I'm surprised there's not already a thread similar to this one, but wasn't able to find anything... After watching all 3 games so far, I felt like posting my thoughts (and starting a place for others to post/discuss theirs) of the 5 guys on our summer league team that actually matter... I want to start with Pendergraph. I have to be honest, he's been a disaster out there when the ball is being fed to him. I'm disappointed because I, at one point, felt like he could be a more physical Carlos Boozer, similar build, similar situation coming out of college, but it would appear, at least thus far, that JP is miles behind that progression arc, and will probably fall far short of Boozer. JP just looks completely hapless out there when the offense is running through him. Luckily for us, it looks like we're not going to need him to be a scorer off the bench, really the only bright spots I've seen from him are as a junkyard dog type player, and frankly I haven't even been that impressed with that part of his game. Defensively, he's not quite a sieve, but he doesn't look confident out there either. I DO think however, that some of all this could be contributed to the fact that he's playing center, not PF. If I had to grade JP right now, he'd get a D+ Patty Mills, to me has been ALMOST as equally disappointing. While he's had a few more positive moments through 3 games, he's probably had that many, if not more, horrendous moments. If Mills makes the regular season roster, it'll be as an instant energy, score-at-will type player, NOT a pg, and the fact that he's had a reasonable amount of difficulty scoring in the summer league doesn't bode well for his regular season chances in my opinion. He does nothing for me on defense either. I know we're going to need shooting, but as the adage goes, defense doesn't go into slumps. PM, to me, is a much smaller, much crappier version of Jerryd Bayless. If I had to grade PM right now, he'd get a C- Luke Babbit hasn't really shown me much in either direction. I've been somewhat underwhelmed with his shot, given that we've heard he's a "shooter", but at the same time, I see a controlled, Brandon Roy type feel to his game, and I've actually been pleasantly surprised by his effort, awareness and active presence on the defensive end. It's extremely early to make too much of a prediction on this kid (anyone remember how awful Travis was in his first 2 summer leagues), but I think it's fair to expect this kid to turn into something of a Matt Harpring type player. I haven't seen/heard many say it, but I think the Blazers will miss Martell's shooting and defense this season, Babbit's certainly not at those levels yet, but hopefully the addition of Matthews can offset that disparity. It's far too early to tell, but I've seen alot of negative comments about him so far. Probably unfair to expect him to contribute alot this season, but I can see how, with the right seasoning and training, he could become a nice player for us. If I had to grade LB right now, he'd get a C+/B- Armon Johnson, to me looks like he could end up being a poor-man's Russell Westbrook. His obvious flaw, so far is his jumpshot, but as Travis Outlaw showed us, that can be fixed. I love just about every other aspect of Johnson's game though. He's a smart, physical presence for us on both ends of the court, and I've really been very happy with what I've seen from him so far. Unless he can put in the work to turn himself into a knockdown 3pt shooter, I don't know if he'll ever be a starter next to Roy, but he's exactly what we need in a backup pg: strong on defense, makes good decisions, great court vision that helps him set others up, and the ability to mix vet-level craftiness with surprising quickness and speed to score when needed. I've been very impressed by AJ so far. If I had to grade AJ right now, he'd get an A- Dante Cunningham has been everything I expected him to be and more. Just my opinion, but I feel as though Nate wants him to be primarily a 3, and, to me, he's looked good playing outside-in with the ball in his hands. I think the best way to describe Dante is unspectacular. He's not a good enough athlete to become a Gerald Wallace/Tyrus Thomas type high-flier and shot blocker, but Dante just does everything well. I've been especially impressed with the confidence in his handle and perimeter J. To me, there's nothing not to like about DC being our backup 3. Offensively he answers the call every time. Not a ton of range on his jumper yet, but whether he's playing on the perimeter as a 3 or the baseline as an undersized 4, Dante is just ROCK solid. Defensively, he's an extremely smart player and, again, is just downright solid. His ceiling is limited in my opinion, but his floor is so high that he's gonna be a player for us for a long time. If I had to grade DC right now, he'd get an A I'm excited to see what Elliot Williams can do as well. By all accounts he'll need some seasoning as well, but apparently he's just an amazing athlete. Obviously his opportunities depend on whether Rudy, Bayless or both are moved this offseason, but I think with some time he could be a great scorer off the bench for us. Thoughts? Are you seeing things that I'm not?
not to shoot you down, but if you thought Pendergraph was gonna be Boozer, than you were setting yourself up for disappointment IMO.
Probably true. Boozer was far more advanced than JP coming out. I guess what I mean to say is that I see similarities w/ CB and JP's situations coming out of college and was hopeful that Jeff would have a similar progression path. It doesn't appear, so far, that he will.
I don't agree about Armon Johnson. I have been dissapointed with both of our guards play so far, and I believe both have been equally dissapointing. Johnson was forcing things just as much as Mills lately, and does the same thing. He makes a great play and then follows it up with a bonehead play. The only guys with positive marks in my book so far is Dante Cunningham. I think Babbit will be ok once he settles down and has a confidence building game. He can get his own shot, but so far, just has not been cashing in.
AJ's certainly not been perfect either, but I think it's important to keep relativity in mind when comparing him vs. Patty. AJ is coming out of a smaller division in college whereas Patty has a yr of NBA under his belt to go along with Olympic (and I believe professional) experience for Australia as well. That a kid fresh out of college is performing better (again, my opinion) than a kid that's played big minutes in the Olympics says, to me, more about the former than the latter. And that's only discussing one side of the ball. If you wanna argue that Patty has looked anywhere CLOSE to AJ defensively and on the boards then you need to go back and watch those games again.
I am not arguing for either one. Stink=Stink if you want it mathematically. I pretty much am coming away from this summer league waiting for Elliot Williams to play.
I've seen all three games, and I haven't seen one player on our roster I would trust with significant minutes during the regular season. I had higher hopes.
A lot of Pendergraphs problems could be solved with coaching. Adjustements from first to second half? Zero. Not good.
Well as long as you realize that JP is not a go to kinda guy. He has NO post game to speak of. He is a hustle/scrapping bigger PF version of Ruben Patterson. I like that they are using the sumer league to work on his low post game, but he has struggled down there.
I agree with you there, he is more of a pick and roll type of player, which we basically have had none of, because the guards have sucked. This is what I was talking about with the guards sucking. All of the guard play is about what the guard can do, not what the team can do. No pick and rolls, or rarely. They pound the rock, and are predictable.
I've always felt Pendergraph was overrated, so his play this week hasn't been a disappointment to me. Reading the OP's description of Dante brought to mind a player comparison I'm not sure I've seen yet ... Caron Butler.
He not overrated, he's just not a starting NBA player right now. You can't run your offense thru him at all. He is great in the pick n roll situation and will scrap and hustle. Put him on the court with your starting back court or center and he'll be great!
I completely agree with the assement that the only player I would trust with a rotation role next year (so far) is Dante. Second to that, I see Johnson as maybe the only other prospect/draftee that I think could be worth developing long term from the deep bench; he's athletic, has good body control, displays decent court vision and possesses nice on-the-ball defensive instincts ... but he's a third PG at best right now. We all have to keep reminding ourselves that it's just summer league, these guys are going to get their real test in training camp when they have to face off against the likes of Dre', Roy, Batum, Camby, et al.
Dante has been okay, but he's still a man without a true position in the NBA. He's not fast enough to play the three and too small to play the four.
Babbitt better be careful once training camp starts. Nic is going to make sure everybody knows which SF is gonna play 35 minutes a game!!!!
True, but I think he is perfect at the 4 in a small ball trapping kinda scenario. You saw it last night at the end of the 4th quarter.
I think all Babbit needs right now is a confidence building game. Right now he seems to be doubting himself a bit, and he just needs to get over that hump. He shows he can get his shot off and he has a handle, but he needs to hit his shots at a higher clip. Defensively he has struggled at times. The one thing that was positive from last night was that even though he was struggling, he kept on shooting, and eventually got on track.
Yeah that's true, but up against second line 4s and 3s I think Dante can hang defensively and he's started to show a little bit of an ability to put the ball on the floor which improves his chances for picking up backup minutes at the 3 (when paired with his ability to pick and pop from 18').
