Marreese Speights

[is1531]

I love the pass that Iggy made to Speights for the dunk.

Yeah... saw that. Nice little wrap around pass in traffic. Good hands by Speights... he goes up fast and hard when he gets the ball that close. I don't know if Mo will be able to keep Speights off the floor too far into the season.

Miller holds the key for Speights to grow faster, but Miller has to pull out that key and open the door and let Speights in. It's up to Mo Joe to explain this to Miller.

[is1531]

Speights was phenomenal. If he keeps thi sup, we have something very special in him. What's most impressive is that he can be a genuine two way big man. We're lucky enough to have one in Brand. But to have a second one is amazing. There just aren't that many great two-way big men in league.

We need frontcourt scoring when Brand goes to the bench and Speights provides offense. It would be a lot easier if Kareem Rush starts hitting some shots from Happyland.

Teams are going to have problems with our defense, so the opponnet will suffer unless they are having a big night from Happyland.

[ProcessDoctor]

My gosh this kid is gonna be special. I usually NEVER hype up young players (never hyped up Lou, Young, etc.) but this guy is something else. He has the athleticism of STAT with the style of Al Jefferson. It will be such a luxury to have this guy coming off the bench for us. We are one legit shooter away from a championship team thanks to having guys like Speights, Williams, Evans, and Ratliff coming off the bench. Korver needs to come back and replace Green/Rush and we will be set!

Miller/Williams
Iguodala
Young/Korver
Brand/Speights/Evans
Dalembert/Ratliff

I really can't wait for the season to start.

[is1531]

My gosh this kid is gonna be special. I usually NEVER hype up young players (never hyped up Lou, Young, etc.) but this guy is something else. He has the athleticism of STAT with the style of Al Jefferson. It will be such a luxury to have this guy coming off the bench for us. We are one legit shooter away from a championship team thanks to having guys like Speights, Williams, Evans, and Ratliff coming off the bench. Korver needs to come back and replace Green/Rush and we will be set!

Miller/Williams
Iguodala
Young/Korver
Brand/Speights/Evans
Dalembert/Ratliff

I really can't wait for the season to start.

We agree, we need another shooter, but I hope that Mo Joe does not play with Speights head and our point guards give him a chance to do some damage. The guy has an excellent reverse layup in his repetoir. He can also come across the lane from right to left shooting a lefthanded bank shot, using his right shoulder to shield the defender from blocking his shot. Our players and coaches need to show confidence in his game. Whatever minutes Brand sits on the bench, give all those minutes to Speights. Don't let the scoring dry up.

[is1531]

Here are the latest numbers on Marreese Speights after 3 games. He is playing 17 minutes a game and is averaging 9 points a game on 12-20 shooing or 60%. Come on Marreese, do a job on NY tonight.

[geiger]

I would like to see him play meaningful minutes in the first half against top level competition, but I understand that we need to get Brand and the starters used to playing together.

Speights, like many youngsters, has an offensive game that is far ahead of his defensive game and his overall basketball acumen, but he certainly has great tools. Some things he does on offense are nearly impossible to teach and he already has some nice low post moves at a very young age.

[tk76]

Speights had a ton of minutes with the starters against the Knicks- and he looked like he belongs. Great individual defense with a highlight block at the rim and a game ending charge. His numbers may not have been that impressive, but he really seemed to always be in the right spot and made good decisions with the ball. Its hard to not get ahead of yourself after watch what this kid can do. Even the opposing announcers seem real impressed with his talent and instincts. I definitely see another Young like steal for DiLeo.

[ankle420breaker]

Speights had a ton of minutes with the starters against the Knicks- and he looked like he belongs. Great individual defense with a highlight block at the rim and a game ending charge. His numbers may not have been that impressive, but he really seemed to always be in the right spot and made good decisions with the ball. Its hard to not get ahead of yourself after watch what this kid can do. Even the opposing announcers seem real impressed with his talent and instincts. I definitely see another Young like steal for DiLeo.

Most commentators have found themselves praising Speights so far through summer league and preseason and he is REALLY flying below the radar. The celtics announcer first mentioned him as trying to get a spot on the roster before realizing he was our 1st round pick. When Smith went down I thought we would lose that mid range shooting from the 4 spot off the bench and some occasional weak side shot blocking, but Speights seems to do it all a little better and more efficiently.... not to mention he carries a post game that's already surprisingly polished.

[geiger]

He played center against the Knicks, who guarded him with David Lee, who is a poor defensive player even at PF. If we play Speights mostly at C, I would like to see him used more against other centers. On the other hand, there is a lack of offensively dominant centers in the East, so on most nights, Speights defensive shortcomings would be masked pretty well. His rebounding so far has been fairly sub-par as has his defense, but his offense has more than made up for it.

I hope the Sixers stay healthy because if they do, the big man depth is really impressive.

[STChaser]

Does anyone else see Speights as a much more athletic version of Derrick Coleman? He has that same consistency in his jumper that Coleman seemed to have and that same toughness - he's got that gangsta appearance when he's on the floor. Some of his own teammates were even saying that he's not afraid to talk trash to other team's veterans. Coleman had that intimidating quality about him too but unfortunately, he didn't have the physical skills to back it up because his knees were shot and he was usually poorly conditioned. Just a thought.

STChaser

[is1531]

Does anyone else see Speights as a much more athletic version of Derrick Coleman? He has that same consistency in his jumper that Coleman seemed to have and that same toughness - he's got that gangsta appearance when he's on the floor. Some of his own teammates were even saying that he's not afraid to talk trash to other team's veterans. Coleman had that intimidating quality about him too but unfortunately, he didn't have the physical skills to back it up because his knees were shot and he was usually poorly conditioned. Just a thought.

STChaser

It was not a bad reputation that Speights got away from other teams. I thank Billy Donovan for running his guard offense as usual, which allowed some of Speights talent to be hidden. Speights was the best player on the team and yet, you would have never known it by the way he received the ball. I love you Billy Donovan.

[geiger]

Speights still needs a lot of work and he has to get a lot stronger before he can intimidate anyone. He's only 21 though. Let's see what we have in 2 years.

[76ciology]

Does anyone else see Speights as a much more athletic version of Derrick Coleman? He has that same consistency in his jumper that Coleman seemed to have and that same toughness - he's got that gangsta appearance when he's on the floor. Some of his own teammates were even saying that he's not afraid to talk trash to other team's veterans. Coleman had that intimidating quality about him too but unfortunately, he didn't have the physical skills to back it up because his knees were shot and he was usually poorly conditioned. Just a thought.

STChaser

From the moment I watched Speights in his gator uniform, the first guy that came to my mind was Antonio Davis.

They have very similar size, in terms of wingspan and height. And the built of their body is pretty the same. Both guys have very good mid range shooting. And their "bad ass" in game attitude and facial expression was pretty intimidating. If you have watched AD in his Pacers' days under LB, he was pretty athletic too, he kinda joined the dunk contest.

Offensively, like Davis, he has a very good offensive game. But it's not the kind that reach the "TD" level where offensively you can rely on them to dominate games. But you can expect a consistent 15-18ppg from them.

Defensively, like Davis, because of their grit and athletic ability it enables them to grab 10 or more boards per game. And maybe a shotblock or two per game.

You can watch this for some reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtDS5JGyZz0