Game Thread Blazers vs Suns Summer League Game Thread

One thing in his favor (I hope) is this is his only his first game playing with the new (New to him) 3 pt line. Most rookies take time to adjust to the extra 2 feet.

 

Ya. I can only judge aftet 1 game.. After 1 game, Jackson shouldn't see the floor again. Napier should be waived and Smith should be that guy instead. Crabbe sgould be matched because Pat's not that guy. Vonleh should work on post moves only, and Montero is years away.

Dominating summer league doesn't mean you will be a good pro, but has there been a good pro that played poorly throughout it? A big maybe, but I can't recall any guards or wings

 

Batum comes immediately to mind.

 

Good one. I guess there have been a few

 

But you are right. Shining in the SL doesn't mean shining in the NBA but it's a good indicator. Been bad in SL means 90% of the time not being NBA material.

Regarding to yesterdays game I liked what i've seen from Layman. Couldn't hit a shot but the form is there and his activity was really good. Vonleh looks like a man. Should really have hit the gym during summer. Pat-C looked really smooth out there.

I am excited to see Napier as the PG. Not only because of the player but to have a PG that's not there to find a spot in the NBA. Russ Smith will find a contract somewhere after what we saw yesterday.

 

Alexander was waived by the Blazers but will be back if he clears waivers....didn't sound like he would play till after Game 2 if that was the case.

Layman seems like he should really be around 6'7" Has a fairly long neck which makes him taller....opposite of Dwight Howard who has a very short neck.

Vonleh looked better in the 1st half but still not quite aggressive enough.

Montero looks like he has all the tools but just needs to make shots. Even got a mention from the commentators on how smooth he was.

Connaughton looked like he was pressing...trying to show he could fill in for Crabbe.

 

If you just saw a halfway decent teammate get almost 80 million dollars you might start pressing too. I would.

 

Loved what I said saw from Layman last night. Very athletic and active and better than I thought he'd be defensely. If he can hit the three than will offer some interesting match ups off the bench.

 

After seeing that game, I can put to bed any idea that any of those guys are going to help us next year. Though I still have some hope for Layman. But man, Vonleh was a lotto pick a couple years ago and got a lot of nba experience, and he looked like horseshit. Last year the Blazers signed a couple of no name big men to the summer league that looked better than him. And Montero, he looks like he has good quickness, but that's all I can say about his game right now. Connoughton just looks like baseball player playing a pickup game.

We're probably going to be losing depth this offseason, so hopefully we never have to rely on any of these guys in an actual game.

 

Usually even borderlie nba talents kick butt in summer league. Like remember how good Nolan Smith looked in summer league?

 

Noah Vonleh needs to get his ass inside and learn how to be an interior presence. But he's yet another soft "big man" that just wants to be a 3pt specialist. I don't think that's going to work out for you bud. The fact that he can't even distinguish himself in summer league coming into his 3rd nba season shows he's not improving his game, at least in a way that translates onto the court.

 

Never forget how young he is. He physically got stroner. Now he has to figure out how to use it. Looks like one year away but after this 1st game I haven't give up on him. At all.

 

In this case being 20 doesn't mean he has upside, it means the scouts didn't have a very large college sample size and reached too high on draft day.

Vonleh looks to me like TRob with less bounce. He's got no midrange game to open up the option for the drive and he's an average rebounder. If he wasn't the 9th pick, he's likely playing in Europe.

 

Ah, sweet hope. He's had a lot than 1 game. I don't have that same sort of eternal home for young players to make great improvements. I've seen to many guys come right in and show what they are made of, and very few that have looked like garbage the first couple years then suddenly turned it on.

 

Totally understandable. I really like the kid and what he could be. Maybe time will prove me wrong. I am not the one who has endless hopes for youngs to develop. Gave very quickly up on the Nolan Smiths and the Armon Johnsons of the world. Not ready yet for Vonleh.

 

what a load of Khryapa!

 

You guys saying Vonleh isn't tough enough--he heard you and got into a fight yesterday in the 3rd quarter. Are you aware of that?

 

Say what?

 

Didn't watch the game but it's just the first game. SL would not be over before you realise what a player Pierre Jackson is. Napier, Pierre Jackson and Russ Smith is an incredible backcourt

 

Let's see I haven't had the ability to do any of that. Jason Quick has though and I have a real hard giving him more than a grain of salt at best.