Summer League Highlights from this week

by Poor Man's Commish on Jul 18, 2009 11:32 AM PDT

I've been live-tweeting from Vegas for the past 3 days (today is my last day) and here are my favorite observations...

- Blake Griffin is as good as advertised and should be a regular contributor highlight-wise to ESPN SportsCenter this season. I feel blessed to have seen his monster dunk putbacks and alley-oops up close from Row 2 the other day. If that was the only game I saw all week, it would have been worth the trip to Vegas alone. One of my tweets was this: If he works on his full-court end-to-end dribbling, we may be looking at a 6'10" version of young Charles Barkley. CLIPPERS VS WIZARDS TODAY AT 5:30PM, WOOHOO!!
- Jonny Flynn is my favorite draft pick. He's like my last summer's report on Jerryd Bayless: he can penetrate into the paint anytime he wants. He's fun to watch. He's having fun playing. He (and Bayless) epitomizes the reason why I come to NBA Summer League every year -- that diamond in the rough. I'll definitely do a more detailed analysis of his game, but I already tweeted (you have to hunt for them) the various incredible moves he made.
- Watching Anthony Morrow drop 47 was a treat. GSW starters beware. If Morrow can avoid a "Belinelli" (heretofore basketball's equivalent of a Mulligan) and play with the same confidence in the Association, the franchise better be prepared to sign him for big money very soon. Alas, I missed Anthony Randolph's 42, as I arrived in Vegas the day after, but I'm sure that was well-reported here on GSOM.
- Austin Daye is not bad, not bad at all. Hella skinny and I mean HELLA. But kid has got some moves to be envious of. He's the ying to Anthony Randolph's yang in the world of skinny 6'11" guys who got skillz. Daye's worth a blogpost.
- Joe Alexander will become a solid player, but it's too bad Milwaukee spent a lottery pick on him. I'll look at the list and see which players they should've picked ahead of him. But again, he's pretty solid. I'll write on him too.
- Intriguing: Jonas Jerebko, Jodie Meeks, Chase Budinger, Coby Karl, Omri Casspi (barely), Brandon Jennings, DaJuan Summers, Wayne Ellington, Tyreke Evans (although his stock gets trumped by Jonny Flynn). I might be forgetting a player or two more here.
- Meh: Jordan Hill, Jason Thompson (GSOM collective sighs of relief!), Jeff Pendergraph. Again, I'm probably forgetting a few more here.
- Ex-Warriors playing well, but not necessarily getting playing time nor making a huge splash: Richard Hendrix, DeMarcus Nelson.
- Disappointments: Hasheem Thabeet, Acie Law (sorry!), Andray Blatche, Dominic McGuire, Danny Green, and, dare I say: Stephen Curry.
- So to top it off: I'm a little concerned with Stephen Curry. I'll write about this in another summary post.

Remember, these are just some thoughts off the top of my head from the past 3 days. I'll also try to make a team-by-team list. Still another full day of action, so I'm out! Feel free to comment below if you have specific questions on various players (listed or not listed).

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!

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Comments

Curry:

Would love to hear your critique, I may be a little myopic but I see the makings of a leader:

In every game when he was out the team was lost, when he came back in the team for the most part became stable.

We already know he can shoot from downtown, so what he was cold for summer league? I think he was pressing a little to much, better than pulling a Marco and then fumbling when you get to the reg season;

I think he’s a hybrid of Iverson and Nash, we see soon:

by ForestGrump on Jul 18, 2009 12:40 PM PDT reply actions

yeah he's good.

But he averaged 28 points in college, he could have at least shown some dominant scoring in the Summer League; it’s not like anyone on the Warriors was trying to stop him from doing so or whatever.

I’d rather see Anthony Morrow score 47 instead of seeing him have trouble scoring while showing “signs” of a leader. I know a lot of people don’t agree with me on that, but there’s no point of having leadership skills if you can’t even play good. It works sometimes, though. Like when Baron would have off games, he would still find ways to help the team out even though he had trouble scoring; hopefully Stephen Curry can do that too.

I really hope he can get his shooting back for the regular season. I don’t know how a Monta/Curry backcourt would work, but if he can shoot lights out then it would help ease the bad defense that they would play. I wouldn’t be surprised if Curry does extremely well, but at the same time I wouldn’t be surprised if he sucks as hell; I haven’t really set a firm expectation for him. Hopefully we made the right move in drafting him, otherwise we could have just traded the 7th pick in a package for some type of vet.

by Precise Films Productions on Jul 18, 2009 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions

actually

now that i looked at it, Curry had some decent/good numbers in the Summer League. He didn’t really play bad that much, but he still could have done better.

by Precise Films Productions on Jul 18, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Hendrix played in the summer league?For what team?!

by Curry on Jul 18, 2009 2:37 PM PDT reply actions

Orlando I think

Thing A

by sam23 on Jul 18, 2009 3:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Orlando taking all our players.

Team USA 2012 Olympics
1.Chris Paul/Derrick Rose
2.Dwayne Wade/ Brandon Roy/ Anthony Morrow
3.Lebron James/ Kevin Durant
4.Anthony Randolph /Blake Griffin/ Chris Bosh
5.Dwight Howard/ Greg Oden
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

by Sinigang on Jul 18, 2009 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions

maybe we can have a few of theirs. you know, just to be fair. they should toss howard our way and call it even.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Jul 18, 2009 4:47 PM PDT up reply actions

They can keep them all.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

"It takes a special kind of anti-mojo for a team to miss the playoffs 14 out of 15 seasons. Like, say, the Warriors under Chris Cohan."

by kenntoe on Jul 18, 2009 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions

I think he was playing for Denver.

It is the shoes!!!

by LighTz707OuT on Jul 18, 2009 8:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Curry????

He has been doin great for a rook. He has recently had a couple of games where he’s had 20+ points , 5+ assists and 5+ rebounds

by Agent Zero on Jul 18, 2009 3:52 PM PDT reply actions

Hendrix is playing for Denver

(sorry I’m unable to do the comment reply on my cellphone browser, can only post new comments)

Poor Man's Commish

by Poor Man's Commish on Jul 18, 2009 5:26 PM PDT reply actions

Curry

Lemme put it this way. Last summer I watched Marco Bellinelli ho-hum run the GSW offense. Belinelli ran it better last summer than Curry is running it this summer.

Poor Man's Commish

by Poor Man's Commish on Jul 18, 2009 5:27 PM PDT reply actions

Good thing summer league is pretty pointless. It make provide a ‘gauge’ for talent, but really it doesn’t. There are many summer league all stars that do poorly in the NBA and vise-versa. I’d rather wait until January, or so, then make any judgment on how good of a pick Curry was.

Also, didn’t Marco play in a professional European league before coming to summer league?

You know I spit technique to the freshest freak
Gimme a call you will see results in just a week
With the soul of a LOST HAWK
Is there a heaven for a Rap Cat, let's talk

by LostHawkGSW on Jul 18, 2009 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions

So Morrow was playing as good as Belinelli, and Curry wasn't quite as good as Belinelli

This Belinelli guy sounds great!

by 123707THIZZ on Jul 18, 2009 6:24 PM PDT up reply actions

if only the regular season was played in the summer……..

Thing A

by sam23 on Jul 18, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions

I think Curry will be fine. Summer league struggles do not mean a player won’t have a successful career. Heck even though I didn’t watch a single game this summer, I’ll bet you a soda that Curry should’ve had a lot more assists than what he recorded. His M.O. is his shooting stroke, which was off. But I’ll lean back on his larger body of work, rather than just 5 games.

From all the Tweets, blogs and video highlights, here’s the players I like for no particular reasons:

Blake Griffin. He won’t be beasting it up like this, but he’s definitely a player I’d pay money to see. I think he’ll be more than just a dunker.

Tyreke Evans – A less athletic Wade? Sounds like it. He’s got an ugly shot, but so does Kevin Martin. I’m sure he can put the work in to make it more consistent. He can penetrate like rare others can. He will get to the line a lot.

Austin Daye – I liked his game in college but didn’t know if he would gain some weight. He was also known to be soft in college. I like the fact that he’s been rebounding.

Johnny Flynn – I liked him in college, especially his sophmore year. I was okay if the Warriors ended up drafting him, and still think he’ll be goo, despite his height. Speed kills.

James Harden – Consistent. He could consistently be in the top 10 of SG’s each year.

James Johnson – Intriguing guy.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

"It takes a special kind of anti-mojo for a team to miss the playoffs 14 out of 15 seasons. Like, say, the Warriors under Chris Cohan."

by kenntoe on Jul 18, 2009 5:41 PM PDT reply actions

Flynn/Bayless

Jonny Flynn is my favorite draft pick. He’s like my last summer’s report on Jerryd Bayless: he can penetrate into the paint anytime he wants. He’s fun to watch. He’s having fun playing. He (and Bayless) epitomizes the reason why I come to NBA Summer League every year — that diamond in the rough.

So can we assume that Flynn will be just as useless as Bayless on the court next season? ;-P

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Jul 18, 2009 6:28 PM PDT reply actions

haha

yea thats odd evidence for why what you’re seeing out of him is good.

Thing A

by sam23 on Jul 18, 2009 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions

diamonds in the rough

its a bit of a stretch for the poster to say the 2 lottery picks are diamonds in the rough. (bayless dropped to 11 in 2008 but was believed to go as high as #4).

anthony morrow, buike, watson….there are your diamonds in the rough.

and morrow dropped 47 after having a pretty decent year in the NBA vs. marco dropping 37 the summer before going to the nba and riding the bench. either way, marco isnt as bad as people make it him out to be. he played very well when given the playing time and when healthy before spraining his ankle.

by hellafornia on Jul 19, 2009 12:16 AM PDT up reply actions

Maybe we just did PHX

a solid by not giving them Curry.. I hope he proves me wrong, but I have seen nothing that spectacular in his play

I KICKED IT WITH JESUS ONCE.. HE'S KIND OF A PRICK

by DMJR on Jul 18, 2009 8:19 PM PDT reply actions

Curry

You guys are not seeing who is yet is all:

The one poster was disappointed that he didn’t score more, he didn’t care about his leadership =)
to the basket for the spectacular finishes almost anytime he wants.

His job out there was to demonstrate that he could be a leader and control the ball, he did much more than that, he controlled the tempo of the game, knew when to pass and when to shoot, he was just pressing a little to much trying to make a big splash.

His shot will come around, he’s already proven that part of his game, the part that will make him valuable is how he can see the court, make the right pass at the right time, not take the ball to trouble or slow the game down;

When the team sees he is the man with the ball, our whole team chemectry is going to change, he will be the leader without a doubt, he’s go it.

The rest will follow, we have a cross between Nash and Iverson. what more could you ask for?

by ForestGrump on Jul 18, 2009 10:40 PM PDT up reply actions

what more could you ask for?

A minor league system that could get him to that point before he shows up here?

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jul 18, 2009 11:51 PM PDT reply actions

here are my favorite observations...

I like it, concise and easy to read. I’m curious to read your report on Curr-bury.

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jul 18, 2009 11:56 PM PDT reply actions

diamonds in the rough

darn, i still can’t get my browser to get this “reply” thing to work. oh well.

yeah maybe “diamonds in the rough” was a little too strong. maybe i meant “unsung” or something. i just mean, when the NBA Draft is happening and you haven’t watched a lot of college ball or because players have been playing in a different system (I heard that Jonny Flynn didn’t run a lot of high pick-and-roll at Syracuse), you hear a lot about certain guys and not a lot about certain other guys.

everyone was talking about Tyreke Evans and Ricky Rubio, and not Jonny Flynn as much. after watching him play in person, and esp. compared directly to Tyreke, you wonder why Flynn wasn’t talked about more.

so yeah whatever term you wanna call that, but true, probably not “diamonds in the rough”.

Poor Man's Commish

by Poor Man's Commish on Jul 19, 2009 4:42 AM PDT reply actions

did you Ty Lawson play at all? thoughts?

Thing A

by sam23 on Jul 20, 2009 11:39 PM PDT up reply actions

He could play alot better than what he did in summer leauge.

by GSWeri on Jul 19, 2009 8:50 PM PDT reply actions

In most cases the time to really see and critique a player is at about age 24 from a system that tries to develope them

not sure if we have that system though but like the fact that Nellei is giving Smart that leeway.

by Only In Fairfax on Jul 20, 2009 9:43 AM PDT reply actions

Sorry for the followup but...

It wasn’t THAT long ago when most rooks were in the NBA after senior year and needed 2-3 years to really show how they going to shine. We seem to have disconnected on just how young these kids are after 1 or 2 years in Univ play. Especially point guards. If you watched every game you could see that he definetely has “It”

by Only In Fairfax on Jul 20, 2009 9:48 AM PDT reply actions

8 Top stories coming out of SL

a wide range of stories, most about players (including AR, the PG class, & Griffen) but not all – some good nuggets about other issues as well – like club management, how econ is impacting the league etc.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-42-99/The-Eight-Biggest-Stories-of-Summer-League.html

by hardcore on Jul 20, 2009 11:01 AM PDT reply actions