SB Nation - Jawad Williams

Waive Goodbye, Part 2

Jon L — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:42 -0000

Go ahead and smile, Derrick Byars. You made the team. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Today we continue our look at the players waived or, occasionally, kept by NBA teams as the regular season begins. Next up we move into the middle of the country, or as I like to call it, "America's already-bloated snackhole." (I can say that because I live there.) That's right, it's the Central and Southwest Divisions. (Except that I was looking at the wrong division list when I wrote this and it's actually the Northwest Division. Deal with it, America.) And if you're just tuning in, don't forget to check out part 1.

Chicago Bulls

Who got cut: Curtis Stinson, Chris Richard, Steven Hill

Who got kept: Derrick Byars

Forget Stinson and Hill, this really came down to Byars vs. Richard for the last roster spot. And with all due respect to Richard, they made the right call. Richard played okay, although he averaged less than seven points per 36 minutes, and given that the team that already sports Joakim Noah in the frontcourt they really probably can't handle yet another guy who can't produce on offense. Not that Richard unequivocally can't, he just didn't demonstrate that sort of ability in the preseason, which is when he needed to demonstrate it. Byars helps the team in case Deng gets hurt again, or if John Salmons starts creaking (he turns 30 later this year). I won't discuss Byars in great detail here, because you can read this. It probably makes up for the Bulls cutting DeMarcus Nelson, maybe. Stinson and Hill are both probably headed to Europe, though I could see Stinson sticking around the D-League.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Who got cut: Luke Nevill, Andre Barrett, Russell Robinson, Rob Kurz, Darryl Watkins

Who got kept: Coby Karl

See Marge? These guys get it. Karl actually didn't play particularly well in the preseason, but he had a pretty good Summer League with Denver, and he's definitely talented. He's a nice multi-faceted player who can shoot (and make) threes, help distribute the ball, pick up some steals and rebound a little bit. So in other words he's exactly the right kind of guard for Cleveland. He's also worked damn hard, and he deserves another shot at the NBA. It never feels good to get cut (I'm assuming), but it's probably especially hard for Rob Kurz, who was starting for the Warriors just last season. He'd definitely be a prime call-up candidate should he go to the D-League, as he's a 6'9" guy who can make threes, although he could stand to pick up his rebounding and defense. He also profiles well as a Euroleague guy, so he could end up there. Russell Robinson also could pick either option. He played pretty poorly both in Summer League and the preseason, with turnovers being the major problem. Another stint in the D-League could help that, as he averaged just two and a half per 36 minutes for Reno last season. I'll mention again that I haven't been including Jawad Williams in this discussion because he was signed at the end of last season and has a partially-guaranteed deal, so while he theoretically could be waived later on, the team has been somewhat more committed to him than these other guys. I'm somewhat optimistic about Williams's playing time, since at this point he's more capable than J.J. Hickson or Darnell Jackson, but Leon Powe and maybe Jamario Moon are around to take most of the backup forward minutes.

Denver Nuggets

Who got cut: James White, Kurt Looby, Keith Brumbaugh, Dontaye Draper

Who got kept: Joey Graham

Massive disappointment here, although there's nothing personal against Graham. There was just so much hope that this would be White's year in Houston, then the team decided it wouldn't be, then Denver decided it wouldn't be his year for them, either. Looby getting cut isn't a huge surprise, as he's still carpaccio-raw. But, White getting the boot on top of Sonny Weems being sent away is enough to make one question Denver's commitment to ~~Sparkle Motion~~ the D-League. That would be rash, of course, and unfair to Denver who is clearly trying to win soon. Graham's per-36 numbers are almost identical to White's NBA figures, but I guess there's still too much uncertainty over what White can do when there really shouldn't be. He's headed over to Europe now, I assume, since he's said he's done with the D-League, and who can blame him. If an NBA team says they're committed to your development, then semi-promptly gets rid of you, that would be disheartening for anyone.

Detroit Pistons

Who got cut: Maceo Baston

Who got kept: No one.

Sorry, Maceo. Have fun at your House Party. (Admit it, that's not the clip you were expecting.) (Also, note to self: when you get older, shave your head but leave the sideburns and add a mustache.) But hey, here's a crazy idea; the Pistons also waived their second round pick Deron Washington, who's a 6'7" small forward. James White is a 6'7" small forward. WHAT IF THEY'RE ABOUT TO SIGN JAMES WHITE? They're probably not, but they should be. While Austin Daye looked really, really good in Summer League, and Jonas Jerebko could be pretty good, it seems a bit crazy to rely on three rookies (remember DaJuan Summers) as key bench contributors, rebuilding or no rebuilding. And while James White doesn't have that much more NBA experience, he's been around for a few years and he can contribute. Come on, Joe Dumars. LET'S DO THIS.

Indiana Pacers

Who got cut: Rod Benson, Demetris Nichols, Lawrence Roberts

Who got kept: No one.

Rod Benson is probably going back to Europe this year, even though he didn't have the best experience there last season (although being injured didn't help). I'd guess Nichols goes the same route, and both of them are good enough to play in the NBA right now. (Roberts is already over there.) As for the biggest question, whether we'll seee a return of Boom Tho-ness, I have no idea. Personally I wouldn't expect too much except maybe a continuation of his posts over at Ball Don't Lie. If this website were FreeDarko I'd probably launch into a discussion about whether this year's return to (or first crack at) seriousness for Benson and Gilbert Arenas reflects some kind of "down to business" vibe given off by the Obama Administration, but I have neither the time nor the ability to get into that right now. Or who knows, maybe Benson could write a book that would probably be better than Paul Shirley's (which I haven't read, but Benson's a better writer than Shirley so it's pretty much a lock.)

Milwaukee Bucks

Who got cut: Marcus Hubbard, Mark Tyndale, Charles Gaines, Dominic James

Who got kept: No one.

This was bound to happen eventually, but I don't really have much to say about these guys. Hubbard could do with another season or two in the D-League and work on either a.) becoming a proper interior player, or b.) shooting better than .256 on his three-pointers. Because this in-between thing isn't working. Gaines played well for Austin last season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, and shot a good percentage with Maccabi Tel Aviv. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this season, but I'm not sure he's close enough to a call-up to make it worth his time. Let's see, what else can I talk about with these guys...uh hey, I think Ersan Ilyasova can be pretty good, but that's not really under the purview of this series. Three or four players likely going over to Europe. Whee.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Who got cut: Jack McClinton, Alonzo Gee, Jared Reiner, Devin Green, Mustafa Shakur

Who got kept: Jason Hart

I don't have much to say about Jason Hart since he's 31 years old now and last played in the D-League eight years ago. This is probably a stale comment by now, and the team waived Antonio Daniels so they haven't gone completely crazy, but what's the deal with Minnesota and point guards? Who are these people? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? I've already written about this, but whatever NBA team ends up with McClinton (and there will be one, eventually) is going to love having him, and kick themselves for not having him earlier. Reiner got a raw deal by getting cut right before the game in his hometown, sure. But Nate Jawai is in Minnesota now, and that's something, right? It's at least as much a something as Oleksiy Pecherov being there, certainly.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Who got cut: Michael Ruffin, Tre Kelley, Mike Harris

Who got kept: Ryan Bowen

I saw Kelley play a little bit, and he looked pretty good. He's very quick, and he can get to the basket. Of course, he was being guarded by Curtis Jerrells at that point so take it with a grain of bacon salt. He's almost certainly headed to Europe. Michael Ruffin, eh. I have a sort of personal animus against him through no fault of his, since Eddie Jordan overused him when they were both with the Washington Wizards, but he's already landed on his feet overseas. The question of what Bowen can give the team at this point in his career is a good one, as he's 34 years old and has been pretty inconsistent the last few seasons. I just have to keep telling myself that the Thunder still have D.J. White and Serge Ibaka, and be content with that.

Portland Trail Blazers

Who got cut: Ime Udoka, Jarron Collins, Donell Taylor, Quinton Hosley

Who got kept: No one.

I wonder what will happen to Udoka, as he's probably still good enough to contribute at the back of someone's rotation, but he's also 32 years old and most of the teams that would be interested in him are already full up. He's a solid candidate for a mid-season replacement in case some small forward somewhere gets hurt. He can shoot the three a bit, his rebounding has improved the past few years and he doesn't turn the ball over much.

What, you want me to talk about Jarron Collins?

Utah Jazz

Who got cut: Ronald Dupree, Alexander Johnson, Paul Harris, Spencer Nelson

Who got kept: No one.

Wes Matthews and draft pick Goran Suton aren't really included in this, but in the interest of full disclosure Matthews is in and Suton is out. Suton would be a solid big man in the D-League should he decide to go that route. You're probably expecting me to express disappointment at Dupree being waived, but the fact is that he didn't play well in the preseason. At all. Well, I suppose that's not completely true as he averaged about ten points per 36 minutes, but he's capable of much more than that, and he didn't really contribute much in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. He's really only had one good game, though, against the Clippers when he shot 4-7 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line, and in the rest he shot 5-13 overall. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this year, and maybe if he plays his normal solid, slashing game he'll restore some of his call-up-ability.

Cavaliers waive 3, roster set at 15

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:12:24 -0000

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced today that they have waived guards Andre Barrett and Russell Robinson and center Darryl Watkins. Barrett played in four games during the preseason, averaging 5.8 points and 4.3 assists in 17.5 minutes per game while Robinson played in five games (one start) and averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 assists in 20.0 minutes per game. Watkins appeared in four games and totaled two points, eight rebounds and one block in 28 minutes played.

The Cavaliers roster now stands at 15 -

NO PLAYER POS HGT WGT

1 Daniel Gibson G 6-2 200

14 Danny Green G/F 6-6 210

21 J.J. Hickson F 6-9 242

11 Zydrunas Ilgauskas C 7-3 260

00 Darnell Jackson F 6-9 253

23 LeBron James F 6-8 250

5 Coby Karl G 6-5 215

15 Jamario Moon F 6-8 205

33 Shaquille O’Neal C 7-1 325

18 Anthony Parker G/F 6-6 210

44 Leon Powe F 6-8 240

17 Anderson Varejao F/C 6-11 260

13 Delonte West G 6-3 190

31 Jawad Williams F 6-9 220

2 Mo Williams G 6-1 195

Last Night in the Preseason

Jon L — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:01:11 -0000

More photos » by Hannah Foslien - AP

2 months ago: Chicago Bulls' Chris Richard (32) shoots against Minnesota Timberwolves' Oleksiy Pecherov (4) as Kevin Love (42) watches on during the second quarter of a NBA basketball game at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Bulls defeated the Timberwolves 99-94. (AP Photo/Hannah Foslien)

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Fair warning, the format of this thing may change a few times as I figure out how I want to write it. But for now, let's take a look at some former or future D-Leaguers/European players who played well (and in some cases not so well) last night on a game-by-game basis.

Phoenix Suns 110, Portland 104

The only "our guy" who played in this game was Carlos Powell, and he did very well. Starting and playing just over 22 minutes, Powell finished with 12 points on six shots, including 2-3 from long range, and three rebounds, along with zero turnovers and only one foul. The main thing holding him back so far has been his attitude rather than his talent, so if he keeps this up (including the improved outside shooting) either the Suns or some other team will take notice.

Washington Wizards 109, Cleveland Cavaliers 104

Jawad Williams hasn't had the best preseason so far, but he had a solid game last night for Cleveland. Getting the start in LeBron James's absence, Williams put up in 21 points on 12 shots, shot 4-6 on three-pointers and 5-7 on free throws, and grabbed five rebounds and passed out a pair of assists as well. Hey Cleveland, if you're really serious about making sure you have bench scoring, keep this guy around. The other standout of sorts for the Cavs was Andre Barrett, who outplayed his competition (Russell Robinson) by collecting eight assists in a little over 26 minutes and grabbing three rebounds, though he did need nine shots to score eight points. Paul Davis played just under nine minutes in this game, and while Mike Prada from BulletsForever may have a soft spot for the guy, I just don't see it. 0-2 shooting, one rebound, one assist, one block and one turnover...what am I missing? Luke Nevill, on the other hand, actually scored with four points in just under nine minutes, and he at least picked up three rebounds. 12-per-36 is a lot better than 4-per-36.

Boston Celtics 106, Toronto Raptors 90

Sonny Weems came back to earth a little bit, with 12 points on 10 shots and three turnovers, but he is banged up a little bit, and he's still getting a fair amount of playing time, which is encouraging. Holly MacKenzie thinks the team will find a place for him, and quotes Chris Bosh as saying

"if we continue to work with him and get him polished, I think he'll really help us out."

The J.R. Giddens Rebounding Machine is still working, with four in 13 and a half minutes, though he's still having a hard time scoring the ball. Lester Hudson wasn't, though, with 12 points on seven shots in the same amount of playing time as Giddens, and he picked up a pair of steals and a pair of rebounds as well. If Boston could just put those two together they might have something.

Oklahoma City 96, Miami Heat 91

I'm only mentioning Carlos Arroyo because Erik Spoelstra decided to sit both John Lucas and Chris Quinn to see what the team's newest point guard candidate can do, and he responded with, well, zero points, three rebounds, two assists, a turnover and four fouls in 16 minutes. Just stick with Lucas. Both Shaun Livingston and Kyle Weaver struggled a little bit for the Thunder, combining for five points, all of which came at the free-throw line. Weaver's calling card is his defense anyway, but he certainly hasn't been helping matters with his shooting so far.

LA Clippers 93, San Antonio Spurs 90

DeJuan Blair has been making Ian Mahinmi's job tougher by grabbing most of the rebounds in sight, but Mahinmi still managed to pull five down in 19 minutes, along with seven points on four shots and only one turnover. Speaking of turnovers (you see what I did there), Marcus Williams has struggled with them so far this preseason (and to a certain extent in Austin last season), and he had three last night in 18 minutes, which spoiled an otherwise solid night, 11 points on 4-8 shooting, two rebounds and two assists. Much better was Malik Hairston, who got the start and played 23 minutes, and finished with nine points on five shots, five assists and two steals. The assists are a nice bonus from him, as he's a decent passer but not a prolific one.

Chicago Bulls 99, Minnesota Timberwolves 94

The story of this game is Chris Richard, who led all scorers with 17 points on nine shots, made seven of his nine free throws and added 13 rebounds and two blocks, both of which also were game highs. Minnesota was the team that initially cut him, so there was probably some extra motivation (he's played pretty poorly so far), but maybe he can at least trick the Bulls into keeping him on, then show them that while he's not usually that spectacular, he's at least pretty solid. Mark from Sham Sports and Chicago Bulls Confidential is still skeptical that'll happen, though. Derrick Byars had a nice little game, with five points on three shots, three rebounds and a block in a little over 15 minutes.

Atlanta Hawks 111, Memphis Grizzlies 96

Like Jawad Williams and Chris Richard, Courtney Sims broke out last night after a rough preseason, scoring 12 points on 4-6 shooting in 13 minutes and blocking two shots. He only had three rebounds and added two turnovers, but he was one of the more talented players in the D-League last season and several NBA teams are known admirers, so anything he can do to help his case at this point would, well, help. Hamed Haddadi had three rebounds in six minutes, because that's what he does. And not really anything else.

RU's Movie Quote Offseason Roundup Spectacular Part 2

Jon L — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:13 -0000

The Colorado 14ers winning the championship is just one development discussed in this look at the D-League offseason, using quotes from "Dave Chappelle's Block Party."

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Today we're wrapping up our look at the D-League's offseason so far through the lens of "Dave Chappelle's Block Party." Part 2 somehow ended up even longer than part 1, even though I left stuff out, both from the offseason and the movie. I mean, I didn't even get to talk about my favorite thing in the entire movie, when Michel Gondry asks Jill Scott if she's nervous about performing after Erykah Badu and she laughs at him for six solid seconds. Instead of rehashing things here, then, I'll direct you to part 1 for a brief summary of what we're doing here and of "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," and to my thoughts on offseason developments involving players and coaches below the jump.

"Ahmir Thompson, I'm the official photographer of this event."

The unsung hero of the concert is the Roots' drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, who not only plays with his band but who served as the concert's musical director, hiring musicians to play as a sort-of house band during everyone else's sets (except for the Fugees), and who had to learn/teach five songs for every artist who performed. Other than during the Fugees' set and Jill Scott's (and maybe one other, but that's all I could see), ?uest was onstage playing drums the entire time. The band he got together sounds good, too, and he's a somewhat-notoriously precise bandleader so that makes sense, but I can't imagine he had a ton of time to go over everything. His role isn't really discussed in the film - his non-musical time on camera is spent mostly talking about the other performers and their audience - and it's certainly not called attention to by others, but it's pretty clear the concert couldn't have been as successful as it was from an artistic standpoint without his leadership behind the drums. Sure they could've just used DJs (A-Trak was there for Kanye's set, for instance). After all, who cares what the guitar part sounds like as long as the raps are good, right? But the result has a lot more energy and contributes more to the block party atmosphere than just having a DJ would. And that leads me to talk about coaches.

There's been some recent discussion around here about what attributes a D-League coach should have - is it an ability to teach the offense a particular NBA team runs or is it an ability to help players develop their games and make themselves more NBA-ready? Hardwood Paroxysm's Matt Moore believes that a D-League affiliate should exist as a testing lab, to basically do whatever the NBA team tells it to do, and not worry about winning games. But here's the thing - you can do both. In Austin, Quin Snyder compiled the second-best record in the league all while helping Dwayne Jones dramatically improve his free-throw shooting and developing Marcus Williams into a capable point guard, not to mention all the call-ups, injuries and players joining the team mid-season that he had to deal with. The Utah Flash made the conference finals while having players from the Jazz and Celtics cycle in and out throughout the season. Another point is that, if at this point, with not every NBA team owning its own affiliate, if a coach is only focused on developing the NBA assignees, other talented players aren't going to want to play there, and that doesn't serve anyone well. Heck, even with directly-affiliated teams like the Toros, Williams wasn't an NBA assignee when he joined the team, but he showed enough and improved enough throughout the season that the Spurs decided to put him on their roster, even though that meant releasing Malik Hairston to do so. That's important because if NBA teams are truly going to benefit from having a minor league, they'll have to use it to find unsung players who can contribute to their team and who they can sign for relatively little, not just as a place to send the multi-million dollar center who needs to work on his offensive game.

That's the concern that we at RU have with some of the recent hirings and potential hirings - some teams understand that you can do both, while others have an offense apparently so complex that only members of the Adelman family can grasp it fully that they hire a coach to do nothing more than tell players where to stand at what times and hopefully, maybe, please, at least try get the ball in the basket occasionally. Or, they hire coaches to do nothing more than get people in the door because they remember he used to play NBA basketball in that state (for a team that isn't even affiliated with the team he's coaching), without giving thought to the fact that winning games and playing good basketball gets people in the door. So I'd like this opportunity to salute all the solid, ?uestlove-like head coaching hires that were made this offseason, but were done so long ago that it's hard to remember them happening. I'm talking about guys like Tony Fritz, Joey Meyer, Nate Tibbetts, Chucky Brown and Rory White. Not all of them will succeed in their opportunities, that's the nature of the business. But, I'd say right now that their teams likely have a better chance to succeed both from a player development and an in-game standpoint. Not flashy hires, but solid and likely effective ones.

"We took a trip on the Staten Island Ferry, a little ocean voyage to Staten Island. And as we walked the streets of Staten Island what did we discover in the gutter but an angel, broken in seven pieces. When we both discovered this I turned to him, who was not my husband at the time, and I said 'it's an omen! It's a sign! I'm to marry you, of all people!' and I did. I married him, and Sunday is our 46th wedding anniversary."

Guess who? The rest of the story is that the guy put the angel back together, and in its broken-and-glued-back-together state it acquired a kind of grace to replace its former factory-made stiffness. The house they found abandoned and broken, and are putting back together, and that's why they call it the Broken Angel house. But go back to that quote. You decided to marry a guy because you both found a broken statue? In the gutter? In Staten Island? That was the sign that this guy was the one for you? Did a watery tart lob a scimitar at you as well?

Speaking of odd decision-making processes, Bakersfield decided to lets its season-ticket holders and members of the media vote on three finalists for their coaching search, then when two of the three finalists took other jobs they just hired the third guy rather than asking for another vote or interviewing other candidates. The Will Voigt era has begun! Honestly, his resume is starting to look more and more distinguished as more relatives and guys who got bored with broadcasting become head coaches, but the process by which he was hired seems full of terrible ideas. The media should decide who the coach is? Really? People who, by and large, don't care whether someone can or should play or coach or not, so long as they give good copy? And while giving the fans a greater investment in the team is fine and all, especially when you're about to charge an arm and a leg for tickets, shouldn't basketball decisions be made by, you know, basketball people?

"This is called the Airplane Room that we're in now. My son named this room the Airplane Room. He had a tent, he lived in a tent, he was 15, and all the planes flying over to LaGuardia fly over this building."

The Broken Angel couple have a son! A child grew up in that insane house! If it's only one-third complete after 40 years, what state was it in when their son lived there? How old is this guy now, anyway? What does he do now? A public interest lawyer sounds about right, doesn't it? I'm pretty fascinated with this guy who never appears on camera and who's mentioned only once, in passing. And do you know who else has a son? Danny Ainge! And he was the best candidate the Red Claws could find for their head coaching position!

"I intend to live to probably about 400, as I am also a witch, but a good witch, and I only want happiness for mankind, not to create chaos and to be angry at everyone, but to he happy. That is my aim in life, to give happiness to the world."

Oh. Oooooookay. That's the Broken Angel house lady (their names are never given), but it's also how I reacted to the Dee Brown hiring. I know why the Armor did it. I'm not sure I agree with it, but he's at least been a coach before so we'll see how it goes. As with Ainge, and with Voigt, and with whatever coach ends up in Rio Grande Valley, they may succeed. But at this point I'm not all that optimistic of their chances.

(Also, now do you see why Gondry was so taken with the Broken Angel couple? Also, I've probably come across as a little too mocking of them, when in fact they seem really nice and genuine, and the outside of the house itself looks pretty fantastic. They also talked about their plans to put an old Sea King helicopter at the top of it and turn it into a sculpture of a whale, which is also fantastic. Oh right, BASKETBALL.)

Common is in this movie, did I mention that? There's not really a good quote from/about him so I'll just talk about it. He actually performed a set of his own at the concert, but that got cut from the film. Instead, he shows up in other performers' sets, rapping his part to Kanye West's "Get 'Em High" and Erykah Badu's "Love of My Life." He's also hanging around during Mos Def/Talib Kweli/Black Star's set. I don't know if they performed "Respiration" though or if he just decided to hang out onstage and be the hype man. Aside from the odd little bounce that Common does when he raps, the notable thing about his appearances in the movie is that he seems genuinely happy to be hanging out with the other performers and supporting them onstage. He's also something of a (pretty literal) spiritual leader for the group, as Gondry shows Common leading Mos Def and some of the other performers in prayer before the concert, and while he's gotten kind of annoying with his clothing ads and movie appearances and increasingly-misguided albums, it's clear there's a lot of goodwill among him and everyone else at the show. But right, right, basketball. How's this? Like Common getting his set cut from the film but still shown helping everyone else out, there are a pair of assistant coaches who probably should've gotten a look at a lead job this coming season - Mike Sanders and Randy Livingston. Both of them are considered up-and-coming coaches, with Sanders also having some head coaching experience in the CBA and time spent as an NBA assistant, but for now they're going to be helping their peers out. Sanders took a job as an assistant with Joey Meyer in Fort Wayne, and that strong staff combined with a fairly favorable schedule should make the Mad Ants a candidate for big improvement next year.

"Now how hot would it be if these kids got a chance to come through Bed-Stuy, beatin' them drums and playin' them horns, and the whole neighborhood is screamin', they sayin 'it's CSU!'"

Back to the marching band for a minute to recognize those D-League coaches who are taking it to the NBA next year, Bryan Gates and Robert Pack. Pack was an assistant in Rio Grande Valley last season who will be in the same gig for his hometown New Orleans Hornets this year. Gates was one of the most respected coaches in the D-League who helped develop a lot of good players and coaches, and who will be an assistant for the Sacramento Kings this year. Whether either of those guys convince their teams to use the D-League that they've largely ignored thus far remains to be seen, but we're hoping.

This is also a good way to transition to talking about players, because there are several players who spent significant time in the D-League last year but who have strong chances to make the NBA this year. Jawad Williams signed onto the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently have only 13 players on the roster. They've signed several forwards this offseason in addition to Williams, so his roster spot isn't as assured as much as it was, say, pre-Leon Powe, but he's a good player and a friend of Mo Williams, and while he's been in this position with Cleveland before, and the Cavs have a history of signing a D-League guy, keeping him through preseason then cutting him five or so games into the regular season (this happened with Trey Johnson as well), this could be the year that Jawad Williams sticks in the league. The San Antonio Spurs have two such players, Marcus Williams and Malik Hairston, both of whom played extremely well for the Toros last year and who seem to have made their way onto the NBA roster. As I mentioned earlier, Williams wasn't on the Spurs' roster last year but played well enough and developed into a good enough point guard that they decided to sign him, while Hairston was a former Spurs draft pick (actually a Suns pick who was traded for Goran Dragic) who really just needed playing time and to work on his defense a little. The Spurs backcourt is actually fairly open beyond its three main players, and Manu Ginobili's back isn't getting any younger while Tony Parker has dealt with little injuries here and there for the past few seasons. Combine those with the fact that current backup point guard George Hill continues to be erratic, and both Williams and Hairston could expect to play solid roles for the Spurs this year. Now how hot would that be?

"Old people f-in love me, man. You know you must be doin' something right if old people like you."

Let's hear it for the NBA Draft. While this year's event had some interesting storylines - the group of guards may be stronger than previously thought, DeJuan Blair improbably (and probably disastrously for everyone else) falling to the Spurs in the second round, Ricky Rubio deciding to stay in Spain, but what the NBA Draft is about, what all sports drafts are about, is old people falling in love with young people.

"Where you goin'?"
"Somewhere in Brooklyn, we don't know."

From what I've gathered watching this movie a hundred times, the way they got people to come to the concert was announcing/leaking it on a few websites, telling people to show up at a bus depot somewhere in New York for the concert. From there they were taken to the show, but no one had an idea beforehand of where the actual concert was. That sort of sounds like someone, hang on...it's coming to me...

Jeremy Tyler everybody! Who one day decided/was convinced to go to Europe, but he didn't know where it would be. Would it be Greece? What about Spain? There are some pretty good French teams, what about those? How does Slovenia strike you? Tyler ended up in Israel, and best of luck to him, though as I've said before I have doubts as to how much development/playing time he'll get. he was bored playing high school ball, which is understandable, but I still need to be convinced that being a backup (or even third-string?) center in Europe is the best answer for that.

"It's good to see all these black people in college, you know what I'm saying?"

That quote comes from Wyclef Jean, who ends up talking to a group of the CSU students at some point and singing them his song "If I Was President." It's kind of a neat moment, because other than Kanye West watching the marching band perform "Jesus Walks" there isn't much interaction shown between the performers and the CSU students. There was a green room for the performers in the preschool on the block as well as a barbecue on the roof, and it looks like the Ohio contingent got to meet and mingle with some of the performers up there, but I don't know how many of the marching band members got to talk to the rappers and singers who performed.

Oh, and speaking of college, that's the route John Wall was told decided to take. He'll be at Kentucky next year, and he's already dunking on NBA players (however old they may be). I doubt Wall will be getting much of an education next year, but that's the de facto route for guys good enough to play in the NBA at age 18. I know David Stern would never go for this, and I've said this several times before, but the D-League can provide just as good a basketball education as college ball can, if not better.

"They was happy to see me doin' my work just like I was happy to see them doin' theirs."

This is the drum major who asked "compensation is what?" earlier in the film. He shows up a few times, and gives the impression that it was a positive experience for a lot of people in the band,who represent an HBCU in southwest Ohio. His quote above reminds me of Summer League, where several NBA players showed up to watch their younger teammates play. I know Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller were there, for instance,and there were others that I can't find references to right now. But the bottom line is, those guys didn't have to be there. Sure it was Las Vegas, but it was also the middle of summer when Nevada gets really hot. Any of those players could've been at home in the pool, or I don't know, somewhere else that wasn't sweltering. But they showed up to Summer League anyway, and that was nice to see.

"You want to see a rap concert I'm throwing?"
"When?"
"It's in Brooklyn on Saturday."
"Sorry, I can't do that."
"I can get you on the bus."
"I'm going to Canada on a bus."
"Canada? You dodging the war?"

Chappelle's exchange with an older Ohio lady is one of the few indications in the movie that things are happening in the world. There are a lot of mentions of racial issues, with dead prez performing, Fred Hampton Jr. taking the stage and the mic during Mos Def's "Umi Says," ?uestlove talking about how their audience "doesn't look like us" and a few others, but in terms of "this movie took place in America in 2004," Chappelle's draft-dodging joke is about it. It's a small but significant sign that these events are taking place in a real environment, one that had gotten fairly tense in September, 2004, and which a rap concert in which everyone's having a good time seems to have alleviated just a little bit.

Reality is intruding into basketball this year. Nothing as dramatic as war, but a lot of the economic pressures that NBA owners are either facing or exploiting (and let's face it, there probably are some teams that are going to use the economic stuff as an excuse when they don't have to), and as such NBA roster spots are scarcer. More and more D-Leaguers are heading overseas to larger, if not steadier, paychecks and ride out the current storm. Hopefully they'll be able to return in another year or two and come back to the D-League and a climate more accepting of their talents and willing to take a chance on a guy whose name you may not know but who can play better than the guy you do.

Special Appearances by: Pharoahe Monch, Bilal Oliver

Guess what? Neither of these guys are in the movie. At all. Oh they were there at the concert - Bilal performed during Common's set that got cut, for instance, but I've watched this movie I don't know how many times and I can't find them. It's entirely possible that they're at the back of the stage or out of focus in one scene that I just haven't noticed, but while they performed at the concert, they got cut from the movie. Speaking of guys who got cut, both Mike Taylor and Sun Yue are looking for work right now. Two D-League success stories (real in Taylor's case, part of Dan Reed's dreams in Sun's). I'm not sure why the Clippers cut Taylor other than Mike Dunleavy didn't feel like giving him time/room to grow. Sun Yue's a long way from being an NBA player at this point, but some further development might do the trick.

"All these people, what we all have in common? I think we all have a very personal message that they try to get across, and it's about more than just making money."

Lance Allred has a pretty incredible life story, and he finally sat down and wrote about it. His book, Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA came out a few months ago, and was reviewed by RU. The question gets raised periodically as to why players toil in the D-League making low (and in some cases very low)-five figures while they could make ten times that amount over in Europe. My answer is usually something along the lines of "they get more exposure and have a better chance of making the NBA," and while that's true, I don't think that always gets emphasized in the correct way. It's not just that by making the NBA they can earn enough to make up for all that time spent in snowy NoDak or hot-ass Texas. For a lot of kids growing up, playing in NBA is the dream, it's something that they think about every day because that's what they want to do. I haven't been fortunate enough to always know what I want to do with my life. Even now, when I think I've figured it out, most of my time is spent pretending I haven't because still, who knows?. Spending every day working to make the NBA every day and being willing to take an almost absurdly-low salary to do so takes love, and dedication, and an unshakeable belief in yourself and your abilities that's pretty admirable and is one of the great things about following the D-League. As Allred puts it in his book, "I do not care about the money, or the fame. I just want to say that I set an 'unreachable' goal and I made it."

"We shook up the world. We shook up the world!"

Our last quote goes to the D-League Select team, which finished 3-2 at the Vegas Summer League (and one of those losses was to a D-League-heavy Denver team, so that one's sort of a moral victory for the league) and impressed just about everyone who watched them. They're last win may have been the most impressive, where they beat Portland's team at the buzzer despite being down to seven players total and only one guard after injuries to Trey Johnson, Othyus Jeffers and Walker Russell. The Select team had five players shoot .500 or better over the course of Summer League and solidly out-rebounded and out-worked (that's a word, right?) their opponents. Unfortunately it hasn't translated into many NBA preseason invites and many of the players are going to be over in Europe next season (parallels to Chappelle stopping work on his show post-"Block Party" and leaving the spotlight?), but the fact remains that the D-League players, none of whom had gotten other Summer League invites, formed a team to be reckoned with and turned some heads in Vegas this year.

So there you have it: my summary of the D-League offseason so far. We still have a little over three months until the season tips off, and a lot can happen in that time. Who knows, maybe we'll come back and do this again. You like "Ghostbusters," right?

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.

Fear The Links - Monday 7/20

Buckeye Brad — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:55:40 -0000

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brian Windhorst writes about Christian Eyenga's impressive summer league performance and looks at the possible moves for him going forward. He also has his weekly Hey Brian Q-and-A.

Akron Beacon-Journal

Patrick McManamon thinks Jamario Moon would be a nice addition to the Cavs.
George Thomas looks at how the recession will affect NBA contract extensions.

The News-Herald

Bob Finnan writes about LeBron's contract options this summer (and next) and the Cavs' contract offer to Jamario Moon.

Around The Internet

Jamario Moon may be headed to Cleveland soon: Ira Winderman at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel thinks the Heat will NOT match the Cavs' offer sheet.
Sam Amico at TheClevelandFan gives his wrap-up of the Cavs' summer league action.
Rick at WaitingForNextYear Jacob Rosen thinks the Cavs should look for a backup PG in free agency.
At Cavalier Attitude, Smooth discusses how Jamario Moon fits with the Cavs and recaps the summer league action. He was most impressed with Christian Eyenga and Jawad Williams (a common theme I've heard lately).
John Krolik at Cavs: The Blog also writes about the possible signing of Moon and how the Cavs might use him.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 8

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

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

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Phoenix Suns 95, D-League Select 89

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

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

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

Sacramento Kings 84, New York Knicks 71

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

Denver Nuggets 111, Portland Trail Blazers 93

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

Minnesota Timberwolves 89, Washington Wizards 82

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

Detroit Pistons 92, Cleveland Cavaliers 86

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

Chicago Bulls 80, Oklahoma City Thunder 74

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

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 7

Jon L — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:00:19 -0000

We had two Summer League records fall yesterday. Anthony Morrow is now the SL single-game scoring record holder with, and Joey Dorsey the SL single-game rebounding record holder with 20. On the whole, though, a lot of guys played pretty terribly. I don't know if players are spending time seeing Vegas, if they're tired by day seven or whether it was just an off day. The first game was at 1 PM local time, which seems early for Las Vegas, but the rest of them were at the normal times so who knows. In honor of yesterday's "action" I'm going to leave this terrible intro and just go to the recaps.

Golden State Warriors 104, New Orleans Hornets 84

The story here for everyone is that Anthony Morrow set a new Summer League scoring record with 47 points. It actually came out of efficient shooting as well, as Morrowneeded only 26 shots to get that point total and shot 7-9 on threes. Morrow may have felt he needed to take a larger scoring role with Anthony Randolph and Cartier Marting getting DNPs (also Jared Jordan, who I had forgotten was on Golden State's roster). He also had seven rebounds, which I was somewhat surprised to see as I figured he wouldn't have done much other than shoot. Acie Law had a decent game running the point for the Warriors with nine points on 4-7 shooting and five assists in a little under 21 minutes. Neither Joe Ingles nor Connor Atchley shot the ball well (Ingles didn't make a single field goal), but they each had seven rebounds in 18 minutes for Ingles and 21 for Atchley. Almost no one played well for New Orleans. Well, that's not strictly true. Earl Calloway had 17 points on 7-10 shooting, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Other than Anthony Tolliver's six rebounds and 3-5 shooting from Larry Owens, though, the rest of the Hornets weren't very impressive. Guess what? That's a recurring theme, as you'll see after the jump.

San Antonio Spurs 85, Oklahoma City Thunder 76

DeJuan Blair focused on his scoring more than rebounding this game, and he did fairly well with 20 points on 11 shots (with five rebounds), though I would imagine that in the future he'll ask to stay in his rebounding lane a little more. Ian Mahinmi did a great job of getting to the free throw line and shot 7-8 there, allowing him to score 13 points on four shots. Malik Hairston finally showed his rebounding ability with six, and he shot 7-13 as well, but he also had four turnovers. George Hill is still a little rough around the edges, getting 20 points on 11 shots, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals but also six turnovers. DJ White had a decent game doing what DJ White does, with 17 points on 7-12 shooting and five rebounds in 18 and a half minutes, though he also had six fouls and three turnovers.

Houston Rockets 92, Los Angeles Lakers

In a world where we're pretending that these games matter, I really have no idea how the Rockets won. Sure, Joey Dorsey got the Summer League rebounding record, and he also shot 5-7 and had (a game-high) five assists, three steals and two blocks, but other than Aisander's favorite Rocket Chase Budinger the team shot really, really poorly. And while Budinger was solid scoring-wise, with 25 points on 7-9 shooting, including 3-3 shooting from behind the arc and 8-8 from the line, other than a pair of steals he really did nothing else. Will Conroy shot the ball well too, 3-4, but he missed four of his six free throws and had only one assist. Adam Morrison was the story of the first few games, but he's been tailing off the last few and he didn't even play yesterday (injury?). 14 points on 14 shots is generally considered inefficient, but I'll defend David Monds a little here in that he shot 50 percent and had six rebounds and no turnovers in 18 minutes. The problem was that he didn't get to the free throw line at all. Ben McCauley had 10 rebounds but was terrible from the field. Chinemelu Elonu had a decent game, 16 points on 10 shots and eight rebounds, but he also had eight fouls in 25 and a half minutes.

Cleveland Cavaliers 75, Dallas Mavericks 62

Another game where a lot of guys were terrible. Jawad Williams had one of the best performances, both of all the players in the game yesterday and for him personally throughout Summer League - he scored 18 points on 10 shots and had nine assists with only one turnover, though he shot only 6-11 from the free-throw line. Tarence Kinsey also played well, getting to the line a fair amount and shooting 16-18 there, ending up with 20 points on five shots, and he had four rebounds and three steals, but also six fouls and four turnovers. Darnell Jackson played okay, nine points on six shots and six rebounds, and Andre Brown shot 5-7 with four rebounds and three steals, though he also had seven fouls.

Toronto Raptors 84, Milwaukee Bucks 83

Jodie Meeks had a very strong game for Milwaukee, with 29 points on 23 shots (including 4-8 on three-pointers), as well as four rebounds. Joe Alexander also played fairly well, with 19 points on 14 shots and eight rebounds. Brandon Jennings' performance has steadily declined since the beginning of Summer League, and while he had seven assists yesterday it came with eight turnovers. It was the usual suspects doing it for the Raptors. DeMar DeRozan has gotten a lot of people talking this past week, and yesterday he had 20 points on 13 shots, six rebounds, three assists and only one turnover. Quincy Douby had 17 points on 13 shots, seven assists and four rebounds. That assist number is a little unusual for Douby, but perhaps it's a sign of his further development. Patrick O'Bryant has actually had a quietly decent Summer League, and yesterday he made all five of his field goals and finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block, though he shot only 1-4 from the free-throw line.

Memphis Grizzlies 86, Los Angeles Clippers 68

Someone on Twitter said that Blake Griffin has been dominating Summer League, and while I wouldn't go that far he's been fairly solid. 15 rebounds and five assists yesterday, though it came with five fouls, five turnovers, and needing 20 shots to get 18 points. Marcus Williams got to the free-throw line a lot, shooting 16-20 there, though he shot only 3-9 from the field. He also had five assists and four rebounds, which is fine, but didn't he have a lot more assists earlier on? Nik Caner-Medley had another decent shooting day, going 6-9 for 15 points, and he also had four rebounds. DeMarre Carroll shot 7-9, though the rest of his game wasn't overly impressive. Hamed Haddadi had three rebounds in a little over 10 minutes, which is solid, but he didn't do much else. Greg Stiemsma shot 3-4 for eight points and added three blocks in 11 minutes.

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.

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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?)

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.