SB Nation - Brandon Wallace

JaVale McGee stars in the Wizards' 74-64 Summer League win over the Clippers

Mike Prada — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:07:24 -0000

Nick Young didn't have a big game, but the Wizards won anyway.

Everything I've learned in sportswriting boils down to finding a moment that encapsulates a story and describing the hell out of it at the top of the article. The problem today is that there are too many of those moments to describe JaVale McGee's game. The two-handed stuff on Mike Taylor at the end of the game. The throwdown on Blake Griffin late in the game that Javaris Crittenton insisted I note. The myraid times when he stayed on his feet instead of going for pump fakes.

Indeed, McGee was the key to this game, swatting seven shots and altering many others in what was easily the Wizards' best defensive performance in a Summer League game since ... well, since I can remember. He had the whole package, playing great man-to-man post defense on DeAndre Jordan, as well as solid help defense on everybody else.

The major thing I noticed was that that JaVale was staying down on pump fakes rather than flying around like a maniac whenever somebody flinched. Sam Cassell noticed it too. He told me that he tells McGee all the time that he doesn't need to jump around on pump fakes because he's the tallest guy on the court. Clearly, it resonated.

As for Blake Griffin, he had 19 points, but needed 16 shots to get there as the Wizards swarmed him with double- and triple-teams. The key to me was that he scored very few of his points in isolation or even in the flow of the half-court offense. He scored a bunch in transition and had some points on broken plays, but for the most part, the Wizards shut him down in halfcourt sets. It also helped that, without Eric Gordon, the Clippers had nobody who could make the Wizards pay for doubling Griffin.

Javaris Crittenton had a really solid game running the offense, with 17 points, nine from the free throw line, and just one turnover. I spoke to Crittenton for a while after the game about learning Flip Saunders' new offense. He told me that he was thinking all night last night about how to balance setting people up and still getting to the rack (yes, those were his words). He admitted to me that he wished he could watch some film right now to get better at that balance. He broke a couple plays today, but all in all, I think he did well with it. He created when necessary, drew enough fouls to shoot 12 free throws and didn't commit too many turnovers.

Other notes:

I asked Crittenton about his jumper. He told me, predictably, that it's all about confidence, not technique necessarily, and that right now, he feels very confident with it. He talked about not passing up shots that he should take because it hurts his confidence.
The other bigs on this team (Josh Heytfelt, John Edwards, Brandon Wallace Alade Aminu) all had strong games on defense taking turns guarding Blake Griffin. In particular, I really liked Heytfelt's post defense. He kept Griffin in front of him and made him shoot over the top. Cassell told me he thought they all played extremely well today.
Question to ponder: Is it a coincidence that JaVale's best game came with Andray Blatche sitting out? I mean that not to bash Blatche, but only to add more personal doubt to whether Blatche and JaVale can ever complement each other well on the court.
A couple of you guys told me through the site or Twitter how much you think Sam Cassell is a huge addition to the team as an assistant coach. This was Cassell's first game as a head coach, and I asked him about how it compared to playing or being an assistant. He smiled wide when I asked the question and told me this is something he's been looking forward to do, and that he's honored to be working under one of the best in Flip Saunders. (His words, not mine). He sounded like a guy who genuinely wanted to get into coaching, and not somebody who just became a coach because he has nothing else to do.

I'm catching a plane in a few minutes back home, so I won't be here for tomorrow's game. I'll throw a post up about Nick Young's development on running through screens tomorrow, but otherwise, this concludes BF's Summer League coverage.

2009 Summer League Breakdown - Washington Wizards

Jon L — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:00:18 -0000

How many years later and that logo still looks dumb?

View full size photo »

And this time, it's personal.

In my other basketball life I'm a Wizards fan, so with this team I know of what I speak. With the Wizards players, anyway. I still don't know much about Tywain McKee. To bring you up to speed about where the Wizards are in this process, prior to the draft they traded the #5 pick in this year's draft, Darius Songalia, Etan Thomas (and his dumb contract) and Oleksiy Pecherov (and his 2010 expiring contract) to the Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. That left them with only four big men on the roster out of 13 players. That is not hyperbole. Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, that's it. The team also traded its second round pick to the Rockets and passed up an opportunity to draft DeJuan Blair. The Wizards have said they're not going to be very active in free agency, and there's a chance they'll throw all or part of the MLE to a guy who may not (or will not) be worth it.

So with all of that as prelude, I'd been hoping that the Wizards would invite some solid D-League big men to camp, with the idea that they could act as both a solid backup and a bridge to next year or the year after, when McGee may be ready to start. That, uh...that didn't happen so much, as you'll see after the jump.

Also I finally remembered to include a poll, so there's that.

Nick Young (6'6" G) - The press release announcing this roster listed Young as a G/F, but I don't think any observer could really call him a forward. Young's goal this year will be to start acclimating himself to the new Flip Saunders offense, which facilitates a lot of mid-range jumpers, as well as show that he can fit into any kind of team offense rather than just trying to take his man off the dribble. He could also stand to work on his defense. All of that said, he's a decent scorer and he has a really nice (and very effective) dribble-between-the-legs-then-step-back jumper/move. His playing time got jerked around a bit by Eddie Jordan and Ed Tapscott, so maybe he just needs some stability (or a different system).

JaVale McGee (7'0" C) - There are some quotes floating around out there that suggest that McGee may still be growing. He's very, very athletic, though he's also very, very skinny. He's been working on adding 15 pounds to his frame this offseason, and he could use some tutoring on post defense. He still tries to block just about every shot that comes his way, but he gets to a fair amount of them. Personally I think McGee might actually be a next-generation power forward (PFs played worse against him last year than Cs did), but for now he seems to be slotted into the pivot.

Dominic McGuire (6'9" G/F) - McGuire, or "Taser" as he's known to Wizards fans, came into the league as kind of a tweener forward who could rebound and defend with a lot of energy. He can still do those things, but he also enjoyed some success when Tapscott made the initially-headscratching decision to start him at SG. Not that he can shoot the ball very well, in fact he's pretty terrible at it, but he acted like a de facto point guard playing next to Mike James, and had several games with double-digit assists. McGuire works his tail off, but aside from his shot he needs to work on being a smarter defender in addition to being a physical one.

Javaris Crittenton (6'5" G) - Crittenton came to the Wizards as part of the Antonio Daniels/Mike James trade, and showed some signs of improvement after being buried on the bench with both the Lakers and Grizzlies. Crittenton's a decent rebounder for a point guard, though he has no real outside shot to speak of and his free-throw shooting can best be described as "terrible," though he's a decent distributor and could develop into a really solid backup point guard.

James Lang (6'10") - He's been here before, having played with the Wizards for a bit in 2006. He spent a chunk of last season with the D-League's Utah Flash, though NBA assignees and a dissatisfied coach put him on the bench towards the end of the year. He's...okay, I guess, though I wouldn't really consider him a "rotation big man," though he has decent size for the position. As I do every time his name comes up, I will now mention that he grew a Freeway beard last year.

John Edwards (7'0" C) - Edwards played about two dozen games in the D-League last year, and while I tend to use this phrase a lot, "all over the place" really does describe his performance. He'd have14 points and 10 rebounds one game and 2 points and 4 rebounds the next. Edwards was part of that Kent State team that made it to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA tournament, and he made his name blocking shots. If he's producing that inconsistently six years out of college, though, I have doubts as to whether he'll stick in the NBA.

Josh Heytvelt (6'11" F/C) - Heytvelt's still pretty raw, though he missed some time at Gonzaga both to foot injuries and to a drug suspension. He's a decent finisher around the rim and gets up and down the floor pretty well, though I wonder if there will be any future foot injuries that limit that He's not a great individual defender and needs to work on his rebounding, though despite not being of any immediate help he could develop into a decent player with a few years' work.

Tyrese Rice (6'0" G) - Rice was a solid point guard in college, able to score at the rim fairly easily, but he doesn't really have the attributes that will allow that to translate to the NBA, at least without some additional work. He also turned the ball over quite a bit, though that was partly a function of Boston College's offense. He's also not a great defender. This will be a recurring theme, but the Wizards already have a ton of guards so it's hard to see any of the ones they brought in make the roster.

Jimmy Baron (6'3" G) - Baron was a three-point specialist in college, but to immediately repeat myself, the Wizards don't really need any more guards. Still, Baron did well at the Portsmouth Invitational, and he's playing for at least one other Summer League team so NBA clubs must think there's something there.

Alex Ruoff (6'6" G) - Ruoff played mostly point guard for West Virginia, though DraftExpress thinks that his size will allow him to play "any of the three perimeter positions." But then they go on to talk about his poor first step and inability to guard athletic wing players, so who knows. He's a decent ballhandler with a solid jumper, though, and a smart player.

Tywain McKee (6'2" G) - I found some stats for McKee, but not really any descriptions of what he's like to watch as a player. He's an okay three-point shooter, hovering around 36 percent, but he shot 43.8 percent his junior year, so it's possible he could improve there. His per-minute number fluctuated slightly throughout his college career rather than steadily improve, so it's possible that he can't do much more.

Alade Aminu (6'10" F) - The Wizards brought Aminu in for some pre-draft workouts and obviously saw something they liked. He came off the bench for the last half of his senior season or so, but there are some questions as to whether that was because of his play or an inability to use his talents effectively. He's GM Ernie Grunfeld's favorite type of big man - very athletic, a decent ball-handler for his size, but without any polished post moves and not very strong as of right now. He also was a bit turnover-prone.

Ryan Ayers (6'7" G/F) - Ayers is the son of former Wizards assistant coach (and former Philadelphia head coach) Randy Ayers. He primarily played guard at Notre Dame, and he's a decent shooter, but if he wants to be a swingman he'll need to improve his rebounding. It sounds like he's planning on going to play in Europe in the absence of an NBA deal.

Diamon Simpson (6'7" F) - Simpson is a bit undersized to play power forward, his college position, though Houston has done fairly well with similar players so it's not out of the question. In fact, he sounds a bit like Dominic McGuire, a hustle guy who gets his points around the rim and a fair amount of rebounds, and he has the tools to be a decent defender, though he's not as quick on the perimeter as McGuire is.

Kyle Spain (6'5" G) - Spain played well against weaker teams and inconsistently against better ones in college, but he showed an ability to score. He's not a great ball-handler or very efficient, but he's a good catch-and-shoot guy and, interestingly for a guy with his profile, gets to the free throw line fairly often. He's likely a D-League-type guy, who might need a year or two to work on the non-shooting parts of his game before breaking into the NBA

Jason Rich (6'3" G) - Rich is listed as a rookie in the Wizards' press release, but he spent last year playing in Italy after graduating from Florida State. He doesn't appear to take many outside shots, though he made 39 percent of them. He's also not much of a passer, averaging 1.5 assists per game. He gets a decent number of steals, though.

Brandon Wallace (6'9" F) - Wallace is another guy listed as a rookie who really isn't. Wallace was on the Boston Celtics' roster at the start of the 2007-2008 season, beating out guys like Dahntay Jones and Jackie Manuel, though he didn't see any in-game action and was cut in December of 2007. He spent two games in the D-League that year, but since 2008 he's been playing over in Turkey. He had a slow start to the year there, and he's still probably more toolsy than anything else. He has no real outside game to speak of, though occasionally he'll hit a three-pointer or two. He's a decent rebounder, though, and he seems to avoid foul trouble pretty well.

Poll

Are you excited about the Wizards' 2009 Summer League team?

I'm excited! I'm excited about this plan and I want to be a part of it.

61 votes

How could you not be excited about James Lang and John Edwards?

61 votes

Needs more D-Leaguers.

59 votes

181 votes | Poll has closed

NBA Summer League Rosters Taking Shape

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:00:21 -0000

UPDATED - check after the jump for everything updated in the past three days.

Alright, we got all of the personal mumbo-jumbo out of the way - let's begin with the Summer League coverage!

The Orlando of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 6-10) is here, the Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 10-19) is here and the NBA Summer League roster of your favorite team (so far) is... After the jump!

I was all drafted out, so sorry for the lack of posting going on this weekend - I sincerely apologize to all thirteen of you that were disappointed. As a show of goodwill, I worked feverishly throughout the weekend to scour my sources, google the news, and do anything and everything I could to start piecing together an accurate view of what your team will look like this Summer.

Granted, it's probably not likely to expect much out of some of these players, but each year there are players that pop up from nowhere in Summer League and impress enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster. The most recent example would be Bobby Brown from last season, though there are plenty more (and we'll look at them throughout the next week heading into the Orlando portion of NBA Summer League's).

After the jump, I've put together a list of which players I've (all but) confirmed. If you're aware of anymore, let me know in the comments! If you're unsure of one of the players, click on the link - it'll either take you to their SBNation page or, if they're a bit more obscure, whichever source linked them to said Summer League team.

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:21 AM CDT ] Added Wink Adams to New York

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 11:15 AM CDT ] Added Daniel Artest to Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:34 PM CDT ] Added Paul Harris to Minnesota, from Cleveland

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:02 AM CDT ] Added Kevin Kruger to Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:48 AM CDT ] Added Acie Law to Golden State

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:58 AM CDT ] Added Lee Cummard to Phoenix, Luke Nevill to New Orleans

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 10:27 AM CDT ] Added Alex Ruoff to Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:59 PM CDT ] Added Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber and Matt Freije to Detroit

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 1:42 PM CDT ] Added Mohamed Tangara to Milwaukee

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:50 PM CDT ] Added Rod Benson to Houston, Demetris Nichols to Toronto

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 12:19 AM CDT ] Added Dar Tucker and Kevin Rogers to Dallas; Jaycee Carroll to New Orleans; completed Minnesota, Golden State and Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 11:54 AM CDT ] Completed San Antonio, Orlando and Boston roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 2:08 PM CDT ] Added Phoenix roster, Robert Swift to Boston

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 2:50 PM CDT] Added Jim Baron to Washington

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 5:00 PM CDT] Completed Chicago, Sacramento and New Orleans rosters

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 6:40 PM CDT ] Completed Indiana, Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 8:02 PM CDT ] Completed Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 4:05 PM CDT ] Completed Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 5:31 PM CDT ] Completed Portland, Memphis

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/02/09 8:10 CDT ] Completed Philadelphia/N.J. roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/03/09 11:12 AM CDT ] Completed (?) Denver roster

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/07/09 7:45 PM CDT ] Completed Dallas, Detroit and D-League Select rosters

2009 ORLANDO SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Boston Celtics

Bryan Mullins, Lester Hudson, Chris Lofton, Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens, Michael Sweetney, Coby Karl, Darius Washington, Bryce Taylor, Kevin Rogers, Robert Swift,

Indiana Pacers

Aaron Jackson, Leo Lyons, Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush, Josh McRoberts, A.J. Price, Roy Hibbert, Will Blalock, Trey Johnson, Anthony Smith, Derrick Byars, Courtney Sims, Scott Vander Meer,

Philadelphia 76ers/ New Jersey Nets

Blake Ahearn, Jrue Holiday, Marreese Speights, Dionte Christmas, Chris Johnson, Rob Kurz, Gary Forbes, Marcus Slaughter, Terrence Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts, AJ Abrams, Jeff Adrien, Jason Ellis,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Serge Ibaka, Shaun Livingston, BJ Mullens, James Harden, Robert Vaden, DeVon Hardin, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Weaver, D.J. White, Marcus Dove, Moses Ehambe, DeAngelo Alexander, Richard Roby, Kyle Hines, Doug Thomas, Keith McLeod,

Orlando Magic

Ryan Anderson, Levance Fields, Richard Hendrix, Russell Robinson, Darian Townes, Maurice Ager, Lance Allred, Brian Chase, Ronald Dupree, Courtney Fells, C.J. Giles, Steven Milosevic, Jeremy Pargo, Milovan Rakovic, Jeremy Richardson

Utah Jazz

Eric Maynor, Gary Wilkinson, Goran Suton, Kosta Koufos, Kyrylo Fesenko, Wesley Matthews, Kevin Kruger, Kevin Lyde, Andre Ingram, James Augustine, Cedric Bozeman, Justin Reed, Josh Duncan, Jim Baron, Reyshawn Terry and Larry Turner

2009 VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Chicago Bulls

Luke Zeller, James Johnson, Taj Gibson, Bryan Mullins, Tyrell Biggs, Mario Austin, AD Vasallo, Anthony Roberson, Linton Johnson, Chris Davis, Taurean Green, Lorenzo Mata-Real, DeMarcus Nelson, Julius Hodge, Brandon Costner, James Augustine, Nick Lewis

Cleveland Cavaliers

Maureece Rice, Christian Eyenga, Danny Green, Jawad Williams, Darnell Jackson, Tarence Kinsey,

Dallas Mavericks

Aaron Miles, Rodrigue Beaubois, Ahmad Nivins, Curtis Jerrells, Dar Tucker, Kevin Rogers, Quinton Hosley, Damjan Rudez, Luke Jackson, Henry Dugat, Nick Calathes, Mickael Gelabale, Herbert Hill, Shan Foster, Trent Strickland, Andre Owens, Alfred Aboya, Moussa Seck, Bryson McKenzie

Detroit Pistons

Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko, Walter Sharpe, Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber, Michael Bramos, Andre Owens

Denver Nuggets

Richard Hendrix, Ty Lawson, Derrick Byars, Ronald Dupree, CJ Giles, Coby Karl, Kareem Rush, Cedric Simmons, Sonny Weems

Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Jermareo Davidson, Acie Law, Connor Atchley, Lawrence Hill, Joe Ingles, Jared Jordan, Cartier Martin, Quan Prowell, Lawrence Roberts, Jamal Sampson

Houston Rockets

Garrett Temple, Will Conroy, Jermaine Taylor, Chase Budinger, Rod Benson, Hassan Adams, Marcus Cousin, Joey Dorsey, Charles Gaines, Mike Green, Brad Newley, Maarty Leunen, Darryl Watkins, James White

Los Angeles Clippers

Kyle McAlarney, Kevinn Pinkney, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Mike Taylor, Sean Banks, Dionte Christmas, Marcellus Kemp, Nik Caner-Medley,

Los Angeles Lakers

Tony Gaffney, Chinemelu Elonu, Alan Anderson, Aron Bynes, Dominique Coleman, Terrel Harris, Justin Hawkins, Ben McCauley, David Monds, Adam Morrison, Taylor Rochestie, Luke Schenscher, Mustafa Shakur,

Milwaukee Bucks

Brandon Jennings, Salim Stoudamire, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Joe Alexander, Jodie Meeks, Dominic James,Mohamed Tangara, Will McDonald, Juan Palacios, Chris Richard, Szymon Szewczyk, Lorrenzo Wade

Minnesota Timberwolves

Ben Woodside, Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, Paul Harris, Oleksiy Pecherov, Bobby Brown, Pat Carroll, Devin Green, Gerald Henderson, Steven Hill, Rob Kurz, Garrett Siler,

Memphis Grizzlies

Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll, Sam Young, Darrell Arthur, Hamed Haddadi, Daniel Ewing, Greg Stiemsma, Erik Daniels, Trey Gilder, Longar Longar, Brion Rush, Donta Smith, Marcus Williams

New Orleans Hornets

Marcus Thornton, Terry Martin, Darren Collison, Julian Wright, Luke Nevill, Jaycee Carroll, Earl Barron, Earl Calloway, Bryan Cusworth, Larry Owens, Marc Salyers, Courtney Sims, Anthony Tolliver, Quinton Watkins

New York Knicks

Jordan Hill, Blake Ahearn, Toney Douglas, Alex Acker, Wink Adams, Morris Almond, Warren Carter, Joe Crawford, Patrick Ewing Jr., Ron Howard, Yaroslav Korolev, David Noel, Mouhamed Sene, Rashaad Singleton, Nikoloz Tskitishvili,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Phoenix Suns

Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin, Goran Dragic, Robin Lopez, Lee Cummard, Alando Tucker, Micah Downs, Zabian Dowdell, Josh Carter, Kaspars Berzins, Jiri Hubalek, Geary Claxton, Chris Rodgers, Carlos Powell

Portland Trail Blazers

Jeff Pendergraph, Dante Cunningham, Jerryd Bayless, Patrick Mills, Thomas Gardner, Pooh Jeter, Bobby Jones, David Padgett, Deji Akindele, Matt Freije, Dwayne Mitchell, David Moss

Sacramento Kings

Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman, Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal, Spencer Hawes, Robert Battle, John Bryant, Pat Calathes, Marcus Landry, Brian Roberts, Victor Stowes, Ryan Toolson

San Antonio Spurs

James Gist, Jack McClinton, DeJuan Blair, Eric Dawson, Malik Hairston, George Hill, Romel Beck, Nando de Colo, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Antonio Anderson, Marcus Vinicius, Ian Mahinmi, Alonzo Gee,

Toronto Raptors

Brent Petway, DeMar DeRozan, Nathan Jawai, Demetris Nichols, Quincy Douby, Roko Ukic, Patrick O'Bryant, Carl English, Ekene Ibekwe, David Doublas, Paul Davis, Smush Parker

Washington Wizards

Tyrese Rice, Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, JaVale McGee, Alex Ruoff, Jim(my) Baron, Alade Aminu, Ryan Ayers, Jon Edwards, Josh Heytvelt, James Lang, Dominic McGuire, Tywain McKie, Jason Rich, Diamon Simpson, Kyle Spain, Brandon Wallace

NBA D-League Select

Coleman Collins, Walker Russell, Will Frisby, Gary Forbes, Marcus Hubbard, Othyus Jeffers, Jasper Johnson, Trey Johnson, Kurt Looby, Curtis Stinson