SB Nation - DeMarcus Nelson

Ridiculous Transactions: 8/22-8/30

Jon L — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:00:17 -0000

The big news this week was Trey Gilder signing a partially-guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies

If you were wondering where Ridiculous Transactions went this weekend (and I'm sure you could think of nothing else for the last two days), we decided to give it a trial run on Mondays. The reason is that the last few weeks some big transactions happened over the weekend and I had to wait a week to write about it. Of course now that I switched the days all the big transactions will happen on Tuesdays or something. If you haven't been a regular RU weekend reader (and you really should be), the first transactions post has a good explanation of what we're looking at here.

August 24: Kevin Kruger - signed with Basket Napoli (Italy)

Europe is probably a good move for Kruger, as he's a good-but-not-great-point guard even by minor league basketball standards. He has a habit of dribbling the ball too much, but Kruger does a pretty good job running an offense and played decently in Summer League. The Jazz were the team most likely to bring him to training camp out of anyone, though, and they're pretty set at point guard.

August 25: Gary Wilkinson - signed with Dongbu Promy (South Korea); Josh Heytvelt - signed with Oyak Renault Bursa (Turkey); Will Frisby - signed with Benfica (Portugal)

Wilkinson is a 26 year old undrafted rookie who managed to grab two rebounds in 36 minutes for Utah's Summer League team, which would be poor for a guard but is especially so for a 6'9" power forward. Heytvelt didn't get a whole lot of run for Washington's Summer League team, playing double digit minutes only once, but he apparently defended the pick and roll pretty well. He was fairly athletic in college, but he bulked up a little bit after his suspension and he'll likely need to shed a few pounds in order to get the NBA's attention again. Udonis Haslem did it in Europe, so maybe Heytvelt can too. Will Frisby was a really solid big man for the Dakota Wizards last year, and it's too bad his role on this year's D-League Select Summer League team couldn't turn into at least a training camp invite.

August 26: Albuquerque Thunderbirds - signed head coach John Coffino to another one-year contract

The Thunderbirds were caught in the middle of their division last year, better than Rio Grande Valley and Tulsa but stuck behind Colorado and Austin who had the two best records in the league. They had some talented players but also had to handle injuries in addition to some trades and call-ups. It remains to be seen how they'll do now that the divisions have been abolished, but Coffino's a solid coach and he should have them in a position to make the playoffs

August 28: Trey Gilder - signed with the Memphis Grizzlies

This is great for Gilder, obviously, but it's also a solid move for Memphis in that Gilder provides some insurance in case rookies DeMarre Carrol and Sam Young struggle (if Hasheem Thabeet struggles, well, good luck with that). That's not to say that Gilder himself still isn't a little on the raw side. As I noted in my offseason profile of Gilder (remember when we were doing those?), he still relies on his athleticism more than a solid shot, and he could stand to bulk up a little. He worked hard last year, though, and in addition to being a solid bench scorer he doesn't turn the ball over a whole lot. He played solidly in Summer League and apparently made an impression on the Grizzlies. The one concern I have is that if Memphis does sign Allen Iverson, they'll have 14 players on their roster. They were one team I had assumed would carry only the minimum 13 players, and Gilder's contract is only partially guaranteed, so his spot may be in danger should it come down to that. But, this is a move that could pay off really well for the Grizzlies down the line if they see it through.

August 29: DeMarcus Nelson - signed with Air Avellino (Italy); Dwayne Mitchell - signed with Hapoel Holon (Israel)

Mitchell spent last year with the LA D-Fenders, and he's a solid scoring guard even though he doesn't shoot a ton of three-pointers. He does a good job of getting to the line, and he can also give a team some occasional rebounding and assists. DeMarcus Nelson's shooting has been steadily improving, though it's still not great, and he had some turnover problems in Austin, but he's really good at getting to the rim and finishing around the basket, and he's a solid floor leader.

Ridiculous Transactions: 7/25-7/31

Jon L — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:00:10 -0000

Every week (starting about a week ago), we here at RU will take a look at some relevant player transactions from the past week. Players signing with the D-League, D-League players going to Europe, transactions involving the odd Summer League player (odd meaning we're not going to cover all of them, not meaning, like, Robert Swift), trades of a similar ilk, etc. This one should be interesting because I just finished writing that Jam coach post and I'm still in a state of annoyance.

July 26: Richie Frahm - signed with Mersin Buyuksahir Belediyesi (Turkey); Stephane Lasme - signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

This is the same team that Jimmy Baron signed with last week, and given Frahm's signing Baron has now a mentor and a guy who's going to take all of his minutes. Frahm's a very good three-point shooter, though he doesn't contribute much else. Then again, he likely won't have to. Lasme was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2007, didn't play much there and went to the D-League for awhile and then getting a 10-day contract with the Heat before playing in Europe last season. He was a solid shot-blocker and rebounder in Serbia last year, though he didn't produce all that consistently in Summer League a few weeks ago. He played for the Spurs team, though, and I'd bet they're keeping an eye on him.

July 27: Trent Plaisted - signed with Reggio Emilia (Italy); James Augustine - signed with Gran Canaria (Spain)

Plaisted was drafted in 2008 by Seattle then went to Detroit as part of the DJ White deal. He played for the Pistons' Summer League team, though that team was focused on more recent draft picks and he didn't get a ton of playing time. He finished with pretty good per-minute rebounding numbers, though. Augustine's has bounced between the D-League and the NBA, and he's the University of Illinois' all-time leading rebounder. His offense went steadily downhill at Summer League this year (scoring 21 points in the first game and zero in the last), but he can definitely rebound.

July 28: Othyus Jeffers - signed with NGC Cantu' (Italy); Richard Hendrix - signed with Granada (Spain)

Sigh. Look, I may not always seem like it on this site, but I'm a fairly realistic person. Some (many) people would
(did) say "cynical." So when I talk about Summer League rosters and how, say, a D-League did well or how his
skills might fit in with a specific NBA roster, I'm doing it because it's something to talk about. I know that for a lot of guys it's still a longshot, and that there just aren't enough NBA teams who pay attention to the D-League for these guys to get enough looks, and that teams are still apparently willing to explore signing a retired-and-not-all-that-good-anyway Jason Williams instead of a solid D-League player.
I know all that. I get it. But it's still disappointing to see guys like Hendrix and Jeffers go overseas. And not because Italy and Spain are bad places to play - they're not, in fact. But Hendrix had a great Summer League (both in Orlando and in Vegas) and was a top rebounder in the D-League last season, and Othyus Jeffers is a solid all-around offensive player in addition to being a lockdown defender. Both of those guys can play in the NBA right now. I don't know whether it's a function of the shrinking salary cap or that teams are still stuck on "names,"* but it seems like this offseason more and more of last year's D-League stars are headed to Europe. The league's going to look a lot different come the fall.

*And yes, I'm away of the contradiction of going after the Jam for hiring a "no-name" coach while going after NBA teams for not signing "no-name" players. But that's because...you see...it's different in that...shut up.

July 30: Nick Fazekas - signed with JDA Dijon (France)

Fazekas played well for the Celtics at Orlando Summer League, but they have a lot of forwards so that wasn't ever really a realistic option (see? I'm realistic). Still, despite not having the strongest upper body, Fazekas produces pretty well on the court. For some reason in my head I could've seen him fitting in with Oklahoma City while they give DJ White and Serge Ibaka a little more development time, but that's just me.

July 31: Kevin Rogers - signed with Panionios (Greece); Chicago Bulls - waived DeMarcus Nelson and Linton Johnson; Bakersfield Jam - hired Will Voigt as head coach

Seeing both Nelson and Johnson cut is a little tough, though Johnson's being released isn't a total shock. He was trying to make the roster this time around as a defensive stopper at power forward, and while I didn't see the results, remaking your body that way (he would've had to bulk up to succeed in that role) in a short period of time can be tough. It would've been nice to see Nelson step into a reserve shooting guard role after Ben Gordon left for Milwaukee, but the Bulls apparently thought a Pargo brother would be better for that. Kevin Rogers is a little raw for the NBA, but with a season or two in the D-League he could've become a solid player. He was decently efficient in Orlando Summer League this year, and he had solid shot-blocking and rebounding numbers.

Most of my thoughts on Voigt's hiring can be found in the post announcing the hire, but since that dealt mostly with how he was hired I'll just add that he did win a few ABA championships, which I don't know what kind of talent level he had but at the very least shows he didn't screw up a good thing (if he had one), and while there are other former head coaches and promising assistants out there who deserve a shot, and while I personally would've tried to snag a talented or at least well-known coach this year to a.) bring in fans and b.) justify their ticket prices, the Bakersfield ownership may not have wanted to go that route given the uncertainty over whether their plan will work or not.

A Look Back at Vegas Summer League: Part 2

Jon L — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:15:07 -0000

Jawad Williams, shown here playing for the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers, played well for Cleveland at Vegas Summer League.

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In the wake of Vegas Summer League being over, and as I did with the Orlando Summer League, I've been taking a look at some noteworthy performances from "non-NBA" players. Part 1 dealt with guys who have been playing in Europe or who otherwise aren't currently under contract anywhere. Today examines the players from the D-League who were in Vegas, either on the D-League Select team or on an NBA squad's roster. Again, I'm only concerned with players who played three or more games, in order to get some semblance of sustained (such as it is) success (this means no Othyus Jeffers or Trey Johnson, who each played very well in two games for the D-League squad). I wanted to limit it to ten guys, but I cheated a bit and threw in an honorable mention category (which makes even less sense since the 10 guys aren't ranked in any way), which we'll look at first.

Honorable Mention: Brent Petway, Romel Beck, Mouhamed Sene, Will Conroy

Petway complemented Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan fairly well, and while his scoring wasn't very consistent, he showed off his elite shot-blocking ability and averaged 3.6 blocks per 48 minutes, slightly more than he did last season with the Stampede. Beck made 43 percent of his three-pointers and 52.8 percent of his field goals overall, though he didn't contribute much other than scoring. Sene got a ton of blocks compared to his playing time, eight in 35 minutes, but while I didn't expect to see many points from him he didn't get many rebounds, either. Conroy was a solid point guard either starting or coming off the bench, and he made 52.2 percent of his field goals, but his assists were down a little bit from what they were in the D-League on a per-minute basis.

The rest of the players are after the jump.

Richard Hendrix (6'9" F, Denver Nuggets) - Hendrix had perhaps the best overall Summer League out of anyone, playing very well with the Orlando Magic team before repeating that performance in Vegas. He appeared in four games for Denver and started three, though he played the second-fewest minutes on the team. He still managed to shoot 63.2 percent from the field, average 13.4 rebounds per 48 minutes, and most impressively, turn the ball over only once in those four games.

Coleman Collins (6'9" F, D-League Select) - Collins was very solid for the D-League team, and I've said this before but it bears repeating: I don't understand why he didn't play more last season. Collins was one of the leading rebounders on the team and averaged 24 points per 48 minutes, all while picking up only six fouls in five games. He made 51.4 percent of his shots, too.

CJ Giles (6'11" F/C, Denver Nuggets) - Giles rebounded the ball very well for the Nuggets, averaging 15 rebounds per 48 minutes, and he made half of his field goals. He also averaged just over five blocks on a per-minute basis, though he also committed the most fouls on the team.

Kurt Looby (6'10" C, D-League Select) - RU binky Kurt Looby did what he does best, which is block shots and rebound. Looby grabbed as many rebounds as Collins did but in about 40 fewer minutes, and finished averaging 17 rebounds on a per-minute basis. He also blocked nine shots in five games. I keep repeating this, but while the offense isn't there right now, Looby will be ready to take on the NBA very soon.

Coby Karl (6'5" G, Denver Nuggets) - Yeah, yeah, he should've been listed with the "Europe" players rather than the D-Leaguers, but what are you gonna do? Coby Karl had a somewhat shaky Orlando Summer League, but he did very well in Vegas, making 61.5 percent of his field goals and half of his threes, as well as picking up rebounds and assists at decent rates for his position.

David Monds (6'8" F, Los Angeles Lakers) - Monds was a very solid player for the Lakers, though he didn't start any of the games. He led the team in per-minute scoring, shot 60.4 percent from the field and averaged 13.3 rebounds per 48 minutes, and only turned the ball over twice in five games. His free throws could use some work, as he shot 54.5 percent from the line.

Ronald Dupree (6'7" F, Denver Nuggets) - Yes, that Nuggets team was pretty stacked. Dupree was the team's second-leading scorer on a per-minute basis (and came in only .2 points behind Ty Lawson), and he also rebounded the ball fairly well, though he didn't do much beyond those two things.

Malik Hairston (6'6" G, San Antonio Spurs) - Hairston did a good job shooting the ball, shooting 52.8 percent from the field and averaging 21.4 points per 48 minutes. He didn't offer the kind of rebounding that he usually does, though that my be because he was sharing the court with two monster rebounders in DeJuan Blair and Ian Mahinmi.

Jawad Williams (6'9" F, Cleveland Cavaliers) - Williams showed off his scoring and rebounding in Vegas, making half of his three pointers and averaging 28.2 points and 10 rebounds per 48 minutes (that scoring average was best on the team). He's generally a solid defender as well, though Summer League isn't really the place for that.

DeMarcus Nelson (6'4" G, Chicago Bulls) This is also cheating a little bit since the Bulls called Nelson up before the end of last season, but he showed himself to be a pretty good all-around guard in Vegas. He had some off nights, but ended up shooting 48.1 percent from the field and tied for the second-most assists on the team. He finished averaging seven rebounds and 5.5 assists per 48 minutes, though he could stand to cut down on the turnovers a little bit.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 10

Jon L — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:00:42 -0000

Gary Forbes. Coby Karl. The D-League was running things in Vegas.

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Well this is it: the final day of the 2009 Summer League season. All the players, coaches and journalists have left Vegas by now, and all of them have some evaluating to do. RU is no different, and we'll have some analysis in the coming days, but there's one more full slate of games to go over first, so let's get to it.

D-League Select 74, Portland Trail Blazers 73

Portland Trail Blazers, you just made a fool of yourself in front of T-Bone. On a day when no one on the D-League team played particularly well, the game was won on a Marcus Hubbard buzzer-beating three. Othyus Jeffers and Trey Johnson missed their third straight game and were joined by Walker Russell, meaning the Selects had just seven guys available to play.As I've said before, these guys are working harder than everyone else, fighting to show what they can do until the clock hits zero. Kurt Looby was decent off the bench with five rebounds and two blocks in a little under 18 minutes and seven points on 3-5 shooting, though he also had five fouls in that brief period. Jasper Johnson hit all three of his shots from behind the arc and shot 6-11 overall for 16 points. Will Frisby had some nice moves down low and finished with six rebounds, though he also needed 13 shots to score 16 points.

Jerryd Bayless also sat out this game meaning Pooh Jeter got the main point guard responsibilities, and while he finished with seven assists he also shot the ball pretty terribly. Dante Cunningham shot 7-14, though he didn't get to the free throw line much and shot just 40 percent when he did, though he also grabbed seven rebounds. There's not much else to say about the Blazers because did I mention that they lost to the D-League team that was without three of its best players?

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

Denver Nuggets 107, New Orleans Hornets 105

This one went to three overtimes, which I can't imagine anyone wanted. Not too many players shot the ball efficiently overall, but a lot of the misses game as the game dragged on and on, so I'm willing to cut some slack here. Ty Lawson started out Summer League with some poor performances but he picked it up towards the end, and yesterday he had 24 points on 17 shots, six rebounds and four assists. CJ Giles played fairly well, with 13 points on nine shots, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Julian Wright missed all five of his three-pointers but was otherwise solid, with 24 points on 21 shots, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block and only two fouls and one turnover. Sonny Weems had a nice game, with 28 points on 23 shots and nine rebounds. Same goes for Coby Karl, with 19 points on 13 shots and five boards. Earl Calloway has had some nice moments in Vegas, and yesterday he had 13 points on 10 shots and six rebounds. Brian Cusworth hasn't played a whole lot, but yesterday he had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and five rebounds in less than 17 minutes.

Phoenix Suns 87, Los Angeles Clippers 70

Nik Caner-Medley has had some really solid Summer League performances, and yesterday was no exception with 13 points on nine shots, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Goran Dragic may be sensing that his roster spot is on the line (or at least his spot in the rotation), and he stepped up with 21 points on nine shots, seven assists and five rebounds, though he also picked up six assists so perhaps he was trying a little too hard. Jiri Hubalek had another good-rebounding, mediocre-shooting day with seven points on seven shots, but also six rebounds in 15 minutes. The box score says that Hyland Jordan picked up two techs, but there's no Hyland Jordan on either roster. Do they mean DeAndre Jordan? Jordan shot the ball okay, nine points on 4-6 shooting, but he was better in other areas with eight rebounds and two blocks in a little under 23 minutes.

Washington Wizards 89, New York Knicks 84

JaVale McGee had another very solid game, with 31 points on 16 shots (he shot 9-10 from the free-throw line), eight rebounds and four blocks. Jordan Hill had a fairly good game as well, particularly compared to some others he had in Vegas, with 21 points on 9-17 shooting and seven rebounds, though he also picked up six fouls. Nikoloz Tskitishvili did almost all of his shooting from behind the arc (six of his seven field goals were from three), but his aim was pretty true and he finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. I've been fairly impressed with Warren Carter's rebounding ability, and he had five in a little over 15 minutes yesterday. Tyrese Rice had his best game of Summer League, with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, though he still doesn't pick up a ton of assists and he still dribbles the ball way too much

Chicago Bulls 93, Minnesota Timberwolves 85

Kevin Martin or no Kevin Martin, Garrett Siler had another efficient game with 12 points on five shots along with five rebounds and two blocks, though he also had six fouls. James Johnson had a nice game for Chicago with 18 points on 12 shots, seven rebounds and four assists with only two turnovers. DeMarcus Nelson had a really nice game with 18 points on 10 shots, though the rebounding wasn't there the way it has been in the past. Oleksiy Pecherov had an off shooting night, but he still managed to corral eight rebounds in 17 minutes. The same goes for James Augustine, who was held scoreless while grabbing nine rebounds in 21 and a half minutes. Jonny Flynn also had a poor shooting day after a fairly impressive Summer League, though he also picked up seven assists in 23 minutes.

Memphis Grizzlies 76, San Antonio Spurs 75

DeMarre Carroll's performance hasn't impressed me much (though perhaps he's looked better in person), but he was able to capitalize on his versatility yesterday, as he had 16 points on nine shots, five rebounds and three steals. Ian Mahinmi's been inconsistent in Vegas, but yesterday he finished with 15 points on nine shots, nine rebounds and four blocks, though he also had six fouls. Romel Beck had nine points on six shots, which is nice, but he also grabbed five rebounds, which he hasn't really done much of during Summer League.

NBA Summer League Day Ten Recap - The Grind Is Over/Spurs Lose

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:30:36 -0000

Well, the Summer League finished with couple of amazing finishes for me. Marcus Williams, the other Marcus Williams, hit a little floater with 0.4 seconds left to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a win over the San Antonio Spurs. Then, in an absolutely AMAZINE finish, the D-League Select team stole an inbounds pass and drained a 3-pointer to knock of the Portland Trail Blazers in a 20-point come from behind victory.

In other news, I met Pop, I got Ian's shoes, and I'm D-U-N done. Name that movie?

First off, I want to say that I miss being at home. This a very long time to be away and I still have two more days to go.

Second, what a fabulous trip it's been. I'll probably do several Summer League after-party posts, but it has been something else. I'll probably be silent for the next few days.

As for the games, again I saw four of them.

Game One - Washington Wizards vs New York Knicks

In the opener, the Wizards beat the Knicks 89-84 with Javale McGee really going off. He had 24 points and 5 rebounds. AT THE HALF. He finished with 31 and 8 as he proved too much for Jordan Hill to handle. Tyrese also poured in 17 for the Whizzzz. Hill had 21and 7 for the Knicks. I've got another microscope post coming on Hill and I have some validation and some corrections to make. On a side note, I did have an interesting personal experience with Jordan. I was at the concession stand getting a drink and the woman who should be taking my order, the one in front of me, is gesticulating madly at somebody to get somebody else to come over to the counter. I order my drink from the OTHER woman standing there. The one in front of me keeps gesticulating and saying, "I don't know. Come over here." As it turns out, Jordan Hill is standing in the area and the woman wants him to come over to the counter even though SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HE IS. He comes over and she busts out a scrap piece of a receipt and asks him to autograph it. Hill is laughing and says, "you don't even know who I am." She says, "it doesn't matter. My son will." I told him he needed to autograph it and print his name so the kid knows who it is. The woman who took my order pulls out another piece of scratch paper and gets him to sign. She also doesn't know who he is. Then another woman working the concession asks him to stand still for a picture. Which he does while leaning against me. NONE of these people even knew who he is. Crazy shit I tell you.

Game Two - Chicago Bulls vs Minnesota Timberwolves

The Chicago Bulls beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second game. James Johnson stuffed the stat sheet again with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the 93-85 win. DeMarcus Nelson continued a strong Summer League showing with 18 points. Corey Brewer had 20 points for the T-pups and I'm still not high on him. Garrett Siler had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. I know. You are thinking WHO. Yes, Garrett Siler. He was VERY impressive all week. He's a very, very large man at 6' 11" and 300 pounds. He looks and plays taller and he is pretty mobile. I absolutely loved what he did this week. Jonny Flynn, the Wolves #6 pick, is also very good but I think he's more interested in being a hot dog than winning. Today was another day where he seemed more interested in the highlight.

Game Three - San Antonio Spurs vs Memphis Grizzlies

Our Spurs dropped game 3. We got behind early, took a 10 point lead late, got behind, came back, air balled a bunch of shots late, then gave up a game-losing layup. Ian Mahinmi really played well, or at least aggressively, going after Hasheem Thabeet. Ian had 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. For the Summer league, he shot 26 of 32 for 82% from the line. We'll probably have to cut him for being non-Spur. We had balanced scoring from the rest of our crew. The Memphis Grizzlies again got good games from DeMarre Carroll, Sam Young, and Jeff Adrien. I love each and every one of those guys. They will be the glue of whatever success the franchise has over the next several years.

Game Four - D-League Select vs Portland Trail Blazers

Game 4 was the BOMB. The Portland Trail Blazers got out to a 44-24 lead on the D-League Select team with under 2:00 to go in the second quarter. The D-Leagues scored the last 6 points of the half to cut it to 14. They then came out gunning in the third quarter led by Jasper Johnson, a robust left, who had 13 in the quarter and was flashing a silky smooth J from long distance. The D-Leaguers put up 27 in the quarter to trim the lead to 3 at 60-57. They continued to scrap and finally took the lead with 4:32 left on a 3 point play by Looby. The Blazers then went on a 7 point run to go up by 6 with under 3:00 to go and the game seemed over. The D-League guys scrapped to score the next 6 points and tie the game with 37 seconds left. Dante Cunningham of the Blazers was fouled and converted both free throws for a 2 point lead with 20 seconds to go. The D-League guys worked the ball around, without a time out, and Gary Forbes got a decent look from 3 that tickled the twine. Unfortunately, it was on the outside of the net. From where I was sitting, behind the basket being shot at, I couldn't see that he had airballed it. The Blazers then called time out and advanced the ball to the front court. On the ensuing inbounds, the pass was deflected, Marcus Hubbard corralled it, took a dribble or two and shot about a 28 footer. NOTHING. BUT. NET. And the horn sounded. It was just a stunning victory. 74-73.

In a game I didn't see, the Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets in 3 overtimes.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 9

Jon L — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:00:30 -0000

Curtis Stinson running the point for the D-League Select team.

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Denver Nuggets 94, D-League Select 90

Jasper Johnson led the Select team with 21 points on 7-13 shooting. He shot 3-7 on threes, which means he actually shot 66 percent inside the arc. He also had four rebounds. Kurt Looby still has some work to do on the offensive end, as he shot 3-7 from the field and 4-7 from the free-throw line, but he also had 11 rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes. Only one rebound and one turnover, too, which is a positive. Gary Forbes has played very well the last few games, and yesterday he finished with a solid line of 19 points on 5-9 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Coleman Collins didn't have a great shooting night (3-8), but he had seven rebounds in just under 17 minutes.

One could argue, though, that with so many D-League players on Denver's roster this was a win for them anyway. Ronald Dupree was excellent for the Nuggets team, shooting 10-15 and scoring 23 points, with four rebounds and only one turnover. Coby Karl wasn't bad in Orlando, but to me it feels like he's improved since then, or at least put together some all-around solid games. Yesterday was one of those, as he shot 5-9 and added nine rebounds, four assists and only one turnover. Richard Hendrix played only six minutes (anyone out there know why?), but he had four rebounds in those six minutes along with four points.

The rest of the games are after the jump.

New Orleans Hornets 100, Minnesota Timberwolves 96

Anthony Tolliver shot 100 percent in this game. For serious. He made all of his threes, all of the rest of his field goals and all of his free throws. Yet another Anthony (in addition to Randolph and Morrow) who's had a scoring achievement in Vegas. He ended the game with 20 points on five shots, four rebounds and two assists. Jonny Flynn's been playing well for awhile, and he had 24 points on 10 shots, including shooting 4-5 from behind the arc, and he had four rebounds and four assists, though also six turnovers. Julian Wright had a solid game with 19 points on 12 shots, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Darren Collison also played well, with 18 points on eight shots (in a little under 16 minutes), though he only picked up one assist. Devin Green didn't have a great shooting night, going 2-5 (for seven points), but he had six rebounds in 20 and a half minutes, which is decent for a guard.

Washington Wizards 74, Los Angeles Clippers 64

JaVale McGee was fantastic in this game, particularly on defense against DeAndre Jordan. McGee never bit on pump fakes and ended up with seven blocks, along with 19 points on 9-11 shooting, though only four rebounds. Dominic McGuire did most of the rebounding for the Wizards with 11, and he added three steals, two assists and a block of his own. Blake Griffin's final line looks okay, with 19 points on 16 shots, 10 rebounds and four steals, though Washington essentially made it their business to stop him, and Griffin got most of his points in transition and off of broken plays. Nik Caner-Medley played fairly well once again (it's happened a few times in Vegas), with 13 points on eight shots, eight rebounds two steals and a block. Nick Young had an okay day, with 19 points on 14 shots, though he made only two of his eight three-pointers

Chicago Bulls 90, New York Knicks 84

Brandon Costner had a good game off the bench, with 21 points on 11 shots, including going 3-5 from behind the arc, and he had three rebounds as well. DeMarcus Nelson had a nice game of his own 14 points on 5-8 shooting, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Jordan Hill has struggled with his shot in Summer League, but yesterday he straightened it out somewhat and scored 14 points on eight shots,. He had nine rebounds and two blocks as well, but also nine fouls. Nikoloz Tskitishvili had a game that was mostly positive, with 14 points on eight shots, seven rebounds and two blocks, though he also missed all four of his three-pointers. Ron Howard had a rough game a few days ago, though his scoring improved in this one with 11 points on seven shots.

Memphis Grizzlies 97, Phoenix Suns 60

Sam Young's had an up-and-down Summer League, but he was up yesterday with 20 points on 7-12 shooting. Trey Gilder had a nice game, shooting 4-5 for 10 points and grabbing four rebounds in 16 and a half minutes. Hamed Haddadi grabbed six rebounds in 10 minutes. Goran Dragic hasn't been very consistent, and some have even said that Zabian Dowdell may have made a case to usurp his backup role once the season starts (though Dowdell hasn't shot the ball particularly well), but yesterday Dragic had 17 points on 6-11 shooting. Only two assists, though. Marcus Williams didn't have a great game scoring-wise, though he picked up nine assists and six rebounds. Jiri Hubalek came down to earth a little bit from the other day shooting-wise, though he did have seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Erik Daniels finally got some Summer League run, and he shot 2-3 for four points with three rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes.

Portland Trail Blazers 91, San Antonio Spurs 74

Jeff Pendergraph ended the game with 14 points on six shots, 10 rebounds and three assists, and he played fairly solid defense throughout, particularly on DeJuan Blair. Blair, by the way, grabbed 11 rebounds in 25 and a half minutes, though he shot only 6-16. Pooh Jeter played solidly again, with 19 points on 8-13 shooting, four assists, three rebounds and only one turnover. Jerryd Bayless had 18 points on nine shots and five assists, though he also turned the ball over seven times. San Antonio's problem in this game (or one of them, anyway) was that they didn't share the ball. George Hill's three assists were a team high.

Dallas Mavericks 73, Oklahoma City Thunder 54

Roddy Beaubois hasn't played very well the last few games for Dallas, but he bounced back yesterday with 23 points on 9-12 shooting, including 4-6 on threes. Ahmad Nivins shot a perfect 4-4 from the field and added a free throw for nine points, and he also had four rebounds and two blocks. Oklahoma City has been scuffling in Vegas. I believe it may be fatigue from playing in both Summer Leagues (and the absence of Russell Westbrook), but I haven't been watching the games so there may be something else going on. They had only two players score in double figures yesterday. The best performance on the team was probably DeVon Hardin's, with 10 points on four shots, eight assists, two steals, an assist and a rebound.

2009 NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder vs Chicago Bulls

Mr Pappagiorgio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:30:09 -0000

2009 Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
34	Tony Durant	F	6-7	245	Towson University
11	Richard Roby	G	6-6	205	Colorado
15	Marcus Dove	F	6-9	212	Unknown
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6-6	200	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6-5	220	Arizona State
50	DeVon Hardin	C	6-11	235	California
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6-10	220	Congo (Zaire)
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6-7	185	No College
2	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	Bowling Green
23	Byron Mullens	C	7-0	275	Ohio State
45	Doug Thomas	F	6-8	245	Iowa
30	Robert Vaden	G	6-5	205	Alabama-Birmingham
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6-6	201	Washington State
3	D.J. White	F	6-9	251	Indiana

2009 bulls Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
35	Tyrell Biggs	F	6-8	235	Pittsburgh
32	Brandon Costner	F	6-9	230	North Carolina State
2	Bryan Mullins	G	6-2	190	Southern Illinois
3	Josh Shipp	G	6-5	215	UCLA
50	Luke Zeller	C	6-11	240	Notre Dame
40	James Augustine	F-C	6-10	240	Illinois
22	Taj Gibson	F	6-9	225	Southern California
11	Taurean Green	G	6-0	185	Florida
54	Linton Johnson	F	6-8	205	Tulane
16	James Johnson	F	6-8	245	Wake Forest
42	Nick Lewis	F-C	6-11	240	San Diego
14	Lorenzo Mata-Real	C-F	6-8	230	UCLA
21	DeMarcus Nelson	G	6-4	200	Duke
5	Anthony Roberson	G	6-2	180	Florida

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 6

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

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

View full size photo »

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

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

D-League Select 105, Sacramento Kings 89

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

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

Denver Nuggets 77, Washington Wizards 70

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

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

Houston Rockets 87, Portland Trail Blazers 8

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

Milwaukee Bucks 87, Chicago Bulls 72

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

Toronto Raptors 74, Phoenix Suns 73

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

Detroit Pistons 96, New York Knicks 73

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

Game Thread: Bucks/Bulls

Frank Madden — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:01:52 -0000

0-1		2-0
	vs.
July 15, 2009 - 5:00 PM CT
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
TV: NBA.com Stream
Probable starters:
DeMarcus Nelson	PG	Brandon Jennings
Anthony Roberson	SG	Jodie Meeks
James Johnson	SF	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Taj Gibson	PF	Joe Alexander
James Augustine	C	Amir Johnson

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 5

Jon L — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:00:22 -0000

There's apparently no evidence of Collins dunking on Japan yesterday, so here he is against Minnesota.

View full size photo »

Okay, what gives? I know it's just the Japanese national team, and that it's just a "scrimmage," but no box score? Again? Was this some deal worked out with the good people of Japan to prevent being housed by the D-Leaguers? Anyway, the D-League Select team played the Japanese national team again, and won big again, 92-64. Here's the D-League's game write-up. Coleman Collins was getting some mentions on Twitter, and he finished the game with...well who knows. All we know about this game is that Jasper Johnson scored 15 points and Othyus Jeffers had 14. The only play that's described is a Collins dunk. Whee. I also read that Kurt Looby was playing well, but all evidence of that seems to have been erased. This is really annoying. Hey D-League, if you're going to bother writing a game summary, just go ahead and post the box score as well. The D-League is playing Sacramento tonight, so there will be some stats from that, but is it too much to ask to find out how well people are playing, you know, every night?

Games that were deemed worthy of paying attention to after the jump.

Washington Wizards 96, Cleveland Cavaliers 93

Yes, these two teams continued their simmering rivalry as LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas went at it...oh right, it's just Summer League. Washington actually has a fair amount of its regular roster here, including new Vegas addition Andray Blatche. This is Blatche's fourth season in the league, but he's still just 23 and still a bit erratic, so another round of Summer League couldn't hurt. He admitted to being nervous in the beginning, and he finished with seven turnovers, but he also had 21 points on 13 shots, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Nick Young started his transition to a new offense which requires him to come off of more screens, and he had a decent day (though he took about 30 percent of his team's shots) with 36 points on 19 shots, and he made five of his eight three-pointers. Christian Eyenga has had an up-and-down start to Summer League, but he was solid yesterday with 17 points on 13 shots in almost 23 minutes.

Jawad Williams has been relatively quiet so far, but he had a nice game off the bench for Cleveland with 14 points on eight shots, including making two of his three shots from behind the arc, and he contributed a pair of rebounds and a steal. Tyrese Rice had a decent shooting night for Washington, going 4-9, though he dribbles the ball too much. Maureece Rice didn't get much playing time, just under four and a half minutes, but he made both of his field goals and added a rebound

San Antonio Spurs 78, Denver Nuggets 76

Ian Mahinmi is still a work in progress (due partially to development time lost to injury), and while he had ten fouls yesterday he also had 12 points on nine shots and 16 rebounds along with two blocks. Jack McClinton finished with a game-high four assists in 11 minutes, though he also missed both of his shots.

Coby Karl had a nice all-around game, shooting 6-7 (including 3-4 on threes), three rebounds and a steal, and he also had three turnovers, he generally looked pretty good. We knew Romel Beck can score, and he's been pretty efficient for San Antonio so far. He had 14 points on 11 shots yesterday, though he hasn't been doing much else. Malik Hairston has been about the same, with nice, efficient scoring (7-11 yesterday) but contributing less in other areas than he's capable of. CJ Giles had a nice six rebounds in 13 minutes, though he missed both of his free throws. Squeaky Johnson finally got on the court but not for very long, less than four minutes, but he had two turnovers in that time which is completely uncharacteristic for him

Memphis Grizzlies 90, New York Knicks 86

I can spend a lot of time focusing on the non-NBA guys with this game, so I think I will (unless you want to hear about Sam Young's 3-10 shooting or Toney Douglas going 2-13). Nikolosz Tskitishvili had a good game. Yeah, it's Summer League, but it's still nice to be able to say it. 12 points on 4-8 shooting, four rebounds and three blocks. It's the blocked shots that jump out at me, because I don't remember that being part of his game before. Then again, because these boxscores don't keep track of blocks against, I don't know who Skita blocked. For all I know it could be Daniel Ewing. Ron Howard also played well, with 11 points on nine shots, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hamed Haddadi had a decent game off the bench, with six rebounds and two blocks in less than 12 minutes, though he also needed six shots to get four points. Trey Gilder became an RU favorite over the course of last season (as did about half of Colorado's roster, come to think of it), and he had a nice all-around game yesterday with nine points on 4-5 shooting, five rebounds, a steal and a block. I know I keep saying I don't want to do this (and I know I keep saying that I know I keep saying that I don't want to do this), but Blake Ahearn has had a really rough few weeks. He was inconsistent in Orlando (to put it charitably), and yesterday he shot 1-8, though he also made all six of his free throws and had three assists. Ahearn's a much better shooter than he's been demonstrating, but he needs to start showing it.

Los Angeles Clippers 88, New Orleans Hornets 86

DeAndre Jordan continued his solid play in Vegas with 21 points on 10 shots, 12 rebounds and three blocks. TrueHoop's David Thorpe said on Twitter that out of all of the players here, Jordan may have improved the most in the last year. Eric Gordon's also been playing solidly, and he had 22 points on 14 shots, helped along by going 10-10 from the free-throw line. Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton had played well together, and they combined for 42 points on 31 shots, while Thornton shot 3-6 on three-pointers and Collison had four assists.

Kevinn Pinkney (who preceded/played with Nick Fazekas at Nevada-Reno and spent some time with the Bakersfield Jam) didn't have a great shooting night, though five rebounds in less than 13 minutes is solid. Earl Barron had six points and five rebounds in 15 and a half minutes, which is decent enough.

Los Angeles Lakers 74, Oklahoma City Thunder 68

James Harden's been really solid all-around, both here and in Orlando. He's been shooting the ball efficiently and picking up a fair number of rebounds, assists and steals. Case in point: he had 23 points on 14 shots yesterday, five assists, five rebounds and two steals. Kyle Weaver had eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals to go with his ten points. DJ White had a nice shooting day, going 4-5, though he didn't rebound as well as he has/can.

David Monds had another decent game with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. Dominique Coleman only played four minutes (he's on the Lakers squad), but he had a pair of assists in that time. Forget Adam Morrison, play Dominique Coleman!

Golden State Warriors 95, Chicago Bulls 83

Congratulations to Anthony Randolph on matching the Summer League single-game scoring record with 42 points (and he also had four steals and three blocks). A lot of people are (maybe) going to talk about how remarkable it is (so go read Golden State of Mind or FreeDarko for that), but I'm a pretty cynical guy, so I'll just temper everyone else's enthusiasm with the fact that he managed only three rebounds in over 34 minutes. You're the next generation or power forward and Stephen Curry can out-rebound you? Speaking of whom, remember when everyone said that Curry would have a smooth transition to the pros because he was such a good shooter (did they say that)? Well he probably should start making those shots. He went 3-15 yesterday, and has shot the ball pretty terribly in every game. He's doing all the other things well, though, with eight assists, five rebounds and a block. James Johnson played well with 21 points on 13 shots, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. Taj Gibson had a decent performance with 5-11 shooting and 12 rebounds, though he also had nine fouls. James Augustine mostly played well, going 10-11 with seven rebounds and three blocks, though he also had seven fouls. TorosGirl would probably hurt me if I didn't mention DeMarcus Nelson. He played okay, shooting 4-12 with five turnovers but sinking all five of his free throws, grabbing five rebounds and picking up six assists (you thought I was going to say five again, didn't you?)