Summer League 2018

[lilfishi22]

Most superstars have that aggression, they have that energy, they have that dominant mindset and they show it early . Even a guy like Booker is aggressive looking for scoring opportunities and he *wants* to dominate, he *wants* the ball in his hands. I just don't like this kinda so-so energy, just wait for the game to come to me kinda play that Ayton has shown. Sure he has had a couple of high energy plays but his motor/intensity was definitely something that was brought up by multiple outlets but what wasn't clear was whether it was due to fatigue, focus or just his mindset.

I just hope it's fatigue because that's something that can be fixed over the next few months with an NBA strength and conditioning program. The fact that he's still averaging a double-double, was decent on the defensive end and he's made All-SL 2nd league just shows the kind of physical talent that he is and the skill that he is. But I also want him to be more than that. My hope is that being around a guy like Booker who doesn't necessarily have the elite physical profile but has that Kobe-esque mindset to get better wears off on Ayton.

[AtheJ415]

I genuinely do not get the concerns about his energy at all. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. What I saw was a player involved on almost every single play on both sides. And someone talking constantly on defense. In the list of things i am not worried about with Ayton, is: energy, effort and leadership.

Sports fans have a natural bias towards those who make it look hard and against those who make it look easy. Hence, the clamoring for the PJ Tucker's and Marcus Smart's of the world.

[Revived]

Dang double OT in the semi's...Lakers hang on to beat Cavs and Hart with 37 and 9. Mykhailiuk with 31 as well. They each hit 6 3s. I guess Svi got a contract from the Lakers...only first year guaranteed though. Maybe another nice late pick.

I wonder if LeBron was at this game.

Who cares lol That Lakers team is not going to win the championship or even make the finals

What? This is about summer league man. Lakers vs Cavs, I think it’s pretty obvious why there would be interest in knowing if LeBron showed up again wearing his Lakers shorts.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

Damn his numbers overall were actually really good. Who the heck got the center spot on the 1st team?

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

Damn his numbers overall were actually really good. Who the heck got the center spot on the 1st team?

WCJ

1st Team
WCJ
Kevin Knox
Collin Sexton
Christian Wood
Josh Hart (MVP)

2nd Team
Ayton
Baldwin
JJJr
Mykhailiuk
Trae Young

[enigmatics]

I genuinely do not get the concerns about his energy at all. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. What I saw was a player involved on almost every single play on both sides. And someone talking constantly on defense. In the list of things i am not worried about with Ayton, is: energy, effort and leadership.

And just think - he hasn't even run with the real starters yet! Especially Booker!

There's gonna be a lot of people feeling a little bit silly come pre-season and regular season.

[jcsunsfan]

I genuinely do not get the concerns about his energy at all. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. What I saw was a player involved on almost every single play on both sides. And someone talking constantly on defense. In the list of things i am not worried about with Ayton, is: energy, effort and leadership.

And just think - he hasn't even run with the real starters yet! Especially Booker!

There's gonna be a lot of people feeling a little bit silly come pre-season and regular season.

If he does really well, I will not feel silly at all. Its so odd how some fans think. If you are not completely over the moon about someone's performance, you must be doom and gloom. There is a big wide middle where the coach in all of us can be reasonably critical while still really liking a player.

[lilfishi22]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

[bwgood77]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

I think it hurt Bender too, at least the first two games..probably partially due to playing with so many new players and a dominating big inside for the first time. Ayton usually has quite a bit of energy but I think at times he gets overwhelmed with where to be and what to do, particularly when he isn't getting the ball, whether it be setting screens or on team/help D. And when he gets lost like this it can appear that he is playing with low energy.....I think it's more like paralysis by analysis to some extent where I feel he is over processing.

I could be wrong, but just watching him so much at AZ I think he may have kind of that perfectionist thing in him where in not wanting to mess up, he freezes, and you can't really do that too much...but I think/hope he will work hard enough to where everything becomes more natural for him. I also hope he brings that toughness with setting hard screens and stuff, but maybe that comes naturally when he is playing less tentatively in plays where he doesn't have the ball in his hands.

[lilfishi22]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

I think it hurt Bender too, at least the first two games..probably partially due to playing with so many new players and a dominating big inside for the first time. Ayton usually has quite a bit of energy but I think at times he gets overwhelmed with where to be and what to do, particularly when he isn't getting the ball, whether it be setting screens or on team/help D. And when he gets lost like this it can appear that he is playing with low energy.....I think it's more like paralysis by analysis to some extent where I feel he is over processing.

I could be wrong, but just watching him so much at AZ I think he may have kind of that perfectionist thing in him where in not wanting to mess up, he freezes, and you can't really do that too much...but I think/hope he will work hard enough to where everything becomes more natural for him. I also hope he brings that toughness with setting hard screens and stuff, but maybe that comes naturally when he is playing less tentatively in plays where he doesn't have the ball in his hands.

That's a reasonable take. The hope is with the lead up to training camp and a full camp he'll be able to process things a bit faster playing with/against true NBA talent.

[bwgood77]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

I think it hurt Bender too, at least the first two games..probably partially due to playing with so many new players and a dominating big inside for the first time. Ayton usually has quite a bit of energy but I think at times he gets overwhelmed with where to be and what to do, particularly when he isn't getting the ball, whether it be setting screens or on team/help D. And when he gets lost like this it can appear that he is playing with low energy.....I think it's more like paralysis by analysis to some extent where I feel he is over processing.

I could be wrong, but just watching him so much at AZ I think he may have kind of that perfectionist thing in him where in not wanting to mess up, he freezes, and you can't really do that too much...but I think/hope he will work hard enough to where everything becomes more natural for him. I also hope he brings that toughness with setting hard screens and stuff, but maybe that comes naturally when he is playing less tentatively in plays where he doesn't have the ball in his hands.

That's a reasonable take. The hope is with the lead up to training camp and a full camp he'll be able to process things a bit faster playing with/against true NBA talent.

Yeah, if my assessment is correct, and I really don't know, but I sense that having watched him over the last year, I much prefer that than what I felt with Bagley, where it was kind of the opposite. He was just running around all over the place and looked lost...didn't look like he was thinking at all...a big motor without the iq..can result in bad things.

Then you have someone like JJJ who has probably lived and breathed basketball his entire life...he just knows where to be on defense all the time.

[Saberestar]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

And the NBA is not a very guard oriented game?

He needs to improve his ball handling and motor.

[lilfishi22]

Ayton's performance just reminded me that SL is a very guard orientated game. There's not enough time after rosters are finalized to really get to know each other's tendencies etc. We didn't have any high level POINT guard so no one could really make Ayton look good outside of the few lob dunks he put away. But on more occasions than I'm comfortable with I did see him play with low energy on both ends of the court, there were numerous plays he wasn't really in and his overall conditioning needs work. I'm not any less optimistic about him because he'll have the next couple months to work on his S&C and then he'll have a full training camp and preseason to play with guys who'll be part of the roster going forward.

There wasn't much he could've done from a scheming perspective because it's always difficult to incorporate a big man especially when guard talent isn't very high. I just wished he came in better shape and played with more energy. I'm giving his overall performance of a B.

And the NBA is not a very guard oriented game?

He needs to improve his ball handling and motor.

It's more perimeter orientated to be more accurate than just guard orientated . Which is why I was more in favor of drafting Luka over Ayton but that's beside the point. Our issue is that our PG's who will be playing in the regular season are the same ones who played with him in the summer league (minus Knight). I hope they build some chemistry and play better within Koko's system leading into the start of next season.

I agree, he needs to improve his ball handling which is something I brought up as a concern before the draft but no one seemed to think it was an issue. His ball handling needs to improve because he needs to work on his face up game which the elite bigs these days all have.