Summer League Discussion Thread

[Kevin]

Stanley Johnson continues to go at it. 20 points and 10 rebounds for him.

[NovU]

Yep. He's been impressive. I'm not surprised he was picked before Winslow despite tremendous hype on Winslow.

[NovU]

Mario Hezonja said he doesn't like being compared to Drazen Petrovic.
While Hezonja will never be accused of being short on confidence, he showed some humility after being asked of comparisons to Drazen Petrovic. "He was the best player in the world at the time, so of course it is good to hear that," Hezonja said. "But I don’t like the comparison because it is disrespectful, so I don’t like it." While Hezonja was born after Petrovic' death, it's clear that the Croatian has the utmost respect for his countryman's legend.

LoL. says the guy that wears #23 cuz why not.

[Sauru]

people cant wear 23 now without being compared?

[air gordon]

At Least he's not being called the Michael Jordan of Hungary like kornel David was

[mp3]

What did everyone think of the knicks opener vs the Spurs?

Zinger looked good on defence, he clearly needs to get stronger but his effort levels are great!

I like how Grant isn't afraid to take the ball hard to the basket for the foul.

It was nice to Cleanthony Early racking up some points, I expect a good year from him in extended minutes off the knicks bench.

I really don't see the hype in the Greek kid he is just very average and I'd rather give that roster spot to someone else.

[Kevin]

Oubre had a good summer debut with a 20-10.

Meanwhile, Lakers still manage to pull away even while shooting like shit. Okafor almost had a 20-10 game.

Also, why is Seth Curry still not signed by any team? If I was a GM, I'd gladly pick him up and let him play as the 7th or 8th man.

[Andrew]

Jonathan Simmons. Nasty.

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And from yesterday:

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[Maverick]

Could've been you if you wanted to

[ Image ]
#rekt

Jao playing no mercy with a little girl Bet that ball won't hit the rim or anything anyway

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He ended with 25pts and 8rebs against the T'Blaze, although with another loss

Dwight Powell is a beast. If this continues I expect him to play way more minutes than last year at 4 or even at 3. He doesn't move like a 6'11", very athletic. Let him play Rick

[[Q]]

Nice to see Pierre Jackson back, who was on the verge of a breakout season before tearing his ACL in summer league last year

[NovU]

Mudiay played a nice game. 19 pts 10 ast 3 reb 3 stl with 6 TOs. If Ty Lawson is traded soon, he'd become my pick for the ROTY, unless Jameer Nelson comes back to life and take over starting position.

[Kevin]

My pick for ROTY too. It's either Okafor, Towns, or this guy.

[NovU]

Nearly all top prospects playing as expected.

Towns as expected is struggling with fouls. 9 fouls again tonight. This is why I didn't think he was going to make an impact from year 1. His defense is known to be awesome but what good is it when you can hardly play 15 mpg because you risk so much on D. Also he has no post game. Yet people were so hyped with his work out vid that they called him 'next great big' with guard skillset. Kid me not, that was silly.

Okafor is shooting poorly. In college his percentage was pretty good but I guess against NBA sized bigs his decline in efficiency category was expected even in the summer league. But he's got the post game and seems to be sound at rebounding. So there's definitely 20-10 possibility even as a rookie since he's likely to be a first option for his team.

Mudiay is also playing accordingly to expectations. He can't shoot but his athleticism and passing skills are already superb that he fills up the stat sheet no problem. It was said that if had Russell's shooting, he'd have gone #1. I could see why.

Porzingus gets pushed around so I think there's big potential he could be a bust.

As for Hezonja, he's a croatian and seems to have quite unique personality. Is this guy menopussies's doppelganger personality wise?

[Mandich]

Okafor's personality reminds me of a guy that I used to play basketball with, at least what I could've seen from his interviews.

That guy always used to quit on his/our team, and blame everyone else. I don't like him. I don't like Okafor.

[mp3]

Hahaha we all have THAT guy on our team.

Mine was a guy called Jason, talented but a loose cannon... played himself out of most games before wanting to fight people lol

[Bruce]

Okafor seems to have great timing on his shot. Plays under the rim though, so maybe he will have problems with team with good front court defenders.

[[Q]]

He's only got one move. You know which one I'm talking about. That spin move layup

[NovU]

Yep. Thus he got his shot blocks quite a lot even against Summer League scrub bigs. He's never going to be a physically dominant force so a lot depends on skill development. I have a feeling he'll struggle with efficiency greatly this year.

[mp3]

I know alot of people wont want to hear this but Okafor's game looks a hell of lot like Eddy Curry's........

Great back to the basket game and loves to bang but smart defenders will draw a lot of charges from him and he doesnt seem interested in passing, defence or even rebounding for that matter.

[air gordon]

Unless he's some kind of gymnast, don't think any big guy wants to be compared to eddy curry
Give the guy some time while he adjusts. You guys were just drinking the kool aid and now so eager to call him trash

Most big men coming into the league are not good passers. It took guys like td and Shaq some time too

Defense and rebounding. That's another issue lol

[mp3]

Whenever people here Eddy Curry mentioned they think the worst but Eddy had a really nice athlete back to the basket game much like Okafor.

I don't think he's trash but other than the post game I want to see other things from him

Also your a Bulls fan, you remember what Eddy Curry was like as a rookie don't you, you must see the similarities to them and I bet if anyone had of said of that young Eddy Curry that he reminds people of the late Eddy Curry people would said they were crazy too.

[Kevin]

I feel like Russell is getting pressured too much since he's been trying way too hard to impress people. We would've won the game but he thought he was AI for some reason. This is going to be a rough season.

[NovU]

Let's not forget Okafor, Towns, Russell, Mudiay all are 19 year old kids. Two of them relies majorly on skills while Towns has NBA ready physique. Keep in mind that they're playing against fully grown up professional basketballers some of them with NBA experience. It's probably easier for Towns in the summer league because he's already got that top notch NBA center body.

[mp3]

Let's not forget Okafor, Towns, Russell, Mudiay all are 19 year old kids. Two of them relies majorly on skills while Towns has NBA ready physique. Keep in mind that they're playing against fully grown up professional basketballers some of them with NBA experience. It's probably easier for Towns in the summer league because he's already got that top notch NBA center body.

6.11 ..... 270lbs Okafor doesnt have nba body Nov??????

[NovU]

I didn't say he didn't.

Btw it's not the height and weight. It's the body definition that matters. Okafor's conditioning has been in question. Okafor lost 12 pounds lately and is building on conditioning. Towns is more of physical freak than Okafor ever was anyway. His stellar upper body gives him advantage. His lower body could use some more strengthening but overall he's already a beast.