Minnesot T'Wolves Vs Portland Trail Blazers Summer League Game 3 - July 17th 2010

+1 that was what I saw too. I think he's nervous and over thinking things. Funny that we would end up calling him stupid for over thinking things. He needs a lot more seasoning, but I think he has some NBA tools. Great range, good speed. He needs to work on protecting the ball and decision making. I'm not sure he would ever be better then a 2nd or more likely third string PG in this league.

 

actually, it depends on the mistake. some mistakes are in fact caused by an 'intelligence failure'.

And it is pretty stupid for a PG trying to make the Blazers roster to keep shooting instead of passing to the hot hand. not the smartest way to impress Nate. that's just a lack of intelligence. Babbitt was wide open and had just hit 3 threes in a row... duh.

 

The spreadsheet I keep after every game tells me that Krazy Krabbenhoft has led Games 2, 3, and now 4 in +/- per minute. And it's not close--he has led by a great margin over the 2nd place player each time.

When he is in the game, the Blazers surge ahead of the other team. Or, maybe he has been incredibly lucky to be in the 3 games right when we get our leads, and out of the games when we lose the lead.

In efficiency per minute, he has ranked 4, 6, 1, and now 6, so he is average there. Average eff, high +/- means complementary player.

 

Yeah, having the ball stolen can be a dumb play. Like nearly everything, it depends on the situation. On that play, he was completely ignoring the possibility of a guy sneaking up behind to steal the ball. He failed to see the play developing, which is a mental mistake. Also, he put himself in one of the worst positions on the court, just barely over half court with no help. He compounded it by giving up a horrid three point play. Yep...I agree that that was a pretty dumb play. It's quite obviously not at all similar to missing a free throw, which is a purely physical act.

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Anywho...Luke Babbitt. I'm glad to see he can actually put the ball on the deck and get his own shot. So far this summer, he's missed a lot of shots, but I'm fairly confident that he will start to have those shots fall as he gets more comfortable with the pace of the game. But the fact that he can/will take guys off the dribble is nice to see. It took Martel Webster a long while to get to the point where he would even try to take a guy off the dribble.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather cool it with the over the top critiques on Mills (or any other non-rotation player on the roster)? He either makes it on to the roster or he doesn't, but him making it or not isn't likely to be any great gain or loss. After all, we're talking about a 55th pick that was on the verge of getting cut at the end of training camp last year.

Me, I'm much more worried about the play of the guaranteed money guys like Pendergraph who don't appear to be making the case that they have improved a great deal from last year and can be regular contributor's in the event of injury.

 

Babbitt's feet were much more mobile than last game, when they were simply dead. He must have been in pain then from whatever held him out of the practice a few days ago.

I read after Game 1 or 2 that the Coach told Mills to show some defense, so since then, he has. He gets fouls, and he fails to stop guys, but you can see he's trying a lot more on defense. Meanwhile, his decreased emphasis on offense is why he made some shots in Game 1, but hasn't shot well since.

Reyshawn Terry didn't play. He's been doing well, unnoticed. Nichols and Krabbenhoft got the minutes. Maybe they decided to invite Terry to camp and now they're checking the other forwards.

 

The last game starts 17 hours from now. These guys better go to sleep.

 

It was nice seeing Babbitt hitting some NBA threes. From what I read he was comfortable with the college three, but not the NBA. Looks like he's getting more comfortable with the NBA 3.

 

I got that impression from watching too. He seemed surprisingly un-stiff-like. What was funny was that the Wolves had exactly the same player, only slightly taller, in Stiensma (sp)? Does Wisconsin just clone these guys?