Reply With Quote
Damn, been missing these. Thanks for the write up!
Dejounte Murray
I had high hopes heading into this game but I didn't see much to like out Murray. On offense, he was a more willing passer than usual but his playmaking was nonexistent – he rarely created an open look for a teammate. With the offense struggling to put points on the board, Murray turned down open lanes to make needlessly difficult passes. On defense, he was soft defending pick-and-rolls and got blown by much too often. All in all, it just wasn't a very good outing for a young player who entered the game looking like a possible starter on the big boy roster. That said, I think he may have injured himself on a dunk early in the game. He came up hobbling and didn't look right after that point – which obviously could explain his lackluster play and also the fact that he played only 16 minutes.
Derrick White
I liked what I saw. White has a very professional, polished game. From his head-fakes and hesitation moves to his court vision and calm demeanor, he looked like a veteran – not a rookie playing in his first summer league game. While he's only going to be an average athlete at best at the NBA level, I thought he passed the eye-test. His shot has a low release but it looks like he gets it off quickly enough to work in the NBA. His speed is good enough and he appears strong enough to finish at the rim. Out of the entire Spurs team, I thought he did the best job at point guard. He made decisive decisions and exhibited multiple ways he can attack a defense in pick-and-rolls. On the other side of the coin, there were still a lot of areas for White to improve. His defense, while intense, was lacking – both individually and team-wise. On offense, he was too sloppy and seemed lost in the sets a lot of the time, particularly when away from the ball.
Bryn Forbes
The Jazz were making Forbes put the ball on the court and the results weren't pretty for the second-year pro. His midrange game was iffy at best and his lack of athleticism was really apparent when trying to finish at the rim. When he got open looks, he didn't hesitate to unleash his pretty stroke – but that didn't happen much this game. Considering he doesn't possess much court vision, Forbes is going to have to learn how to score off the bounce to make it in the NBA. On defense in this game, there wasn't much to like. He got bullied and made to look weak all too often.
Davis Bertans
Well, he's not afraid to shoot the ball. Whenever he had a sliver of daylight, Bertans let it fly. He missed a lot of open shots, which is obviously atypical for the Latvian sharpshooter. I thought his defense was okay; Bertans was the best big at defending pick-and-rolls. He boxed out well and showed above average mobility for a power forward. But if this Spurs summer league squad is going to win, they need Bertans to hit more shots.
Jaron Blossomgame
Blossomgame didn't pass the eye-test, unfortunately. He was active on the boards but everything else was a struggle. His shot is slow, low and he gets little lift. While he can jump high, his mobility is surprisingly suspect. His effort on defense was there but the results weren't. Hopefully he improves as summer league continues but I didn't see a path to NBA success in his first outing.
Livio Jean-Charles
Ever since he tore his ACL after the Spurs drafted him, Jean-Charles has been a poor NBA prospect. In previous campaigns, he's been painfully out of place – even in summer league. However, I saw a different Jean-Charles tonight. It appears as if he has regained some of the explosiveness and relentless energy that allowed him to look like the best player on the court at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit, a game which included the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Imbiid, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle. His freedom of motion was better than I've seen since that 2013 event. However, let us not get too ahead of ourselves. He remains an unskilled energy player who doesn't really have a position. At the very best, he's the next Bo Outlaw. In reality, he probably never makes it to the NBA – but at least there's now a glimmer of hope.
Shayne Whittington
His jumpshot is beautiful, especially for a 6-foot-11, 250-pound bruiser. The rest of his game? Not so much. His hands are stone, his lateral mobility is that of a freight train and his reaction time is as if his brain is connected to his body by a bad internet connection. The Jazz were leaving him open when he was the roll guy and Whittington couldn't do much with the opportunities. For his sake, let's hope this was a case of opening night jitters.
Cory Jefferson
I liked Jefferson's effort and physicality but unfortunately his positives were forgotten amongst the barrage of bricks he battered the rim with. He was looking shot first, second, third and fourth whenever he touched the ball. If he could reel in that aggressiveness and harness it for rebounding, defense and being a force beneath the rim, he could be a standout on this team as summer league progresses.
Olivier Hanlan
He looked improved since the last time I saw him. Hanlan doesn't have much of a ceiling beyond that of a third string point guard but he's starting to hone his formerly raw skills. When at point guard, he defended that position better than his teammates. He looks to be in really good shape and is obviously much more confident in himself. Let's go ahead and upgrade him NBA chances from no-way-no-how to probably-not-but-not-completely-impossible.
Ben Bentil
Wasn't shy. His activity alone has me wanting to see more.
Jeff Ledbetter
Rocking his man bun, it's obvious Ledbetter knows the game. He's a good player to have around in Austin. That's his ceiling.
Damn, been missing these. Thanks for the write up!
Good first post. Welcome to the forum
Well there's a blast from the past.
You nailed Murray. Passing up open lanes, and then driving into obviously heavy traffic when he should have been looking to kick before he ever took off for the rim. I didn't see the play that left him hobbling, but for tonight I'm going to tell myself that was part of the problem.
Was I the only one who thought LJC looked smaller (or at least lighter) than last SL? Maybe my memory is playing tricks, but man he didn't look 6'9", 230 lbs. out there. If you had said, "doesn't really have a position" last year, I might have raised an eyebrow. But tonight I was thinking exactly that. Maybe I just dismissed him too quickly last SL to even think about it.
Cory Jefferson didn't look like the same guy who played in Austin last year. He's been a reasonably efficient shooter - mostly making pretty good shot choices, rather than just throwing up prayers and hoping enough of them fall. Tonight he looked like, well, not that. He did get 10 boards. He was a good rebounder in Austin last year. Maybe he was just trying to do too much tonight, hoping to get that 15 roster spot? It changed Jonathan Simmons' life.
I want to see Bertans play bully-ball. Maybe Pop doesn't. I think he's capable, and I think the Spurs need a bit of that. He's got one of the smoothest strokes out there, so I'm not worried about his 3P shooting, long term. That's just not enough.
I'm pretty optimistic about White, and will continue to be until/unless he proves me wrong.
Summer league got. Can I get MOD privileges for the Main Forum?
With Murray, you don't know what the coaches have told him to focus on during these games. Sometimes it may not be pretty but it's the coaches orders.
Who the is this and why is he posting game thoughts?
Welcome back timvp
Nice.. but Summer league? How about thoughts on PATFO and his offseason plans and FA acquisitions?
Thoughts on summer league:
Simmons doesn't play anymore. SL not worth watching
Thanks for the writeup timvp.
Wow. A Timvp sighting. Cheers
Hi Timvp. Thought you were head of Spurs scouting in New Zealand or something. Nice seeing you again.
Timvp! Nice to see ya!
Can I get a couple of my alts approved? Thanks, got.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Validated my thoughts on why Spurs drafted another PG in the first round. White plays with the maturity of a good NBA player.
I can't say the same about Murray, who still is unfortunately a project that believes he's got the talent to always beat his man off the dribble.
Unfortunate to see Blossomgame being a disappointment. One saving grace is his rebounding.
Forbes unfortunately has the same problems as Patty Mills. He's bigger than Mills but will always have trouble making his shot unless he's open.
The comment about LJC being 'unskilled' tells me that he's really not going to make.
White may mean that not only is Forbes out, but also Murray. Blossomgame will need a miracle to be signed this year.
It's just the first game, but its obvious that the Jazz had plenty more NBA calibre players than the Spurs.
Exactly.... I think he was told to try to be a play maker 1st... He did have some great pssses(Murray). He had a left hand zip pass across court... I was like woooow! His handles are a bit loose, but he grew up watching Crawford... what do you expect. I actually loved his outting. But this White dude!! I'm feeling him too. Under control when he needs to be aggressive, an knows how to finish after gluing cost to coast! I'm ready for more. I wish i couldve seen more from Blossomgame!
Nice toughts !
I agree with that and i like what i saw from White too, his speed and shoot looked good and he shows some maturity.
Except Bertans and Murray i think that only white and maybe jefferson have a shot at the final roster, I'm not sold on Forbes and maybe the Spurs will cut him with all the PG/SG on the roster.
Didn't watch the game but Jesus Christ the shooting percentages for most of the team.
Murray was a huge disappointment for me. If he is the starting pg (like so many on here want) the Spurs are in trouble.
Just treat him normally, don't spook him
Murray is dating a upcoming senior at Reagan High School who is a friend of mines little cousin. From what I heard, being away from her so much being away from her so much has been really hard on this. It could explain some of his struggles. Sucks but at his age young love can really w/ you
Sometimes I think Murray just goes to the gym for pictures for his Snapchat account..
I got that feeling also. Seems like he was only looking to setup his teammates. I think they already know the best part of his game is attacking the rim. That being said I think he needs to be more disciplined or focused out there. Too much sloppyness with some of his passes. He needs to minimize those types of turnovers. Those couple of steals and scores he had on back to back possessions was nice to see though.
I wouldn't go cliff jumping off of one game though. He will be fine...
Maybe because they're not done yet?
Does Pop keep his salary and give him an allowance?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
