Comments on: Summer superstars

By: KD

KD — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:37:55 +0000

Good points, Dee! Look at the Houston Rockets, last year they had John Lucas III on their team and he absolutely dominated. Then he showed nothing during the reg season and is being shipped to New Orleans as we speak.

This year they have another midget, Aron Brooks, dominating the SL and getting the top rookie award, and the Rockets fans are being very cautious this time around. You never know…

On a separate note, Dee, did you hear today that Bill Simmons from ESPN.com credited you for changing Boston attitudes towards African-Americans. Thet’s quite a feat, you should be poud!

By: space

space — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:54:21 +0000

watching durant did concern me a bit. defenders were literally in his jersey. hopefully he will get used to being stuck by professional former all-americans his height or taller night in and night out. its a difficult thing to do. they were scrapping for roster spots too. durant already knew he has his contract and endorsements. his coaches will adjust and show him his weaknesses. this is actually a headstart for him.

belinelli should be ok. its a fair statement.
anyone who isn’t a traditional bigman will fair well in a nelson system. but make no mistake, big baby, strawberry and stuckey played well also and each of their games do translate on the next level. all are good players, but hand out the ROY award at the end of regular season court-work. jasekevicius, another surefire rookie gathered dust and never got a true opportunity. diener, another quality guy who put on quite the show in last year’s summer league but never got an opportunity to make a mark in orlando.
that’s the theme for the day: a great summer camp means nothing if you never get that real regular season burn.

By: Aaron Dell

Aaron Dell — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 03:39:46 +0000

Dee, you are the man. Celtics fan here. We need you here to pump up your reeboks and dunk on some of these summer league ballahs!!

By: Clifton Trotter

Clifton Trotter — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:58:56 +0000

Yao before you start dishing out the insults lets think about it do you really think Michael, Magic, or Larry would have had a problem adjusting to summer league play? Or Allen Iverson for that matter? Now Lebron didn’t put up a dazzling performace in the summer league but he did produce! Some of these guys aren’t even producing! Yes the athleticism has increase . And to Rashadi if you do your histor Kobe ripped up the summer league!

By: SoulHonky

SoulHonky — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:25:45 +0000

Lebron was very impressive in his first summer league. He averaged 15, 4.5 assists and over a block a game. He ran the team like a veteran. While not nearly as good as LeBron, Belinelli has similarly shown NBA-level skills. He isn’t just jacking up shots, he’s also making smart passes and is even playing better than expected defense.

On the other hand, Durant looked more like Adam Morrison, which is a problem. His lack of bulk is a major issue and he’s never shown an ability to create for his teammates. Durant faces a major issue next year, being the definite go-to guy and focus of opposing defenses from day 1. His summer league struggles show that he might not be ready for that. This doesn’t mean he’s a bust but it could mean that his rookie year may be more bumps and bruises than slam dunks. LaMarcus Aldridge and Ty Thomas started off slow in their rookie seasons and I think Durant and Oden might go through some similar growing pains.

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:52:22 +0000

Bree…nobody cares about the WNBA so stop mentioning it.

By: Bree

Bree — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:15:31 +0000

“Yeah, building entirely new courts nationwide sounds like a GREAT solution… while we’re at it, why don’t we force them to sit at the back of the bus too?”

To Rashidi who said poo poo to…my idea of increasing scoring opts by decreasing the size of the court for the WNBA (College can does not have to change, if they don’t want to..they are subsidized and protected as sports alternative for women)…please know that all NBA courts are customizeable….many are just put together the day of the game and many play over ice for Ice Hockey teams…shortening the court is not sexist…allowing the womens game to continue its mediocre embodiment is sexist….follow the womens games in tennis…only 3 sets vs 5 or softball instead of hardball…that is blatantly sexist but no outcry…golf is the fairest comparison to my idea…reducing the size of the shots from tee to tee for the women to accomodate the difference in drive strength of women and men….my point is if the WNBA can increase its scoring it will be more entertaining…NBA is very conscious of this (3 pointer, 24 second shot clot etc) so why not the WNBA tinker with the rules to allow more scoring and please please again someone lower that darn rim already…..

By: Kingsblade

Kingsblade — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:24:56 +0000

yao said most of what I wanted to say to clifton about his weak comments but I still have one question I need to ask.

Did he actually just hint that Kobe Bryant came into the NBA and dominated immediately? It seems that way.

Try and know at least SOMETHING before spewing garbage. Kobe only averaged about 15 minutes and 7 points a game his first year. WOW what domination.

By: HOOP@PALACE

HOOP@PALACE — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:11:36 +0000

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DETROIT PISTONS ROOKIES RODNEY STUCKEY AND AARON AFFALO S0 FART IN THE SUMMER LEAGUE(S) GAMES? DO YOU THINK MR. DUMARS MADE CORRECT DRAFT CHOICES ON THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS? THANKS FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS..LONNIE SR.

By: K

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:38:53 +0000

I agree to a certain extent. NBA summer league contains a plathara of washed up talent and nba wanna-bes, however, these are still NBA caliber players. If a young player is able to show a skill-set that facilitates future prominance at his postion in summer league, it is a great indication that through developement and work, this player will make it in the league. However, it requires patience and maturity. Bellineli, shows a quick release, a lightning quick first step and a euro-style that has succefully translated to the NBA game. Secondly, he is in a situation where he is going to immediately contribute. Then there are the cases of louis williams and Marcus Banks, the former being a young talented guard, he has no idea to play his position and the latter being a bigger, stronger more exprienced veteren playing among a school of defenseless no-names. Louis William, can be an NBA level point guard, but nothing he shows in summer league attributes to this hypothesis. He is a volume scorer and requires multiple shots to have an impact. Marcus Banks has far to much experience at the NBA level to play summer league, his points and impact on the game come from veteren moves and physical play. See juan Barrea, he excels at the lower level competition and style of play. But does not have the size or the maturity to translate his game to the nba.

The players that are most successful at summer league are the ones that are able to show that they have a skill set that will develope into something special. Their performance indicate that they are able to find a niche in the NBA until there developement changes it. I agree with Dee, summer league isn’t about the numbers, it’s about a player being able to show that his game translates to the NBA.