance the big names will barely play in this one.

Here's the full Vegas schedule

It's Vegas Baby!

Aside from having the opportunity for some quality beer, basketball and bullshit time with all sorts of basketball types, my main plan is to crank out a daily podcast with brief interviews with various folks that will be in town for the fun. If you have anyone your interested in hearing from or any specific questions...you know what to do.

Open Thread II: 2009 NBA Draft Lottery- Welcome to the 2009 Playoffs Warriors fans!

Atma Brother ONE — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:15:10 -0000

UPDATE (4:06 pm): Originally posted on May 19, 2009 12:15 AM PDT. Bumped up for the big show, but you better believe it's going back down if the Warriors fall to #10. Whether the Warriors land the #1 pick or slip 3 spots- remember GSoM is a family show!

----------------

How's this for dedication? We had an open thread up for today's big event TWO whole months in advance!

It's playoff time in the Bay! It's time for our annual installment of the NBA Lottery.

Photo: Warriors.com

After the jump a look at the 7 different possible scenarios for the Warriors this afternoon and how they've worked out the past 10 years for the teams drafting in those respective slots.

Odds via Wikipedia

#1 PICK (4.3% chance): A dream come true.

Hey you know GSoM did win the 2009 NBA Blogger Draft lottery, so maybe our luck will continue. Blake Griffin is the consensus #1 overall pick and I doubt the Warriors deviate from the norm here. Griffin would be a god-send and looks like a real deal franchise player.

Here's the last 10 #1 overall picks:

2008: Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
2007: Greg Oden (Portland TrailBlazers)
2006: Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors)
2005: Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks)
2004: Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
2003: LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
2002: Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)
2001: Kwame Brown (Washington Wizards)- BUST
2000: Kenyon Martin (New Jersey Nets)
1999: Elton Brand (Chicago Bulls)

#2 PICK (4.9% chance): So close, but not close enough.

The pundits seem to be picking Ricky Rubio to go #2, but is he really that much better than the next point guard on the board Brandon Jennings who is "mocked" to go as low as 7? I don't know.

#2's since 1999:

2008: Michael Beasley (Miami Heat)
2007: Kevin Durant (Seattle SuperSonics)
2006: LaMarcus Aldridge (Chicago Bulls)
2005: Marvin Williams (Atlanta Hawks)
2004: Emeka Okafor (Charlotte Bobcats)
2003: Darko Miicic (Detroit Pistons)- BUST
2002: Jay Williams (Chicago Bulls)- BUST
2001: Tyson Chandler (LA Clippers)
2000: Stromile Swift (Vancouver Grizzlies)- BUST
1999: Steve Francis (Vancouver Grizzlies)

#3 PICK (5.8% chance): In any other year this would be a real blessing.

But this year? Not too exciting, but who knows?

2008: O.J. Mayo (Minnesota Timberwolves)

2007: Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks)

2006: Adam Morrison (Charlotte Bobcats)- BUST

2005: Deron WIlliams (Utah Jazz)

2004: Ben Gordon (Chicago Bulls)

2003: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)

2002: Mike Dunleavy (Golden State Warriors)- BUST

2001: Pau Gasol (Vancouver Grizzlies)

2000: Darius Miles (LA Clippers)- BUST

1999: Baron Davis (Charlotte Hornets)

#7 PICK (60.0% chance): We tanked it for this one.

Thanks to that marvelous extra tanking by Nellie and crew this is where the Warriors are currently slotted. If the Warriors don't move up to one of the top 3 spots and none of the teams below them move up they'll be drafting here.

Just for reference here are the last 10 players drafted at the #7 spot:

2008: Eric Gordon (LA Clippers)
2007: Corey Brewer (Minnesota Timberwolves)
2006: Randy Foye (Minnesota Timberwolves)- BUST
2005: Charlie Villanueva (Toronto Raptors)
2004: Luol Deng (Phoenix Suns)
2003: Kirk Hinrich (Chicago Bulls)
2002: Nene Hilario (Denver Nuggets)
2001: Eddie Griffin (New Jersey Nets)- BUST
2000: Chris Mihm (Chicago Bulls)- BUST
1999: Richard Hamilton (Washington Wizards)

#8 PICK (23.2% chance): Moving down...

2008: Joe Alexander (Milwaukee Bucks)

2007: Brandan Wright (Charlotte Bobcats)

2006: Rudy Gay (Houston Rockets)

2005: Channing Frye (New York Knicks)

2004: Rafael Araujo (Toronto Raptors)- BUST

2003: T.J. Ford (Milwaukee Bucks)

2002: Chris WIlcox (LA Clippers)

2001: DeSagana Diop (Cleveland Cavaliers)

2000: Jamal Crawford (Cleveland Cavaliers)

1999: Andre Miller (Cleveland Cavaliers)

#9 PICK (1.8% chance): 2 teams leap-frogged the Warriors.

2008: D.J. Augustin (Charlotte Bobcats)

2007: Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls)

2006: Patrick O'Bryant (Golden State Warriors)- BUST

2005: Ike Diogu (Golden State Warriors)- BUST

2004: Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)

2003: Michael Sweetney (New York Knicks)- BUST

2002: Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)

2001: Rodney White (Detroit Pistons)- BUST

2000: Joel Przybilla (Houston Rockets)

1999: Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns)

#10 PICK (less than 0.01% chance): God is not a Warriors fan

This would mean THREE teams with better records this past season and consequently worse lottery odds for a top 3 pick moved up ahead of the Warriors. This would mean the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery went something like this: 1) New York Knicks, 2) Phoenix Suns, and 3) Charlotte Bobcats. Looks funny huh?

Here's the last 10 #10 picks:

2008: Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets)

2007: Spencer Hawes (Sacramento Kings)

2006: Mouhamed Sene (Seattle SuperSonics)- BUST

2005: Andrew Bynum (LA Lakers)

2004: Luke Jackson (Cleveland Cavaliers)- BUST

2003: Jarvis Hayes (Washington Wizards)

2002: Caron Butler (Miami Heat)

2001: Joe Johnson (Boston Celtics)

2000: Kenyon Dooling (Orlando Magic)- BUST

1999: Jason Terry (Atlanta Hawks)

On a side note, it's too bad the Golden State Warriors unlike the NY Times didn't pay attention to Polling GSoM. We wanted Thunder to rep the Dubs in Secaucus, NJ, but it looks like new GM Larry Riley will be manning the ship. I would've loved to see Thunder, but I wish Riley the best.

Still...

It's PLAYOFF TIME in the Bay!

Poll

Where will the Golden State Warriors be drafting in the 2009 NBA Draft?

#7- They'll stay in the same spot

195 votes

#1- Hello Blake Griffin!

166 votes

#2- Ricky Rubio?

132 votes

#3- They'll move up 4 spots for the right to overpay someone

67 votes

#8- The Bricks, Craptors, Bucked, Net Loss, BETcats, Posers, or Sunny Delight will move up to the top 3

49 votes

#9- Ike Diogu, Patrick O'Bryant, and ??? (2 teams with better records than the Warriors will move up)

20 votes

#10- "Unstoppable Baby!" (THREE teams with better records than the Warriors will move up)

69 votes

698 votes | Poll has closed