Re: The Official Summer League Thread

[Sam]

And now, in the second half, it's something like Deshawn Sims 10, Charlotte 2. The Celts have had the lead to 26. Ryan Thompson is now joining Sims in the scoring parade. And these guys are taking it to the hoop.

Del Negro now head coach of Clippers.

Sam

[112288]

Like this kid Simms. He played center for Michigan the final 2 years which is not his position. At 6'8' he is a natural 3 possibly 4 and was not given time to work on those positions. Bring him to camp!

112288

[Sam]

I have to agree, 112288. He's lively out there. I'm going to try to zoom in on his defense now.

Loving Janning too.

Sam

[bobheckler]

Players whose stock clearly rose today: Janning, Sims and Erden. Players whose stock clearly fell today: Lafayette, Wittman. Players whose stock neither rose nor fell (i.e. they played to expectations, meaning they're still on the bubble): Carroll, Gaffney. Harangody played to expectations, pretty much, but he's gonna make the cut anyway.

Saying that Erden's stock clearly rose says nothing, considering his first outing was sooo bad. My concern is that he appeared to be muscled around by Nathan Jawai, the big aborigine. Still, he did ok.

Janning and Sims had a great day. Janning scored 20 or so on high percentage shooting from everywhere. He also was given the point guard responsibilities (which I thought was interesting considering Carroll was on the floor too). Sims had a lively body and drained 3s from the corner and put it on the floor and took it to the iron. They both looked very good today.

Nothing Ryan Wittman did out there today told me he should be on the team. His offense was non-existent and he was never in position on defense against his man. Lafayette is a turnover machine. Both Janning and Carroll did a good enough handling the ball as to make Oliver Lafayette superfluous.

Carroll is a dead-eye shooter with size and strength handicaps. Gaffney's a pest on defense, but is he showing enough to make the cut to real camp? One thing that Gaffney showed me is that he knew his man. His man didn't have an outside game, so Gaffney fell off him but was all over him down low. That shows IQ.

There was a whistle on almost every sequence in the 2nd half. If a player played aggressively on either offense or defense, there was a whistle. Made it very tough to see if the players could play through adversity.

bob

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[112288]

Sam, Carroll looks good as well. Lot's of decisions!

112288

[Sam]

Bob,

At least the refs didn't make something like a dozen palming calls today. I agree that many NBA players carry the ball constantly. But I just wish they'd either call it consistently (which would probably leave the league with three fans, of which I'd be one) or not call it consistently.

I like what Sims said after the game about being able to guard either the three or four positions. I see his potential value to the Celtics as being a 6' 7" or 6' 8" athletic forward to contribute some tough defense on someone like Lebron.

The more I see of Lafayette, the less I appreciate him. They're giving him loads of minutes, obviously hoping he can do the job. But I don't believe his strength is as a PG, and there are a lot of 6' 4" shooting guard wannabes.

I want to see more of Sims, Janning, Harangody, and even Erden (who played very good ball today). If I were to pick two others on a "what the heck?" basis, they'd be Carroll and Thompson.

Sam

[bobheckler]

Here's the link to the boxscore for today's game against the Bobcats.

http://www.nba.com/summerleague/games/20100707/CHABOS/gameinfo.html

Sims scored 18 points on 8-11 shooting, 1-2 from 3 and a block in just 16 minutes. Very nice, efficient production from the young man. Janning had 20 points on 8-15 shooting, 2-4 from 3, 8 rebounds 3 assists and 2 turnovers. That's the same number of assists and turnovers as Lafayette. Not bad for Janning, not good for Lafayette. Carroll had 3 assists and only 1 turnover. Oliver who?


bob

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[bobheckler]

Here's the blog from the Globe after the game against the Bobcats today. One of the things its says is that Janning was scheduled to get on a plane tonight and fly to the Vegas league and play for Phoenix but Danny met him as he walked off the court and suggested that he stick around.

Way to go, Danny!! If this kid can really play like this, I definitely want him in our camp.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/

bob

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[bobheckler]

anybody know how to get today's summer league game without NBA TV?

[bobheckler]

Never mind. I found it.

[Sam]

Semih and the Celtics have started out strong again against Indiana. Semih powered to the hoop and hit two resulting freebies. Then he threw a beautiful inside pass for a layup. Harangody hit a turnaround jumper that was a pro shot. Thompson's being aggressive.

I'd like to see more out of Gaffney. Too bad Janning went to Vegas.

Sam

[Sam]

Something I don't like about Semih is the fact that he never goes to the hoop when a teammate shoots. He just stands there and watches the other team and Harangody or Gaffney fight for the rebound. He had the appearance of a banger, but he doesn't bang.

Sam

[bobheckler]

Gaffney's playing pretty good defense. He also cut to the hoop a few times and would have had layups or dunks if they had passed to him. Not his fault, he was in the right place.

Erden's looking ok on offense. Not great TEAM defense.

Harangody's still looking good.

[bobheckler]

30-15 Celts after 1.

Thompson out of Rider looks smooth on offense.

Remember Marcus Landry? He came to Boston with Nate in that trade. Well, he's playing for Indiana's summer team. Harangody posted him up.

Wish Janning was still there. I wanted to see more of him.

[Sam]

Yeah, I'd give Janning an invitation to training camp right now, along with Harangody and probably Sims, with Thompson and Carroll as outside possibilities. Thompson and Janney seem like the type of guys who will be more productive among better players. Sims is adjusting to a new position, having played center in college, and he seems to have all the tools. Probably because of his center experience, he seems comfortable operating around the offensive boards.

Wow, did you see that twisting reverse under the basket—and one—by Sims? I definitely want to see him in camp.

Sam

[bobheckler]

Yeah, I'd give Janning an invitation to training camp right now, along with Harangody and probably Sims, with Thompson and Carroll as outside possibilities. Thompson and Janney seem like the type of guys who will be more productive among better players. Sims is adjusting to a new position, having played center in college, and he seems to have all the tools. Probably because of his center experience, he seems comfortable operating around the offensive boards.

Wow, did you see that twisting reverse under the basket—and one—by Sims? I definitely want to see him in camp.

Sam

I agree. Without Nate, we have an opening for backup pg and that could be Janning or Carroll.

I like the twisting reverse, but I REALLY loved his two offensive rebounds. One off a missed ft and the other just taking it away from someone. He has also shown he can shoot from mid-range and 3.

[Sam]

Man, I like Sims. He's defending George very well (was he the #8 or #10 pick?). He can post up, shoot from the corner, goes very well to the hoop, had the obvious kind of athleticism the Celtics need. He seems to know his way around the court and, unlike a lot of these guys who are just playing run-and-heave, has a lot of poise and patience.

Sam

[bobheckler]

51-38 Celts at the half.

Erden's looking a little better on defense, but I'm still not all that impressed.

Sims is a keeper. He's making steals, he's getting offensive boards, he's popping out for no-hesitation 18' jumpers from the corner.

Jaycee Carroll has made a good case to be invited to camp, but he's waaay too much shoot-first-pass-second for a pg and at 6'2", that's what he'll play. Still, he's getting the job done against this competition.

Lance Stephenson of Indiana had a knee-to-knee collision with Kravstov earlier in the 1st and they both went down. Kravstov got up and looked around like "what was that?". Stephenson was helped off the court. Kravstov is BIG. If he was any bigger he'd have a cornerstone marking his birthdate.

[Sam]

I could see Sims as a 2/3, Janning as a 1/2, and Harangody a 3/4 (depending on matchups) in the pros. I'm not really seeing any consistent performance from a 5 that bowls me over. We haven't seen Parakhouski today, and Erden and the Russian show occasional flashes but also occasional vulnerabilities having to do with their ponderousness (if that's a word). If a small guys goes right at Erden, it's an automatic foul. Good thing for him that you can't foul out of a summer league game.

Sam

[bobheckler]

I could see Sims as a 2/3, Janning as a 1/2, and Harangody a 3/4 (depending on matchups) in the pros. I'm not really seeing any consistent performance from a 5 that bowls me over. We haven't seen Parakhouski today, and Erden and the Russian show occasional flashes but also occasional vulnerabilities having to do with their ponderousness (if that's a word). If a small guys goes right at Erden, it's an automatic foul. Good thing for him that you can't foul out of a summer league game.

Sam

sam,

I don't see any lateral quickness in any of the Euro big men. Not Erden, not Para nor Kravstov. My impression of Kravstov is that he doesn't really understand the US game and that's why he's so perplexed and frustrated at his fouls.

Normally, all these Ponderousers would get some development time with Hoss on the Ponderosa, but we need at least one of them from the get-go, even with the Jermaine signing. I think it'll be Erden, since he's redeeming himself somewhat from the hideous first game.

[bobheckler]

Harangody running the floor. Whoda thunk that? He's doing a lot of turnaround jumpers from mid-range. Showing off a pretty impressive portfolio of offense and rebounding.

I feel a little bad for Gaffney. He's playing good D, but they're not giving him the ball on offense.

[Sam]

My guess is that Semih would have an edge on the other two as a possible 5th big, but I'm still hoping Sheed will retire, and the Celts will wind up with another big through trade. I'd rather hope for a wing (Sims?) from the summer league or DL than for a big.

Sam

[Sam]

When I look at Harangody's consistent shots from everywhere, his feet moving well on defense and taking charges, his nose for the ball on the boards, and his poise and court sense, I find it difficult to see how he'll be denied a rotation spot. I expect his height will work against him, but he's got a whole lot working for him.

Sam

[bobheckler]

69-50 Celts after 3.

Harangody's gonna need to rest up before real camp. He's getting knocked around like a pinata. He reminds me a little of a bigger, tougher Chris Mullin. Too slow, not enough height on his shot, not enough this and that, but always seems to create the space to get a good shot and drop it. He's a classic tweener.

Kravstov is pretty raw, but I think he could become something. His offense is very rudimentary. They gave him the ball at the free throw line and he was inept with it. He crashed the boards though and is working on defense.

[bobheckler]

well, now we know why a 27 year old kid that can shoot lights out like Carroll isn't in the NBA already. He can't handle the press. His ballhandling skills aren't gonna cut it. He's Eddie House without the years of NBA experience.

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