RealGM

O.J. Mayo
Positives:
His ball handling looked much better than before
Looked a lot better when pressured, wasn't dribbling the ball off of his leg or leaving it 5 feet behind him
Looked good running the fastbreak offense
Negatives:
Made a ton of poor decisions with a ton of careless passes
Played far too passive, was stuck in that mode of all pass or all attack
Needs to start bending his damn knees, that would fix a lot of his defensive problems

Hasheem Thabeet
Positives:
His post game looks a lot better, when he gets the ball near the basket he actually attempts an offensive move now. Decent hookshot and jumper
Did a very good job of getting to the free throw line and his free throw stroke looked very good
Limited the cheap fouls, he got a ton of random 15 feet away from the ball fouls in his rookie year.
His Body looked thicker and stronger imo
Negatives:
His conditioning was still pretty poor
Still was horrible at getting rebounding position
Stays near the three point line on offense far too many times
Badly needs someone to teach him how to use his body to get low post position, depends on his arm far too much
If he never brings the ball down after offensive rebounds, his scoring will spike up by at least 4 pts.

Darrell Arthur
Positives:
His conditioning was good, he was pretty fat for most of last year
Limited his fouls
Looks much better in the low post although he did struggle against the bigger guys
Negatives:
His jumpshot still looks like it's hit or miss

Sam Young
Positives:
Was under control on offense
His jumpshot looks significantly better
Negatives:
Remember when he was supposed to be a good defender?

Grevis Vasquez
Positives:
Showed off a very good jumpshot, another 3 point threat off the bench
Good offensive awareness, usually found the open man
Negatives:
When he got pressured, he turned the ball over half the time
Below average on defense
Was also frequently stuck in the all pass mode

Jeff Adrien
Positives:
Probably the best rebounder on the team
Showed excellent finishing ability despite his size
Negatives:
Nothing really

DeMarre Carroll
Positives:
Got to the free throw line
Negatives:
Everything else

Guys Who Impressed the Most
1. Sam Young: By far imo. If that shooting stroke is here to stay and he stays under control on offense, he's got the makings of a potential 6th man of the year candidate.
2. Hasheem Thabeet: Has made significant progress imo. Didn't look lost on the court, improved offensive game, improved defensive awareness. Also read he was doing 3 a days for 7 weeks straight with the coaches, very nice.
3. Jeff Adrien: I don't know if he'll make the team but he definitely deserves a training camp invite. Guy is unlucky he isn't 2 inches taller.

Losers
1. DeMarre Carroll: I was okay with him before but he really doesn't deserve to be in the NBA
2. Xavier Henry: Could've played if he wanted to.
3. Grevis Vasquez: His ball handling looked worse than Mayo's at times

Interesting Information
Lionel Hollins said Mayo isn't gonna play backup pg and he's not even the 3rd string pg during the Spurs/Grizzlies broadcast
Hamed Haddadi didn't play in any games because of Visa troubles, definitely disappointing

A comparison between Jeff Adrien and Dejuan Blair is out of question?

Thanks for the breakdown. I was hoping someone would give a quick summary about SL.

Did Vasquez really have a good shot? I admit that I wasn't very attentive to the games after OJ stopped playing...and I missed Friday's game altogether, but I did see V put up alot of 3's and I didn't see him make a single one.

And you're right about Vasquez's handles. People crap on OJ's pg skills when these so-called "true" point guards don't give you anything more out of that position than Mayo would experimenting.

It is always disappointing to listen to Hollins regarding Mayo and the point guard position. There are too many philisophical differences in the organization so we always seem to be either stuck in neutral or going in reverse. We really don't have leadership anywhere within the organization.

Wallace believes OJ is capable yet Hollins doesn't think so, can Wallace fire Hollins probably not so the alternative is for the owner to break the impasse, which is usually a recipe for disaster.

BarbaGrizz wrote:A comparison between Jeff Adrien and Dejuan Blair is out of question?

Yes, but only because Blair outweighs Adrien by a good 30 to 40 pounds.

Other than weight and knees, Adrien and Blair are very similar. Adrien was very productive at the college level and in Spain last season. No reason for the Grizz not to sign him to a minimum deal.

No way Adrien is as talented a rebounder as Blair, despite his impressive summer league performances.

I have yet to watch all of the Grizz summer league games (I recorded pretty much all of them), that I want to watch before I make a complete assessment here. However, rumor has it that Carroll hustled much of the time in his last performance, and showed that he might be worth a roster spot. When I saw him against the D League select team, he looked like he did not belong in the NBA, and Larry Owens probably outplayed him.

I do not have the first couple of games to really comment on Mayo, but word is that he turned the ball over many more times than he assisted. How does he expect to translate that to the next level?

Vasquez, as I have said, was not worth a first round pick. While his shot is always going to be a weapon, he does not have a defined position, as his ball handling is far too poor to earn minutes in the league. He turned the ball over way too much and looked out of sync against smaller defenders. Has to be considered a very big disappointment. Even though he played better than Carroll at times during the games I saw, he probably would be more of a detriment in an NBA game. (because he lacks a position)

Arthur- I was impressed with his jump shot at times and he seemed to be in shape. I was looking for a little more explosiveness out of him, but his summer league was solid, not spectacular.

Adrien was definitely a bright spot, but I wonder if he will be able to do the same things he did against NBA competition.

Sam Young was pretty in sync offensively and really looked good attacking the basket. I was impressed and believe he will earn a lot of minutes next year.

Thabeet was the exact same player that I remember at UConn with a little bit more of a refined stroke. He can block shots and has a unique body. Offensively, he still struggles at times. And, he probably will never be a physically imposing player body build wise. He looks like an OK backup center down the road due to his height, but this is no where near what the Grizz expected when picking him second in the draft.