Wizard's Summer League (Las Vegas) (7/14)

[closg00]

I'm watching Orlando summer league, and the announcers are absolutely killing the players. Wow.

Roy Hibbert looks like crappo.

Yep, I was watching a little at work tpday .....and it's free too

[yungal07]

Mike Sweetney sighting!!! Playing for the Celtics. Hope he gets into shape...he's still overweight.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Mike Sweetney sighting!!! Playing for the Celtics. Hope he gets into shape...he's still overweight.

I hope he plays well. Overweight is going to be part of the package with him.

What I hope becomes part of a trend is for teams like the Celtics, that had success with 290 lb Big Baby to see what Sweetney can give them, regardless of his weight.

[yungal07]

Mike Sweetney sighting!!! Playing for the Celtics. Hope he gets into shape...he's still overweight.

I hope he plays well. Overweight is going to be part of the package with him.

What I hope becomes part of a trend is for teams like the Celtics, that had success with 290 lb Big Baby to see what Sweetney can give them, regardless of his weight.

The difference between big baby and sweetney is probably about 6-8% of body fat. Sweets at this point can't play for more than 10 minutes without getting gassed. Today he only played 15 minutes (and he looked pretty tired and slow). I don't think he sticks -- i hope he does but he's not in basketball shape.

[bulletproof_32]

The other name on the C's roster that caught my eye was Robert Swift. I had no idea that OKC let him walk. Sund basically drafted 3 lotto Centers in consecutive years (Swift, Sene, Petro) and not one is currently on the roster. I see why he was let go and Presti is now at the helm.

[pancakes3]

Bill Walker 5/9, 1/1, 14 pts, 3reb, 2a, 6 pf in 21 minutes.
Speights, 11/26, 6/6 FT, 11 reb
Hansborough, 6/13 for 17/5 in 25 minutes
Shaun Livingston, 7 pts, 6 assists,
Westbrook,3/8 fg, 16/18 FT, 22pts,9 assists
BJ Mullens, 11pts 3 reb
James Harden, 6/9 fg, 2/3 threepters, 3/3 FT, 17 pts, 4 rebounds in an efficient 21 mins

Westbrook and Speights are clearly too good for SL. Harden looks like he's a little too good for it too. Livingston showed flashes of brilliance. Walker did too but 6 fouls in 21 mins is terrible. that's like a foul every 10 possessions.

[fishercob]

Bill Walker 5/9, 1/1, 14 pts, 3reb, 2a, 6 pf in 21 minutes.
Speights, 11/26, 6/6 FT, 11 reb
Hansborough, 6/13 for 17/5 in 25 minutes
Shaun Livingston, 7 pts, 6 assists,
Westbrook,3/8 fg, 16/18 FT, 22pts,9 assists
BJ Mullens, 11pts 3 reb
James Harden, 6/9 fg, 2/3 threepters, 3/3 FT, 17 pts, 4 rebounds in an efficient 21 mins

Westbrook and Speights are clearly too good for SL. Harden looks like he's a little too good for it too. Livingston showed flashes of brilliance. Walker did too but 6 fouls in 21 mins is terrible. that's like a foul every 10 possessions.

Summer league stats mean absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Jerryd Bayless tore up Vegas last year and couldn't get on the court for the Blazers. Same with Dom McGuire before his rookie season with the Wiz. There are a dozen better examples that I'm not awake enough to think of right now.

That said, Speights shooting 11-26 and Westbrook shooting 3-8 do not show me that either is "clearly too good" for SL, even if they are amongst the better players there. These guys are playing against JV competition with JV teammates. It's hard to project much of anything from their performances -- which through one game make up an extremely small sample size.

There's no problem with noting who put up good stats and who didn't, but I really wouldn't make much of it.

That said, add Richard Hendrix to your list of guys to keep an eye on: 10 and 4 on 4/5 shooting in 15 mins.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Summer league stats mean absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch.

[Joe_Wiz]

A couple of years ago we had a point guard in SL who made the team -- I've already forgotten his name -- who scored a boatload of points in one game on high % "shooting". If you looked at the stats, you might be impressed, but watching the game you could see that he was just going to the rack for uncontested soft layups. He was pretty quick, but basically what was happening was that the other team was playing no D.

That's one example of why SL stats are not meaningful.

[LyricalRico]

A couple of years ago we had a point guard in SL who made the team -- I've already forgotten his name -- who scored a boatload of points in one game on high % "shooting". If you looked at the stats, you might be impressed, but watching the game you could see that he was just going to the rack for uncontested soft layups. He was pretty quick, but basically what was happening was that the other team was playing no D.

That's one example of why SL stats are not meaningful.

I'd say that's why stats for guards are not meaningful. Summer League, much like the NBDL, is dominated by quick guards. But I think that also means that if a big man consistently produces in that kind of environment, that it bodes well for him at the next level.

[verbal8]

I think for Mullens producing consistently will be as important as the total production. If he does well he could answer some of the question marks from his spotty college production.

[Da HomeTeam]

IIRC Kwame Brown had a strong showing during his first summer league as well.

[LyricalRico]

IIRC Kwame Brown had a strong showing during his first summer league as well.

I remember him being good in his first SL game against Boston. But after that he was pretty erratic IIRC. I still think that bigs who are consistently dominant in SL (pretty much the anti-Kwame) can translate that into quality NBA minutes.

[Da HomeTeam]

I don't know Ric' he had a pretty decent summer.


Sixers' Bell Wins Shaw's Cup BOSTON, July 22 -- The Boston Celtics and Shaw's Supermarkets announced Sunday night that Philadelphia's Raja Bell is the winner of the second Shaw's Cup, honoring the player who exhibited extraordinary effort during the seven-day Shaw's Pro Summer League.

The Celtics and Shaw's also announced the Shaw's Pro Summer League All-League team. Joining Bell were:

Teammate Jumaine Jones, who averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds;

Atlanta's Dion Glover, who averaged 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game;

Washington's Kwame Brown, who averaged 17.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game; and

Boston's Joe Johnson, who averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Also receiving votes for the All-Tournament team were Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic and Mason, Milwaukee's Michael Redd, Indiana's Adrian Griffin and Boston's Mark Blount.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/shaws_cup_010722.html

[keynote]

I don't know Ric' he had a pretty decent summer.


Sixers' Bell Wins Shaw's Cup BOSTON, July 22 -- The Boston Celtics and Shaw's Supermarkets announced Sunday night that Philadelphia's Raja Bell is the winner of the second Shaw's Cup, honoring the player who exhibited extraordinary effort during the seven-day Shaw's Pro Summer League.

The Celtics and Shaw's also announced the Shaw's Pro Summer League All-League team. Joining Bell were:

Teammate Jumaine Jones, who averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds;

Atlanta's Dion Glover, who averaged 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game;

Washington's Kwame Brown, who averaged 17.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game; and

Boston's Joe Johnson, who averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Also receiving votes for the All-Tournament team were Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic and Mason, Milwaukee's Michael Redd, Indiana's Adrian Griffin and Boston's Mark Blount.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/shaws_cup_010722.html

Sigh.
The Kwame Brown of summer league was a different player. Quick first step, decent jumper out to 18 ft (albeit with a low release), etc. He should've patterned his game and body after David Robinson. Instead, he lost his confidence; later, he bulked up and lost his speed.

But I remember watching that summer league season, filled with hope for the future.

Sigh.

[mls737]

I don't know Ric' he had a pretty decent summer.


Sixers' Bell Wins Shaw's Cup BOSTON, July 22 -- The Boston Celtics and Shaw's Supermarkets announced Sunday night that Philadelphia's Raja Bell is the winner of the second Shaw's Cup, honoring the player who exhibited extraordinary effort during the seven-day Shaw's Pro Summer League.

The Celtics and Shaw's also announced the Shaw's Pro Summer League All-League team. Joining Bell were:

Teammate Jumaine Jones, who averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds;

Atlanta's Dion Glover, who averaged 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game;

Washington's Kwame Brown, who averaged 17.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game; and

Boston's Joe Johnson, who averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Also receiving votes for the All-Tournament team were Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic and Mason, Milwaukee's Michael Redd, Indiana's Adrian Griffin and Boston's Mark Blount.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/shaws_cup_010722.html

What a bizarre collection of players.

[Da HomeTeam]

Very bizarre indeed.

[rockymac52]

putting up good stats in summer league doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be good in the NBA, but if you fail to put up good stats in the summer league, you're probably going to fail in the NBA. So if you want to impress your new team, you better put up or shutup in the summer league

[RickRoll_inDC]

A couple of years ago we had a point guard in SL who made the team -- I've already forgotten his name -- who scored a boatload of points in one game on high % "shooting". If you looked at the stats, you might be impressed, but watching the game you could see that he was just going to the rack for uncontested soft layups. He was pretty quick, but basically what was happening was that the other team was playing no D.

That's one example of why SL stats are not meaningful.

Donell Taylor? Gerald Fitch (did he ever play for the wiz?)

but I agree. Stats mean nothing in SL. Nick Young has had awful stats in every SL, but his regular season stats are much much better. Also KFB had good stats in SL as well and we all know what he turned into in the regular season.

[closg00]

ESPN has been on Hansbrough's jock since SL started, he should be dominating in that environment...but the dude has been knocking-down treys, that could be an interesting development for the Pacers if he is money like-that from down-town.