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7/10/07
Observations from the NBA Summer League Day 4
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There's nothing quite like hearing "Foul on Jackson Vroman's, his 8th." That's the Summer League for you, but it's also much more than that.

I can't fully convey to you the thrill of just being around anyone and everyone who's important in the NBA. And there just sitting next to you it seems. I had the pleasure of meeting Henry Abbott of ESPN's True Hoop, who was kind enough to sit down and chat for a good while (Thanks Henry). Even he was enamored with the accessibility of the event. I'd beg any of you who love the NBA to make an effort to attend this event in the future.

I'm not what this says about me or FanIQ, but when Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge took sat down within earshot of me the first thing I thought was "How much would Pat and Jen (or other Celts/TWolves fans here) give me to improve their organization in one fell swoop.

I attended the full day of Games on Day 4, so sorry if this is long, but I took a great deal of notes.
 


Celtics versus Spurs
High school games have had better execution than this gem. If you thoroughly enjoy missed shots and fouls then desert came first.

Big Baby Davis appears to have one mission - get fouled. The Celtics other draft pick - Gabe Pruitt - looked lost.

For you Spurs fans -- Jackie Butler is the perfect player. Scrappy, always throwing a few quick jabs into a players back when he's not looking. Spur for life I say. C.J. Watson could take over for Jacque Vaughn.

Sitting court level I have a whole new appreciation for Gerald Green's vertical.

Those of you who have high hopes in James White, forget about it. The dude's a baby. Maybe today was just a bad day for him, but I doubt it. Complained on every possession that he wasn't getting the ball. Your basic Randy Moss, except for half the ability. If he didn't get a look early he quit on the play. Put his hands on his knees in the corner and looked away. Easily one of the least impressive players I've seen at the Summer League.


Grizzlies versus Pistons
Perhaps the most alarming observation from my two days (next to Belinelli) is that Rodney Stuckey is legit ... and then some. Comparison to Dwyane Wade are spot on. Flip Saunders was having trouble holding back his smile as I watched his reaction to nearly every play. Stuckey is strong, poised, and aggressive. The matchup between him and Mike Conley was a blast to watch.

I'm amused by Dan Shanoff labeling Conley as a guy who won't be able to score in the league today. Trust me, he's going to be fine. Marc Iavaroni (who yes was coaching the team) was experiment with several pick-and-roll sets and Conley looked excellent. A few of his classic runners just missed, but I thought he looked great. I'm not sure what the rookie record is for assists, but he'll give it a go. Kyle Lowry may have scored 23, but Mike's the one that will win the Grizz games.

I sat behind new Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and his family for this game. Of course I didn't realize this until I got home and looked up his picture.

Did I mention Rodney Stuckey is a beast. Pistons have their next Chauncey Billups, in fact, he's going to be just as good.

Warriors versus 76ers
Marco Belinelli IS the steal of the draft. Wow, is that dude fun to watch. Along with the fans around me, I spent most of this game laughing . Some NBA guy was walking past and noticed my amusement, "He makes it look easy, doesn't he." I don't know if he plays any defense, but at the this point who cares. I don't know what the rookie record is for points per minutes, but I feel comfortable in predicting that Marco breaks it.

Remember Louis Williams. He only played about 10 mpg last year for the 76ers. He was the last of the straight out of high school point guards. Most have failed, he's going to succeed. Louis scored 23, 2 of which came off of the sickest penetration and dunk over some unfortunate Harvard grad trying out for the Warriors.

Brandan Wright is NOT 6'10 ... he's 6'8. He was barely taller than Toby Bailey (yes, that one, he's trying again with the Warriors. One of my favorite college player off all time) who's listed at 6'6 and that seems about right from what I remember in college. If anything Toby is even smaller.

Patrick O'Bryant continues to show minimal basketball skills whatsoever. Was that ever a bust of a pick. That nadir of his career must have been that one week stretch during March Madness because we haven't seen it since.

I'm considering going to back for another day just to watch Belinelli. Dead serious.

Timberwolves vs Hornets
I didn't watch a whole lot of this game, when I did I was mostly enamored by Mateen Cleaves going head-to-head against Chris Hill. That doesn't sound like much, but for a Spartan fan that was a thrill. Spent most of the game on the phone with my dad.

A few scouts behind me after the game turned to each other and said, "Brewer is good, huh." There's your breaking inside scoop ;)

Supersonics vs Knicks
Nate Robinson is listed at 5'9. He's not. I'm that height in sandals and Nate might be pushing 5'6 in basketball shoes. No joke. When he's on the court, though, it doesn't matter. Had an impressive 19 points running the Knicks summer team at the point.

I hate to say this but the whole Knicks team played very well. Shot an un-Summer League-like 48% and doubled the Sonics in assists.

Look for more - Is Kevin Durant overrated garbage from the MSM today. He's fine, and merely victim to our incredibly high expectations. Durant shot 4-19 and it wasn't pretty, but nothing to be concerned about. Like Oden, he's still trying to wrap his head around what's happened over the last two weeks of his life.

Jeff Green, good.

Cavaliers vs Suns
Marcus Banks scored a record 42 points. Not sure what I was watching, but I hardly noticed.

Remember Darius Rice? He's been spending his time in the NBDL. He's be in the NBA this year.

Everything I said about Alando Tucker leading up to the draft was confirmed again last night.

I was really bummed I didn't get to see the Pittsnogle in action. Yes, I was actually looking forward to that.

Ok this is getting incredibly long, so I'll just end it here since about 3 of you actually read this far. I have many other thoughts and notes so feel free to drop a question in the comments.
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726 days ago
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(Edited 07/10/07 4:19PM by CriticalFanatic)
I totally forgot my most important learning from yesterday.

For the ladies of FanIQ (or men I suppose) who are interested in becoming NBA groupies it appears like a fairly simple process. 1) boob job for sure, but it can't be a normal one. They must absolutely ridiculous 2) die your hair blonde, the kind that looks incredibly fake and then 3) die it with some auburn streaks in it. That would appear to be the standard attire, if you will.
 
726 days ago
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You had a chance to knock off Danny Ainge and didn't? I'll never forgive you...
 
726 days ago
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Love the Mateen vs. Hill matchup.  Bring on some more of that!
 
726 days ago
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CriticalFanatic wrote:
I totally forgot my most important learning from yesterday.

For the ladies of FanIQ (or men I suppose) who are interested in becoming NBA groupies it appears like a fairly simple process. 1) boob job for sure, but it can't be a normal one. They must absolutely ridiculous 2) die your hair blonde, the kind that looks incredibly fake and then 3) die it with some auburn streaks in it. That would appear to be the standard attire, if you will.
Not sure how you die your hand blonde, but I'm sure it is pretty easy to make it look fake.

Sorry, had to do it.
 
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Thanks once again for the insight, I have a question though, how did Aaron Afflalo look for the Pistons? I am a big UCLA fan and will be rooting for him in the pros
 
726 days ago
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Avengersfan19 wrote:
Thanks once again for the insight, I have a question though, how did Aaron Afflalo look for the Pistons? I am a big UCLA fan and will be rooting for him in the pros
I think he'll be alright, so long as he's consistently hitting his shots. He played some good D last night, but missed far too many shots. Many people here have compared his game to Raja Bell and after seeing him in person I'd consider that a dead on comparison.
 
 
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