Donte Greene goes for forty in summer league debut

[campybatman]

I just read that Donte Greene had forty points in his first summer league game for Houston. How good would Walker be doing if he were healthy and playing in the summer league?

I doubt Ainge would've selected Hill seeing as the Celtics already have Pruitt and he reads like he's a combo guard.

Possibly the biggest surprise of the first round of the recent NBA draft was IUPUI guard George Hill being selected by the Spurs with the 26th pick. But if that didn't happen, could Hill have ended up a Celtic? Hill was projected by many as a second-round pick and wasn't even listed among the 123 prospects in the NBA's predraft media guide. But after Hill's introductory news conference in San Antonio, his agent, Michael Whitaker, said the Celtics had promised to select Hill with the 30th pick if he was available. With Hill off the board, Boston selected New Mexico guard J.R. Giddens with its first-round pick. Despite Whitaker's claims, an NBA source said the two players on Celtics general manager Danny Ainge's wish list with the 30th pick were Giddens and swingman Bill Walker. Walker was selected in the second round with the 47th pick by Washington before his rights were traded to Boston.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... er/?page=2

[dwestside]

I vaguely recall another kid of the same last name doing pretty well in summer league ... I wouldn't put much thought into it. Walker could have done awesome, or crappy. Either way I don't see how it affects his career much.

[pfm]

Donte Greene was selected 28th overall by the Grizz and later traded...interesting tidbit on George Hill though

[BillessuR6]

Greene undrafted? Like piercef0rmvp said, he was the 28th pick.

I read that about Hill, I am going to follow his career closely...

[campybatman]

I misread the short article about Greene on Realgm. I took it as he'd just signed as a free agent. I'll edit my post.

[threrf23]

I wanted to see us land Hill on draft night (and didn't know a ton about Giddens - I'm happy enough with him). I wasn't down on Pruitt, just reading some articles and looking at some college stats and stuff I thought Hill would be the BPA - talented enough to make an impact and also extremely smart. Spurs in respects are arguably still the New England Patriots of the NBA, if they drafted him I figure thats gotta be a validation.

Word is he played pretty well in his first summer league game. Dontae Greene's 40 points is impressive for a 20 year old drafted late in the first round, period. I didn't watch it or see highlights but 40 points is 40 points. I think Kedrick Brown was a bit older when he went off in summer league no?

[eloper]

I vaguely recall another kid of the same last name doing pretty well in summer league ... I wouldn't put much thought into it. Walker could have done awesome, or crappy. Either way I don't see how it affects his career much.

Actually, Gerald played pretty **** in summer league....he always had a few big time plays like the dunk over the Clippers stiff, but his points/FG% were always very underwhelming (largely because he can't create for himself).

Donte was probably my favorite player in this draft, he's got a shot at being a big time scorer in this league, in the mold of a Rashard Lewis. When he started slipping I was praying he'd make it to the Celts, but oh well. Walker/Giddens were among my favorites as well, so I really can't complain.
Donte will have nights like this where he goes off scoring wise, the issue with him is his shot selection sucks pretty bad, so he'll need to get that in check at the NBA level. There's a decent chance he develops into an inefficient volume scorer, but there's a damned good chance he develops into a hell of a player as well.

[CelticsWhat!]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/summe ... 1024585836

Enough said.

[DorfonCeltics]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/summer-league-marcus-banks-scores-42/1024585836

Enough said.

Right, after Marcus had already played 3 years in the NBA, some of which being a starter. What Dante Greene did is waaaaaay more impressive. This was this kid's first time playing against NBA competition. IMO it means a lot more.

[CelticsWhat!]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/summer-league-marcus-banks-scores-42/1024585836

Enough said.

Right, after Marcus had already played 3 years in the NBA, some of which being a starter. What Dante Greene did is waaaaaay more impressive. This was this kid's first time playing against NBA competition. IMO it means a lot more.

I'm not trying to hate on the guy. 40 points is 40 points and if GIddens or Walker had done that for us, we'd all be excited. But let's be honest. This isn't NBA competition. Most of the players on the roster won't even be on the team once the season starts, and the SL has never been known for it's defense.

[Marley2Hendrix]

to further upon CelticsWhat!, there aren't many nba caliber rotation players, and more importantly, there is no semblance of ANY nba caliber defensive rotations. It's glorified YMCA ball w/ the majority of the players being gunners looking to save up on energy at the other end of the floor. Phenomenally athletic scorers (like greene) should and regularly do dominate the offensive side of the ball in this one on one oriented offensive setting. I'd much rather read walker/giddens/obryant have picked up the intricacies of thibs defensive sets than dropping 52 points against a team that has never practiced together.

[Dogen]

I was thinking that Hill was our guy at 30, but also read that SA liked him. Really, Greene slipping to 30 would have been alright, too. But I'm happy with the guys we drafted, and none of them are likely to get many minutes on a team defending the championship.

But it will be interesting to see how Hill and Pruitt's careers comparatively pan out.

[TheCelticTruth]

if you cant tell by my sig, orange fan here.

donte green has a lot of talent. bill walker when fully healthy is probably better. walker was always talked about as below mayo's level (as a hs prospect and potential lottery pick) but near the top, and green was considered a top 10, top 15 possibility.

its likely he wouldve been drafted higher right out of HS than out of 'Cuse. he was very good this year, but not what you would want to see in a high pick for a college frosh. he didnt always use his athleticism enough, and his shooting talent is good, but he needs a lot of refinement on his technique. also, syracuse is talented, but he was their best player and i felt like they won or lost on his back a lot of the time, and they lost some games they probably shouldnt have because no one could step up.

he has a lot of talent but is still raw

[campybatman]

Just curious, if Walker signs with a team overseas to play for a season or so. He doesn't count against the cap for Boston like Erden, right? Since neither signed a NBA contract. So, That means Giddens is the only rookie next season. Well, you could say O'Bryant would be a rookie next season too if he'd stayed in school or you throw away his first two seasons in th league.

[DJToLarry]

Marco Belinelli for Golden State played well in last years summer league. Averaged about 23 a game and had a 37 point outing. He ended up scoring 3 points per game during the regular season. Both played may wind up to be solid pros, but don't put too much stock in summer league play.

[canman1971]

Whoopie Doo!!! That isn't much different than me scoring 51 at age 35 in a men's league game a couple of years ago against much younger players. I don't think that puts me on par to be in the NBA just like it means nothing to Greens chances in the NBA.

[GuyClinch]

People always argue about SL. I agree that playing WELL in SL is no guarantee of stardom. But to me playing poorly in SL does set off alarm bells. Nearly all the guys we have had that have gone on to do well in the NBA have done well in SL. Very few guys who have sucked in SL have played really well in the NBA.

It's like what Don Nelson said about the NBDL and POB. You get sent down to the AAA league - and your a major leaguer your expected to dominate. I don't put much stock in point totals in the NBA though because some guys play few minutes.

Green though is an example of a guy who was actually very mediocre in SL (especially his second season) and he carried that right on through into the regular season despite even be featured on offense for a stretch. It was clear then to me at least he didn't have it..

[Truthiracy]

Donte Greene quickly becoming overrated, the guy is trash.

[billfromBoston]

....Donte Greene will be a very good pro player...

[hickfromfrenchlick]

Two words:

ACIE

EARL

Just kidding. It's impressive, no matter the competition. But all it means he's got potential but that's about it.

That's interesting about Hill. I'm glad we got two swingmen (I wanted Walker at #30 so I was pretty ecstatic when we got him from the Wiz) rather than a PG. Rondo did his job and if Pruitt's not ready, then getting a backup PG won't be a major problem, IMO.