timvp
07-22-2012, 12:27 PM
In their final summer league game of 2012, the Spurs lost in overtime against the Mavs. Like their previous outing, San Antonio dug out of an early hole only to ultimately collapse in money time. Dallas scored the only six points in the two-minute overtime to prevail with a 82-76 victory.
All in all, it was a successful summer league run by the Spurs. While no star emerged from the shadows, they were able to get a good read on a number of prospects. Additionally, San Antonio has to be pleased with what they saw from Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph this week.
http://dailyelements.com/sl125.jpg
Cory Joseph A-
Bouncing back from a ten turnover disaster against the Heat, Cory Joseph put an exclamation point on his time spent in Vegas. At the beginning of summer league, Joseph looked more like a bust than a legit prospect. But as he showed once again versus the Mavs, he massively improved from just a few months ago. Defensively, Joseph was very strong. He pressured the ball effectively, used his length to shrink passing lanes, grabbed key rebounds and was physical when offering help in the paint. On offense, Joseph looked more explosive than usual. He used his speed much better and was able to collapse the defense off the dribble. His passing was crisp and his jumper remained pure. I thought Joseph was easily the best player on the court and I'm now excited about his future. Although I don't consider him an elite prospect, it's not very often that 20-year-old point guards play as well in summer league as we just witnessed from Joseph. Going into training camp, he suddenly has an outside shot of earning the backup point guard role. A week ago, that statement would have been ludicrous.
James Anderson C-
Goodbye, James Anderson. For three and a half quarters, Anderson was far from good. His offense was inept, his defense was porous and it appeared he was buckling under the pressure. In the fourth quarter, Anderson settled down and played better -- but it was too little, too late. Against the Mavs, Anderson again proved he's just not a worthwhile prospect right now. Physically, he's subpar for a swingman in the NBA. Skill-wise, he's also below average. Those two traits combined are his bottom line.
Eric Dawson B
Eric Dawson only played nine minutes off the bench but he illustrated the things he does well: rebounding, physical defense and smart offensive play. While he didn't dominate in summer league, Dawson also didn't give the Spurs any reason to change their opinion of him. If they liked him a week ago, they still like him now.
Tyler Wilkerson B
It was another intriguing outing from Tyler Wilkerson. The 6-foot-8 power forward showed off very good touch on his jumper, advanced ball skills on the perimeter and decent athleticism in the paint. He rebounded well, especially on the defensive end, and competed with a lot of fire. I'm not sure if Wilkerson is an NBA-level player … but he might be. It all depends on whether he's big enough and athletic enough. For his sake, hopefully a team gives him a look in training camp to find out.
Ryan Richards A
Coming into this game, it was easy for the Spurs to forget about Ryan Richards for the time being. He just hadn't done enough to warrant much thought. But against Dallas, Richards once again teased the basketball world. The 6-foot-11 Brit had a couple extremely impressive stretches. Offensively, he flashed quality footwork on the post, knocked down two jumpers, proved to be a surprisingly good ballhandler and passer, and threw down a powerful dunk for good measure. Defensively, Richards might have shown even more promise. He was able to defend well out to the three-point line while displaying a shocking amount of agility. Richards also contested shots in the paint and crashed the glass from a variety of angles. Overall, he just looks like a basketball player. His length, speed and fluid movements are a tantalizing package. And now that we actually saw Richards convert his tools into a bit of production, the Spurs probably at least have to ponder the possibility of inking the 21-year-old to a minimum deal and sticking him in Austin for a couple years.
Marcus Denmon B+
Relatively speaking, Marcus Denmon did well. He continued the aggression we witnessed in his last affair and mixed in a couple very good passes. I also thought his defense was as good as we've seen in summer league. For the first time, Denmon played with the swagger and confidence he played with in college. All that said, he's not going to make it on the Spurs roster this season. Until he converts to the point guard position, Denmon is useless to an NBA team. Hopefully San Antonio can convince him to go to Europe to begin his transition to point guard. If Denmon forces his way into training camp, he'll just end up being released.
L.D. Williams B-
Defensively, L.D. Williams is pretty darn impressive. He's short but he can overwhelm summer league competition with his athleticism. However, on the other end, Williams can't do much unless he's either wide open on the perimeter or he catches the ball in the paint.
Dwight Buycks B+
Dwight Buycks played hard and made big plays to give the Spurs a chance to win. His hustle on defense was contagious and he never hesitated to take open shots. If anything, Buycks tried to do too much at times. Though he's not making the Spurs, the Marquette product has probably earned himself a training camp invite somewhere in the NBA by doing well in summer league.
Alexis Ajinca C+
Playing only six and a half minutes, the 7-foot-2 Alexis Ajinca was invisible. Honestly, it was a fitting end to his summer league showing. Ajinca needs to go back to France and work on making more of a consistent impact.
Cedric Jackson Inc.
After playing really well last game, Cedric Jackson was back to spending most of his time on the bench. He was probably one of the best players on the team -- he just only got one chance to show anything.
Moses Ehambe Inc.
It actually became fun to see how very slow Molasses Ehambe is on the perimeter. Astounding, really.
Alexis Wangmene D
Nepotism got Alexis Wangmene all the way to the starting lineup of a summer league game. My guess is the Toros are up next.
Jacque Vaughn O
Good luck in Orlando, Jacque.
All in all, it was a successful summer league run by the Spurs. While no star emerged from the shadows, they were able to get a good read on a number of prospects. Additionally, San Antonio has to be pleased with what they saw from Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph this week.
http://dailyelements.com/sl125.jpg
Cory Joseph A-
Bouncing back from a ten turnover disaster against the Heat, Cory Joseph put an exclamation point on his time spent in Vegas. At the beginning of summer league, Joseph looked more like a bust than a legit prospect. But as he showed once again versus the Mavs, he massively improved from just a few months ago. Defensively, Joseph was very strong. He pressured the ball effectively, used his length to shrink passing lanes, grabbed key rebounds and was physical when offering help in the paint. On offense, Joseph looked more explosive than usual. He used his speed much better and was able to collapse the defense off the dribble. His passing was crisp and his jumper remained pure. I thought Joseph was easily the best player on the court and I'm now excited about his future. Although I don't consider him an elite prospect, it's not very often that 20-year-old point guards play as well in summer league as we just witnessed from Joseph. Going into training camp, he suddenly has an outside shot of earning the backup point guard role. A week ago, that statement would have been ludicrous.
James Anderson C-
Goodbye, James Anderson. For three and a half quarters, Anderson was far from good. His offense was inept, his defense was porous and it appeared he was buckling under the pressure. In the fourth quarter, Anderson settled down and played better -- but it was too little, too late. Against the Mavs, Anderson again proved he's just not a worthwhile prospect right now. Physically, he's subpar for a swingman in the NBA. Skill-wise, he's also below average. Those two traits combined are his bottom line.
Eric Dawson B
Eric Dawson only played nine minutes off the bench but he illustrated the things he does well: rebounding, physical defense and smart offensive play. While he didn't dominate in summer league, Dawson also didn't give the Spurs any reason to change their opinion of him. If they liked him a week ago, they still like him now.
Tyler Wilkerson B
It was another intriguing outing from Tyler Wilkerson. The 6-foot-8 power forward showed off very good touch on his jumper, advanced ball skills on the perimeter and decent athleticism in the paint. He rebounded well, especially on the defensive end, and competed with a lot of fire. I'm not sure if Wilkerson is an NBA-level player … but he might be. It all depends on whether he's big enough and athletic enough. For his sake, hopefully a team gives him a look in training camp to find out.
Ryan Richards A
Coming into this game, it was easy for the Spurs to forget about Ryan Richards for the time being. He just hadn't done enough to warrant much thought. But against Dallas, Richards once again teased the basketball world. The 6-foot-11 Brit had a couple extremely impressive stretches. Offensively, he flashed quality footwork on the post, knocked down two jumpers, proved to be a surprisingly good ballhandler and passer, and threw down a powerful dunk for good measure. Defensively, Richards might have shown even more promise. He was able to defend well out to the three-point line while displaying a shocking amount of agility. Richards also contested shots in the paint and crashed the glass from a variety of angles. Overall, he just looks like a basketball player. His length, speed and fluid movements are a tantalizing package. And now that we actually saw Richards convert his tools into a bit of production, the Spurs probably at least have to ponder the possibility of inking the 21-year-old to a minimum deal and sticking him in Austin for a couple years.
Marcus Denmon B+
Relatively speaking, Marcus Denmon did well. He continued the aggression we witnessed in his last affair and mixed in a couple very good passes. I also thought his defense was as good as we've seen in summer league. For the first time, Denmon played with the swagger and confidence he played with in college. All that said, he's not going to make it on the Spurs roster this season. Until he converts to the point guard position, Denmon is useless to an NBA team. Hopefully San Antonio can convince him to go to Europe to begin his transition to point guard. If Denmon forces his way into training camp, he'll just end up being released.
L.D. Williams B-
Defensively, L.D. Williams is pretty darn impressive. He's short but he can overwhelm summer league competition with his athleticism. However, on the other end, Williams can't do much unless he's either wide open on the perimeter or he catches the ball in the paint.
Dwight Buycks B+
Dwight Buycks played hard and made big plays to give the Spurs a chance to win. His hustle on defense was contagious and he never hesitated to take open shots. If anything, Buycks tried to do too much at times. Though he's not making the Spurs, the Marquette product has probably earned himself a training camp invite somewhere in the NBA by doing well in summer league.
Alexis Ajinca C+
Playing only six and a half minutes, the 7-foot-2 Alexis Ajinca was invisible. Honestly, it was a fitting end to his summer league showing. Ajinca needs to go back to France and work on making more of a consistent impact.
Cedric Jackson Inc.
After playing really well last game, Cedric Jackson was back to spending most of his time on the bench. He was probably one of the best players on the team -- he just only got one chance to show anything.
Moses Ehambe Inc.
It actually became fun to see how very slow Molasses Ehambe is on the perimeter. Astounding, really.
Alexis Wangmene D
Nepotism got Alexis Wangmene all the way to the starting lineup of a summer league game. My guess is the Toros are up next.
Jacque Vaughn O
Good luck in Orlando, Jacque.