Summer League Thread

Pointgod · Post #421 » by **Pointgod** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:14 pm

Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

WuTang_OG · Post #422 » by **WuTang_OG** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:22 pm

Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

Yep. Its just a hype fest. The basketball is bad.

Pointgod · Post #423 » by **Pointgod** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:24 pm

WuTang_OG wrote:
Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

Yep. Its just a hype fest. The basketball is bad.

It’s literally a glorified pick up game :lol:

Syd-TK3 · Post #424 » by **Syd-TK3** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:28 pm

HumbleRen wrote:
Syd-TK3 wrote:Im honestly more excited to see Jakobe then CMB I need him to look like he too good for summer league

I feel the opposite. I don't see the on ball creation that some folks see in him. I think he's a 3&D player through and through.

He's way too good at drawing fouls for that to be the case imo

Dalek · Post #425 » by **Dalek** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:45 pm

Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

You can see how hard guys play and I came away pretty impressed by Carter Bryant. Now, I know CMB can guard, but Carter has some special to him as well as far as ground coverage.

Read on Twitter

mihaic · Post #426 » by **mihaic** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 3:55 pm

Dalek wrote:
Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

You can see how hard guys play and I came away pretty impressed by Carter Bryant. Now, I know CMB can guard, but Carter has some special to him as well as far as ground coverage.

Read on Twitter

You actually watch full games in summer league for non Raptors? I am impressed.

I choose not to, it's so hard to watch the non-structured (or worse, they try to execute the scheme as what they were told the day before, and they cannot sync the 5 players so it fails badly).

But I agree that if someone shows effort it's a good sign. Players that won't care will care even less in SL.

Tripod · Post #427 » by **Tripod** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 4:00 pm

My approach to Summer League..for Raps:

Shead, Walter, Battle, Mogbo, CMB, Chomche Martin, and Chucky.

That's 8 guys that we are invested in. Not all are going to play well tonight or in the other games. Like every NBA game, rarely does everyone play well. For us these SL games will be no different.

I hope not to overreact in either direction...lol. But we know that Shead, Walter and Battle can be rotational guys so if any of them have a poor game, who cares. If they show oit, that's great. Seeing how the new guys and Chomche play coming off an injury will be interesting.

It's just nice to have a big group to be hopeful about vs only having 1-2.

Tripod · Post #428 » by **Tripod** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 4:40 pm

Are we doing a GDT for tonight's game?

Tor_Raps · Post #429 » by **Tor_Raps** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 4:47 pm

Tripod wrote:
Tor_Raps wrote:
RoteSchroder wrote:
To me, his potential is:

3+D (but not elite on D)
auxiliary play making ability (a #4-5 with starters, #2-3 with bench)
some off-ball cutting/shooting

Walter has already flashed enough of an in between game that he'll be more than just 3 and D. He can create his own shots and get to the foul line, he just wasn't strong enough to absorb contact yet.

He is very similar to RJ in that regard. He keeps his dribble alive in the paint like RJ which is very noticeable compared to Gradey or Barnes for example.

Exactly... he is very smart/crafty with his dribble usage. He just needs to get a lot stronger/improve fhe ball handling as you would expect from most rookies. You can see the vision of the type of player he can become if all goes right.

Dick/Barnes always pick up their dribble one step short of when they should because theyre not good enough ball handlers (yet).

JShuttlesworth · Post #430 » by **JShuttlesworth** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:01 pm

I know that the Summer League is some ugly basketball, but I have somewhat higher expectations of our group. I know that they're going to be rusty and shaking off the cob webs, but in SL terms, this is a pretty experienced group.

Shead, Walter, Battle, CMB, Mogbo. If that's the starting lineup, 4 out of 5 of those guys were rotation players on the big club last year.

Shead played 75 games, started 11, and averaged 19.6 MPG.
Mogbo played 63 games, started 18, and averaged 20.4 MPG.
Battle played 59 games, started 10, and averaged 17.7 MPG.
Walter played 52 games, started 18, and averaged 21.2 MPG.

These aren't rookies who are seeing NBA speed for the first time, they played against starting lineups all season with all the injuries we had. They also all played together (minus CMB) last season, so there's going to be some chemistry already built. Most of those guys can play defense too, which is going to help them out in SL when the legs are tired and shots aren't falling.

Would love it if Walter just came out and shined offensively

Dalek · Post #431 » by **Dalek** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:07 pm

mihaic wrote:
Dalek wrote:
Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

You can see how hard guys play and I came away pretty impressed by Carter Bryant. Now, I know CMB can guard, but Carter has some special to him as well as far as ground coverage.

Read on Twitter

You actually watch full games in summer league for non Raptors? I am impressed.

I choose not to, it's so hard to watch the non-structured (or worse, they try to execute the scheme as what they were told the day before, and they cannot sync the 5 players so it fails badly).

But I agree that if someone shows effort it's a good sign. Players that won't care will care even less in SL.

I still have league pass and NBA TV is free too, so why not watch these games. I will say you can find some decent undrafted guys that later end up on the Raps. The basketball is a tough watch but at least the games are sort of fun in a carnival type of way.

OakleyDokely · Post #432 » by **OakleyDokely** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:13 pm

My approach to Summer League for the Raps:

1. Don't get hurt.
2. Be sure not to get hurt.
3. Don't get hurt under any circumstances.

Tor_Raps · Post #433 » by **Tor_Raps** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:20 pm

Tripod wrote:Are we doing a GDT for tonight's game?

Thanks for volunteering

Post #434 » by **Duffman100** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:20 pm

yeah man, someone do a game thread!

Dalek · Post #435 » by **Dalek** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:27 pm

JShuttlesworth wrote:I know that the Summer League is some ugly basketball, but I have somewhat higher expectations of our group. I know that they're going to be rusty and shaking off the cob webs, but in SL terms, this is a pretty experienced group.

Shead, Walter, Battle, CMB, Mogbo. If that's the starting lineup, 4 out of 5 of those guys were rotation players on the big club last year.

Shead played 75 games, started 11, and averaged 19.6 MPG.
Mogbo played 63 games, started 18, and averaged 20.4 MPG.
Battle played 59 games, started 10, and averaged 17.7 MPG.
Walter played 52 games, started 18, and averaged 21.2 MPG.

These aren't rookies who are seeing NBA speed for the first time, they played against starting lineups all season with all the injuries we had. They also all played together (minus CMB) last season, so there's going to be some chemistry already built. Most of those guys can play defense too, which is going to help them out in SL when the legs are tired and shots aren't falling.

Would love it if Walter just came out and shined offensively

I agree they should be a top team simply because of chemistry and NBA time played. They have also been working out a lot this offseason, so they are should be better structured. Not sure if this Coco/James Wade guy is an NBA level coach, but he was pretty decent with the WNBA. I hope Toronto wings this whole thing, but there are other teams with depth:

Watch out for the Celtics:

Baylor Sheirerman
Jordan Walsh
Kenny Lofton Jr.
Hugo Gonzalez
Amari Williams
Jalen Bridges
Isaiah Wong
Kendall Brown

That is a nice mix of top G-League guys and two-ways. This team will be able to guard and shoot it.

The Wizards are the most compelling team for me with some real firepower. They look like a junior version of the Pacers:

AJ Johnson
Bub Carrington
Alex Sarr
Tre Johnson
Kyshawn George
Dillon Jones
Will Riley
Jamir Watkins
Khadary Richmond

Of course the Nets have a lot of guys I scouted to death (Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore and Egor Demin) - they should be a fun disaster to watch.

StopitLeo · Post #436 » by **StopitLeo** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:33 pm

Tor_Raps wrote:
Tripod wrote:
Tor_Raps wrote:
Walter has already flashed enough of an in between game that he'll be more than just 3 and D. He can create his own shots and get to the foul line, he just wasn't strong enough to absorb contact yet.

He is very similar to RJ in that regard. He keeps his dribble alive in the paint like RJ which is very noticeable compared to Gradey or Barnes for example.

Exactly... he is very smart/crafty with his dribble usage. He just needs to get a lot stronger/improve fhe ball handling as you would expect from most rookies. You can see the vision of the type of player he can become if all goes right.

Dick/Barnes always pick up their dribble one step short of when they should because theyre not good enough ball handlers (yet).

The weaknesses you described remind me of DeMar as a rookie. He couldn't finish through contact and his handle was suspect, especially his left hand.

Walter is the kind of guy that you watch and you can just tell he knows how to play ball. Does that make sense? I see it in his timing moving off the ball and on cuts; not only does he know where he needs to be, but he has a great feel for when he needs to be there. He also sees passing opportunities develop and doesn't hesitate to make the pass on time.

GIZMO · Post #437 » by **GIZMO** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:43 pm

Dalek wrote:
Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

You can see how hard guys play and I came away pretty impressed by Carter Bryant. Now, I know CMB can guard, but Carter has some special to him as well as far as ground coverage.

Read on Twitter

Bryant was my pick, hope he succeeds!

Yes on your first paragraph, don't take too much on summer league play.

God Squad · Post #438 » by **God Squad** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 7:36 pm

The hot takes after game 1 will be glorious.

mademan · Post #439 » by **mademan** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 9:12 pm

Hawks coming away with Newell and an unprotected 1st in the best top 5 draft class we've seen since Lebron's class...what a draft for them.

___Rand___ · Post #440 » by **___Rand___** » Fri Jul 11, 2025 9:13 pm

Pointgod wrote:
WuTang_OG wrote:
Pointgod wrote:Daily reminder that summer league good or bad doesn’t mean ****.

Yep. Its just a hype fest. The basketball is bad.

It’s literally a glorified pick up game

Yeah honestly, I used to watch Summer League thinking hoping I'd see something productive coming out of there into the season. It's such a poor predictor of how players will fit into the league. I think college might be better and that's not saying a lot.