View Single Post
  #5  
Old 07-13-2009, 10:05 PM
King Glorious's Avatar
King Glorious King Glorious is offline
Atlantic City Race Course
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Beaumont, CA
Posts: 4,614
Default

Ok so there are a lot of players to watch here and it's hard to evaluate them all while watching the games so I try to focus on a few and go from there. If someone else surprises me and catches my eye, I'll mention that too. I try to focus on guys that are first year players and a few second year guys that are showing big improvement. I'm not going to bother with guys like Westbrook or Robin Lopez because we expect those guys to play really well since they have shown they have legit NBA ability. Having said that, here are some observations from the first three days.

Houston
I love what I've seen from Joey Dorsey. The guy is a monster on the boards and plays strong defense. He's not much on the offensive end but in three games, he's averaging 14.3 boards and 2.7 blocks. Chase Buddinger has sort of surprised me. He's a really nice shooter and had a big game the other day with 25. He plays well within the offense and is more athletic than I thought he was. He can help the Rockets. For some reason, makes me think of Matt Bullard.

Golden State
Well, it's only summer league but Curry has been as expected. He can flat out score. Scored 27 in the second half the other day to lead the team with 29 for the game. Scored 16 in his first game. He's only shooting 33% and 37.5% from three. Looks very comfortable and has no problems getting his shot off. Gets good looks too. Anthony Randolph has played very well. Two 20-10 games and I think he's ready to be a real impact player for the Warriors at four when they want to run and gun. Has no chance to guard fours though in the half-court. I don't know who this Cartier Martin is but I like him. He's scored 14 and 27 and is looking like the typical guy from nowhere that Nelson finds that produces.

Sacramento
Tyreke Evans is really good. Gets wherever he wants on the court. Had 25-10-5 the other night. Hasn't really shot so well but gets to the line a lot (22 times in two games). Doesn't pass as much as you'd want from your point guard though but maybe that will come. Dontae Green has played pretty well going for 11.5 and seven boards. That Casspi guy they drafted has looked ok but nothing spectacular or enough to look like a consistent contributor.

Detroit
Austin Daye really makes Tayshaun Prince look like the Hulk. He's ridiculously small. But he actually looked pretty good in the second game. Scored 19 and had eight boards and shot pretty well (8-14).

Lakers
Probably nobody makes the team but Ben McCauley has been really nice. Scored 24-15 in the first and really handles himself well inside.

Toronto
Demar DeRozan didn't look like much in the first game but was really nice in the second with 20 on 9-20 shooting. Looks a lot like advertized.

Milwaukee
Brandon Jennings started very slow but started to pick it up at the end of the first game. In the second game, he was great with 23 and eight assists. Hit the three and was tenacious on defense. Very, very quick. Jodie Meeks is really nice. Proving that his numbers at Kentucky were legit. Takes good shots and hits them (13-23 for 15 a game in his first two.) Joe Alexander is looking even worse than he did last year. Just can't shoot at all.

Dallas
Rodrigue Beaubois is interesting. Obviously reminds people of Barbosa. Exploded in the second game for 34 and eight assists and hit seven threes. Need to see a little more but he's a player.

Cleveland
I've liked what I've seen of Danny Green. Shot really well in the first game but not as good in the second. Plays good defense and has a chance to break into Cleveland's rotation.

San Antonio
Dejaun Blair is a beast inside. Like Dorsey, he just has a nose for the ball. Went for 13-10 in his first game. Didn't appear undersized although you know he will be in the NBA. Still, always a place in the game for people who play like him.

New Orleans
Darren Collison surprised me. He played very well. Very balanced with 19 and six assists and even had five boards. Was a bothersome defender. I could see him on the court at times with Paul even though they'd give up a ton of size. I liked the way Julian Wright looked. A lot better than last year. Still very thin and there's no way you can play him with Chandler but at least starting to show the promise of last year. Marcus Thornton looks really good. Looked like he'll be able to score consistently in the NBA and has a good body. He might start for the Hornets.

Minnesota
Wayne Ellington looked like crap. Couldn't hit anything. Shot 2-12 and looked very scared. He's better than that. Johnny Flynn was decent. Had 11 and seven assists and controlled the floor pretty well. Even hit a couple of three's but was way off on other shots. Looked to see what Paul Harris and Gerald Henderson could add. Neither added anything at all.

Oklahoma City
They said James Harden looked good in Orlando. He didn't here. Shot only 1-5 and appeared overmatched on the court. Missed both threes and scored only four points. BJ Mullens got a very limited opportunity and didn't do too much. Scored five but made both of his shots. Looking to see how Shaun Livingston plays. Didn't do much. Didn't look like an NBA player. I'm hoping he makes it back though.

Memphis
Really wanted to see Thabeet. Mixed reviews on him. Scored nine but wasn't the factor on defense that I was expecting. Looked out of position a few too many times. Surprisingly, looked a little more polished on offense than I thought he would. He does look a little better than Oden did on offense. I was really impressed with Marcus Williams. He controlled the whole game. Didn't shoot that well but had 17 assists and played good defense. I was impressed with Jeff Adrien (is this team all former UConn players?). He was strong inside on both ends of the court.
__________________
The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
Reply With Quote