Serious question. I know we've only seen two SL games, but the players have looked SO BAD that it's just depressing. And some of them aren't that young, either! Worth keeping: Vonleh - he could be a third string PF maybe down the line. Alexander - (yes, I know, but we can re-sign him) he looks a lot more active now he's slimmed down. Still doesn't know how to play, but he's also still very young. Layman - hustles. Might be okay if surrounded by decent players. Not worth keeping: Everyone else. I imagine folks will want to keep Montero, because once in while he does something fairly spectacular, but he just seems to lack focus. And who would he take minutes from? He's too skinny and he just doesn't seem to know how to play defense. I imagine the coaches have been working on him to get better, but he's just bad. At this point, can anyone defend Pat? He's not a project any more, he is what he is. He has good jumping muscles, clearly, but zero twitch muscles. He's a power forward in the body of a large PG. Let him get on with his life while he has a chance for a different career (apparently it's a faux pas to mention it).
Worth keeping: Napier, Montero, Vonleh, Pierre Jackson, Jack Layman Maybe worth keeping: Russ Smith, Cliff Alexander, #16 - don't know his name, Caughnigton
Caughnington is smart and assertive but often tries to do to much when the other players are better with the ball. Still, I like his intensity, he wants to prove himself, he just needs to start doing it by getting others involved
Worth it: Vonleh, Layman (he needs time to prove himself) Cliff is a run-of-the-mill big man in SL. He's competent, but nothing special. Pat C reminds me of a poor man's Antonio Daniels. Lots of athleticism but no consistent jumper or great handles will keep him from getting to the next level.
Vonleh for sure. He's had a double-double in both games so far and just came off of 16 points and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes on 7-10 shooting including 1-2 from '3'. That was with Russ Smith ignoring him for the majority of the night. He was using his strength to run his many right under the basket and pin him there but the Blazer PG's (as was often the case last season) wouldn't reward his work and the advantage he had created. I do like Montero as well a bit. He should have had 5-7 assists if his teammates could have shot a decent percentage at all. He set up players very well for open looks quite a few times and that's all you can ask for. If they don't his shots, that isn't on him. He did a better job than any of the PG's Portland currently have at SL in setting up teammates and getting them good looks in the offense. He is also shooting 50% from '3' which fits right into Stotts' system. There aren't enough minutes to go around for him to see much time but he's the perfect #11-15 player. Connaughton looks like he has actually regressed. Maybe he shouldn't let go of that baseball idea. I thought he would be much better this time around but his shooting has been terrible. He is 6-26 (.231) from the field and is shooting .143 from 3-pt range while not doing much of anything else. Layman I haven't seen enough of to really get a feel for. He looks okay but for a 4-year college player, I would have thought he'd look a little more ready to contribute. He's not shooting it well so far, not rebounding, doesn't get assists but seems to have okay agility. Just doesn't seem like much for a guy who played that much in college. Can someone PLEASE run the point to where they actually get the ball to players that should have it? Russ Smith took more shots than anyone on the Blazers roster and Napier was 1-5 in limited minutes before leaving. Vonleh should be getting 15+ shots a game and Montero getting 10.
It was real ugly basketball and as Tpup mentioned, the point guards were playing D league chuck ball. Vonleh looks good to me. Layman actually bangs in the paint and plays decent defense. Connaughton disappointed me...great hustle...stiff jumper. Montero is still another year from being a rotation guy. He has great speed though and has really quick hands. Felt like he didn't have the ball much. Napier was not impressive. Alexander.....I didn't see any impact from him...D league special for him.
What I am seeing are guys doing more than they would normally in a real NBA game. Most of them should not be dribbling in traffic. Do you remember how bad CJ looked trying to do the same during summer league? He could not bring the ball up against pressure. Having said that: Vonleh is a keeper. But he might not get many minutes again this year. Layman looks pretty good for a rookie. Again we have to account for the longer 3 pt line vs what he has been used to in college. We got spoiled by Dame, most players (even CJ) need time to adjust to it while being covered in a game. But he is more athletic than I expected. Definitely a keeper. Pat C: Granted he looks bad. But he might be better than he looks depending on his role coming off the bench in short stints. I don't think he has regressed, I just think he needs better players surrounding him to be effective. However right now if they got rid of him..... I would not lose any sleep over it. Montero: Still not ready but he is bigger and better than last year.....by a long ways. Napier: Has not been with the team long enough to judge.
This might be the worst summer league team we have had in awhile. We have no offense at all. Everyone looks lost. It's hard to judge anyone when they have no system. How many times did they not get a shot off or just drive and lose the ball while everyone stood and watched. Our main guys will struggle to look good no matter what they do if everyone is trying to play hero ball. Pat looks frustrated to even be a part of the team. Once again Vonleh looks keepable and Luis and Pat still need the rest of the team to look decent. Layman does show some promise though, I like his hustle.
I take the SL games with a grain of salt. The players are there to work on specific aspects of their games or to tryout for a roster spot. Guys often look great in SL and suck in the NBA games.
True, but as someone else pointed out, guys rarely look like shit in the summer league and look great in NBA games.
I think almost all the players look like shit in the SL games. Only a few stand out and those are the Simmons types.
I don't think that's true. Vonleh looks good. Crabbe looked good. CJ looked good. Damian looked good. The only person that people pointed to who looked like shit in SL and great in the NBA was Batum, but it was literally his first taste of American basketball and he only played in one SL.
Bayless averaged 30 ppg in SL, but half of those points were from free throws. He averaged 8-17 shooting (48.5%) over 4 games. The dude got to the line constantly, which is why it wasn't sustainable.
I watched all those games and I was not impressed. Most of his points were from free throws. Adding to my unease was the fact that he sat on the last day and his replacement (who had been chained to the bench up till that point, and who never made the league) also scored 30. It's not about the boxscore. It's about watching the games. I thought Tyreke Evans looked as bad as Bayless (selfish, ball-hoggy, got assists only grudgingly and only because he ALWAYS had the ball) whereas Steph Curry, who put up pretty poor stats his first SL, still looked amazing - you could see talent oozing out of him. Ben Simmons is this year's Steph Curry. Even his first couple of games where he wasn't taking shots, and the few he was taking he missed, you could see the talent.
It's glorified pick up games...most of them never played together..everybody is coming back from vacation..they all looked gassed in the 4th except Vonleh and Montero..they looked to be in great shape
