Summer League Game Two: Blazers vs Lakers

He had 11 rebounds today. Not terrible...

 

Here's what I've learned after 2 SL games:

CJ would make an OK/learning starter. He should be excellent as a reserve.

TRob would make a mediocre starter, but should be good as a reserve. Maybe even very good by year's end.

Barton is fine as a 3rd string player and may turn into a rotation player at the end of the year.

Still haven't seen enough of Crabbe.

Leonard is a 3rd stringer and should be an OK rotation player 2 years from now. He should not be a rotation player now. Hopefully Olshey will sign someone to play ahead of him, but I doubt it.

Freeland is not an NBA player. It's just better to cut him for a roster spot.

I'd be happy to change these evaluations as the games go on, but we will only be playing 5.

 

Leonard is fine. All he has to do is stand his ground and battle at the hoop. He could literally have no stats and still be a worthy second stringer, you can't teach big.

 

This is what happens without a playmaking guard. McCollum flunks as one.

We used to have one big man who bobbles the ball and never gets control, so his box score shows no turnover. Aldridge. Now we have Leonard and Robinson doing the same.

After Houston dumped Terrel Harris' salary onto us, I expected him to be garbage. He's okay, though the SG is not a shooter.

 

CJ is getting about the same # of assists as Damian from last SL.

TRob had a bunch of turnovers. (5! Meyers had 3)

Harris came from New Orleans.

 

Finally seeing this game on TV. Based on qtr # 1, Barton really is a decent defender. I am still holding out hope for him. The announcers use the word "active" in describing him. The Blazers need to give him one more year to see if he can put it all together.Still forces things but you certainly know when he is on the floor.

 

Didn't New Orleans slide into Houston, or is that the next cataclysm?

It's like, you walk in expecting an adventure movie. You walk out, laughing at the comedy movie. You feel you got your money's worth, despite the misclassification.

Good point. He plays like a stiff C, while Leonard plays like a SF giraffe whose paws have been chopped off and exported to China. Freeland plays with structure; Leonard, like it's playground. Freeland is a better C (not athlete) than Leonard, and will be so for a couple of years (more, if Leonard doesn't improve).

 

I love what I see from CJ. He's a pure SG and that's clearly his best position.

Leonard is still a few years away. For a guy of his size he has ZERO presence in the paint.

TRob, offensively, should primarily be a p&r player like how Phx developed Amare. I don't think he'll ever be a guy you can iso on the block.

 

Today is July 14th. The Blazers officially were only able to talk to TRob 5 days ago. Not making excuses for him as I have never been a fan of his in the past, but I wonder if the short amount of time with the team has been a factor with his mediocre play. Mainly the easy baskets.... put backs, and missed dunks. He just seems out of sorts so far. Kind of a tough 5 days for him.

 

Cartwheels!

BNM

 

He rebounded well today and ended up with a double-double, didn't he? I ask because I can't find the stats posted yet.

 

Stats are up for today's game.

http://www.nba.com/games/20130714/LALPOR/gameinfo.html

I also wasn't seeing things. Claver was dressed the last two game, but hasn't played.

 

Got hurt the first game and is being held out.

 

Is it too late to beg David Stern for a redo of our 11th pick last year? Say we really meant to say John Henson or Jeremy Lamb

 

Yeah but then there would be a few teams in the top 5 (If not all of them) that would want to re-do there's as well because they really meant to say Damian Lillard.

I was looking over the measurements from that draft because I wanted to know what Trob came in at. I looked up Leonard while I was there. I can see why the Blazers took a gamble with him.
The combo of height, reach, and vertical leap were pretty good. I personally was pissed that night that we did not take Lamb, but i would rather have McCollum.

 

In that case, let's cut him and use a cardboard cutout instead!

 

You don't know that.

 

Brent Barry just loves him some Will the Thrill. Probably because he's found someone who deserves the nickname "Bones" even more than he did.

 

I'll say it again: if Freeland had Leonard's body, he'd be a decent backup big, possible starter. But as separate players they're pretty much useless.

Although... maybe if Leonard shaved his head, he could undergo a Matt Geiger-esque transformation...

 

[video=youtube;33M_rmaXmXc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33M_rmaXmXc&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Watching this helps take some of the annoyance away from last night's game. CJ can get to the bucket any time he wants. Crabbe is a deadly spot-up shooter who just needs to ball. And Robinson is relentless on the glass. I wouldn't say any player played a particularly good game, but it's best to look at what players can do rather than what they can't.