Capital Punishment Game Thread

[GOD_SHAMMGOD]

Not the best night if you're a Wizards fan. First you have Nick Young acting like a little bitch and not playing, that was a huge disappointment for me. Then you have Wall brick every jumper he took but one. He was 1-9 or so, really not an impressive shooting performance. He had some nice drives and some excellent passes, but not what I was hoping to see out of him playing with Durant and Cousins. McGee was really bad and didn't play many minutes at all. He looked disinterested and got abused by Cousins multiple times. I would trade 2 of McGee for one Cousins, anger problems and all. McGee is lucky there are VERY few real NBA centers currently playing.

1. "He had some nice drives and excellent passes" little bit of an understatement there.
2. Mcgee according to 2 ESPN writers played pretty well. Also cousins had 8+ fouls. So why do we care about him?

[closg00]

If it weren't for the friendly confines surrounding Durant, the game's MVP could have been Jennings. Countless times he was able to charge in the lane, making it hard to determine if he was finding space that wasn't there or if he was creating it with dexterity. Much of Jennings' damage came in the second half. With Goodman's Ty Lawson out after intermission due to injury, Wall had trouble keeping pace on defense.

Wall was no slouch in the end, though. He started strong, finished stronger, and certainly made good on the nickname Rawls dons on him often: the Game Changer. At around the 4:30 mark of the fourth, the sporadic disc-jockey set in by blasting Tony! Toni! Toné!'s "It Never Rains In Southern California." Andre Miller of the Denver Nuggets, who sat in Team Drew's section naturally as an L.A. native, had several times before on the night pleaded with the DJ for in-game music. Can't imagine he was looking for that at that moment.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/stor ... lives-hype

Sounds like it was a great battle, Wall can't shoot, but he can get in the lane and finish.

[TheBigThree]

1. "He had some nice drives and excellent passes" little bit of an understatement there.

I respectfully disagree. I think it's a pretty accurate assessment of his game. To his credit, he played great as usual when the game was on the line.

2. Mcgee according to 2 ESPN writers played pretty well. Also cousins had 8+ fouls. So why do we care about him?

Did you watch the game? McGee had a few amazingly athletic plays, the norm for this sort of game. Other than that he was unable to do much at all. Cousins took it to him several times and when McGee was given the chance to get back at him was unable to do much of anything. It was not an impressive performance from McGee sans a few athletic plays, and that I've seen echoed all over the internet since last night's game.

Anyway, it's just my opinion, certainly doesn't detract from a great game overall.

[pancakes3]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua4daisJ1-4[/youtube]

at the 50 second mark it shows the abuse that cousins brought to McGee. 2 plays. one where mcgee overplayed, going for the steal, and the second where mcgee was in the worst possible post-defense stance and got spun on something ridiculous. of course mcgee's highlights included an unreal block and several oops. i fear that the barnstorming this season has done zero for mcgee's basketball development and may have even regressed a little. i wish he would work out with Dwight instead of playing pickup games.

wall may not have shot well but hot dang were his moves electrifying. his pre-game dunks were unreal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU5SX7Gew1w&annotation_id=annotation_464886&feature=iv[/youtube]

is another highlight compilation

[keynote]

SI has another set of highlights that includes a nice pull-up J from Wall (presumably, his "1" out of the "1 for 9" from the outside).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... t=hp_wr_a1

[theboomking]

Wall must have had a ton of assists. The video below has 4 assists just to Durant. I love that Wall will have an easy shot right at the rim and still passes the ball to reward big that is running the floor. Wall also just looks electrifying with the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnKoeqx2po

Not that I love the system for winning a championship, but I can't help but wonder how Wall would look running D'Antoni's system. Doesn't D'Antoni's contract expire after this coming season?

[Wizardspride]

Wall must have had a ton of assists. The video below has 4 assists just to Durant. I love that Wall will have an easy shot right at the rim and still passes the ball to reward big that is running the floor. Wall also just looks electrifying with the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnKoeqx2po

Not that I love the system for winning a championship, but I can't help but wonder how Wall would look running D'Antoni's system. Doesn't D'Antoni's contract expire after this coming season?

I would love to have D'Antoni.

Heck, I thought D'Antoni would have been a good choice this season....especially when I thought that Gil would bounce back from his injuries.

[Illuminaire]

D'Antoni is a great coach in many ways, but he has a bit of Don Nelson in him. I don't think he's going to be a guy who can help a team get deep in the playoffs without luck or a loaded roster - the lack of defensive focus is a glaring weakness.

Some of his Sun's teams were ranked about average, defensively, so he's not as bad as some pundits would say... but I just don't think that's good enough to contend for a championship.

Back to the game - good to hear that John played well! I hope he spends time mastering that jump shot though. It seems more like he's working on his strengths rather than his weaknesses, right now.

[theboomking]

D'Antoni is a great coach in many ways, but he has a bit of Don Nelson in him. I don't think he's going to be a guy who can help a team get deep in the playoffs without luck or a loaded roster - the lack of defensive focus is a glaring weakness.

Some of his Sun's teams were ranked about average, defensively, so he's not as bad as some pundits would say... but I just don't think that's good enough to contend for a championship.

Back to the game - good to hear that John played well! I hope he spends time mastering that jump shot though. It seems more like he's working on his strengths rather than his weaknesses, right now.

Mike Prada over at bulletsforever said, "I was impressed and pleasantly surprised that he(Wall) was the dominant ball handler on most late possessions."

Considering that Goodman was coming from behind in the 4th Quarter, trying to pulll out a win, I find it a nice commentary abouy John's standing in the eyes of his peers, that that was the case. The fact that John scored most of.his 28 points in the 4th, and that his team won, also speak to John's value.

I was also thinking about John's age. Wall is two years.Durant's junior. I would hope that 2 years from now, John's game will be even more.spectacular.

[TGW]

You guys are taking a pickup game wayyyyyyyyyyy too seriously.

[closg00]

You guys are taking a pickup game wayyyyyyyyyyy too seriously.

What else do we have to hang our hats on lately? Lighten up

Reading the recent press accounts, those Drew guys are pissed and want a re-match yesterday.

[Ruzious]

You guys are taking a pickup game wayyyyyyyyyyy too seriously.

What else do we have to hang our hats on lately? Lighten up

Reading the recent press accounts, those Drew guys are pissed and want a re-match yesterday.

TGW is right. For streetball fans, I'm sure this game was a lot of fun - and there's nothing wrong with that. For NBA folk, it had no relevance. From the last idea in the trade thread, it's obvious some folks took this game to mean a lot - when it meant absolutely nothing.

[theboomking]

You guys are taking a pickup game wayyyyyyyyyyy too seriously.

What else do we have to hang our hats on lately? Lighten up

Reading the recent press accounts, those Drew guys are pissed and want a re-match yesterday.

TGW is right. For streetball fans, I'm sure this game was a lot of fun - and there's nothing wrong with that. For NBA folk, it had no relevance. From the last idea in the trade thread, it's obvious some folks took this game to mean a lot - when it meant absolutely nothing.

Basically everything on an internet sports forum means nothing. Analyzing a player's performance in a summer league game might not be meaningful if you are seeing something new. You obviously can't watch the game and say that Brandon Jennings is going to be a league scoring leader this year.

If the game shows more of what you have already seen of a player, it probably isn't too risky to assume that your eyes are not deceiving you. We knew Durant is a great basketball player. We knew that Wall is extremely athletic, great on the break, and a great passer. We already knew that John struggles with his jumper. We also already knew, based on 3 seasons of NBA play, that McGee isn't a good defender. I'm not sure why that is such a controversial assessment.

[Ruzious]

Alrighty then.

[pancakes3]

perhaps... but defensive stance and habits should be ubiquitous. i mean just LOOK at McGee's feet on that play where Cousins spun on him. it's laughable. i can understand being lackluster on D in exhibition games but come on... that is just horrific.

consequently, i totally agree that these summer leagues mean diddly squat. in fact, i said as much when i said that McGee should be working with a big man coach like Dwight instead of dicking around on barnstorming tours.

[MF23]

Why don't you look at Cousins feet because he traveled.

[pancakes3]

did he? i don't even see a crab dribble.

[TGW]

Why don't you look at Cousins feet because he traveled.

Traveled and hooked McGee. But other than that, it was an awesome pick-up game move.

[closg00]

Though plans are far from definitive, Drew League officials intend to meet with Kobe Bryant's representatives Wednesday to discuss a possible appearance in a proposed exhibition game in Los Angeles on Sept. 10 between the Drew League and Goodman League. That's according to Fred Smith, a longtime television cameraman and producer who helped the Drew League organize an exhibition game this past weekend between the two teams at Washington, D.C.'s Trinity University.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/baNJL

Losing a West Coast rematch is not an option for Drew League folks. The rematch will be better organized and will have improved streaming I would imagine.