[JNixonParticipant]

DeMarcus Cousins flashed that big-time talent level we all know he has. Made some big-time moves facing up and with his back to the rim. Showed light feet for a man his size, which allows him to get moves off. Excellent hands. Good passing ability, but he’s not all that unselfish. Rebounded the ball great. Defense was subpar, as usual, but he did make it a point to bang down low a bit. Is a decent shot-blocker due to his length. He reminds me of Rasheed Wallace. I think he should be a high level contributor next season, he’s got HUGE talent.

Hassan Whiteside is still the same. A raw offensive player who has big-time length, speed, and league-leading shot-blocking ability. He can’t score unless he’s set up. Not a very good defender outside of blocks. He’ll need a year of seasoning, but he may be a back-end rotation player next season.

Omri Casspi isn’t very talented or skilled, but he’s a great athlete with big-time open floor speed. Really excels in transition. Only decent defender. Still will be valuable energy guy on the wing again. Needs to add strength and shooting ability.

Devan Downey played good. Remember him? The little guy who single-handedly beat Kentucky last season? Slashed, created for others, and was a huge pest on D. Not going to make a team though.

Donald Sloan, know that I’m the only person that said you could play in the NBA. He was mediocre to below average tonight, but he has strength and quick to get in the lane and create. Perfect 3rd PG.

Donte Greene played and showed off his instant offensive skills. He’s a mismatch at his size (6’11) shooting 3’s like he does.

Wayne Chism played well, showing off his versatile face-up/post skills. Still, he’s not great at either one, so he’ll probably be a semi-pro.

Sylven Landesburg looked alright, but doesn’t have a standout trait.

Lakers:

Derrick Caracter continues to shine. His loss of weight has given him added athleticism and quickness. Sweet feet and hands down low, as usual. Has a soft touch. Rebounded mediocre, and showed some signs of fatigue after battling with Cousins. Fouls are still a concern on D, and even though he’s not a very good defender, he is willing to bang. Has weakside shot-blocking ability. Continues to look like a steal, who may get some time in the rotation immediately.

Devin Ebanks had his 2nd straight mediocre game. While he has shown a better shot than everyone expected, he rushed shots today again and looked like the Ebanks from WVU offensively. Wasn’t great on D either really, but he has time to improve that with experience. He’s still got the ability to take Luke Walton’s time next season. Good fit for the offense.

[McWinningParticipant]

nice. dd you catch any of the Bucks game? that was epic.

[JNixonParticipant]

Sam Young hit the game-winner!

Also, Larry Sanders is more agile than I thought. There were times were it looked like he operated as a SF.

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

Casspi just had an off game, if you had watched yesterdays Kings game you would have been saying the opposite about him.

[stanford hoops]

i noticed some of the fouls caracter picks up are non nba fouls and his teammates fault. even with that he fouls too much on his own but these guards dont seem to understand that you dont dribble to the corner then when he comes to set a pick you dribble towards the pick before hes even set. or use it and then try to go right back to the pick and he has to set it at the last min…

i think when you see ebanks and caracter at there worst then thats what you can expect to see on average with the lil time they will get in the nba season as far as ebanks getting 7 points and a steal or 2 when givin good minutes

and yeah caracter did look a lil tired banging with cousins then a lil bit with chism..lol..he was gasping for air

[JNixonParticipant]

He’s never been a skilled offensive player. He’s looked like an energetic guy who scores mostly in transition. He was a little worse than usual, but he’s not a guy that you want create his own shots very often.

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

Umm, he is known for his ability to spot up and hit shots, thats how he scored last season, and last game. You are right that he does not create his own shots, but he does not need to normally.

[SteroidParticipant]

What was Cousin’s stat line?

[JNixonParticipant]

Oh so spotting up and hitting shots is what you consider skilled. Well I don’t, so he’s not skilled to me.

Cousins had 19 pts, 12 rbs, 3 asts, 5 TO’s, and 2 blks

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

8-20 for 19 points in 31 minutes; 3-3 for free throws, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

Yes, I do consider hitting shots skilled, ever heard of a person named Peja? He was known for hitting shots just like that and did not really have the ability to create for himself, I believe he was considered skilled until he started to physically decline. Doesn’t the NBA have a three-point contest during the all-star game focused specifically on hitting those same types of shots?

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Not everyone in the NBA needs to excel in creating his own shots. Nor if they struggle in iso situations does that mean they are not skilled. Spot up shooting is a skill whether you want to admit it or not.

And Casspi actually has a good shot and is a good perimeter defender (maybe he lacked the intensity he usually shows defensively because it’s SL? not sure but I couldn’t watch the game so I can’t comment on it)

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

….summer league, no reason to get overly excited.

[JNixonParticipant]

Peja was a good shot-creator off the dribble too.

Shooting doesn’t make you skilled. Alot of people can make spot-up shots. Skilled to me is a guy like Marcus Thornton, who can score shooting the ball or off the dribble creating shots from him self that way. Being a spot-up shooter makes you just that. A spot-up shooter. You aren’t a skilled player if you score spotting up and in transition for your production.

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

Agreed, but no reason to be overly pessimistic either.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

Back in the day Peja could do more than just catch and shoot, he was a very good player back with the Kings

[JNixonParticipant]

^Thank you. Peja was not just a spot-up jump shooter.

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

I realize you are just trying to defend your position but it sounds like you are saying that in order to be skilled you need to be a better than average defender, and a much better than average offensive player. What player that is not considered a great offensive player can shoot well, create their own shot, and score well running the break?

[JNixonParticipant]

What I’m saying is to be a talented or skilled offensive player, you have to score by doing more than making spot-up jump shots and scoring in transition. If you can make spot-up shots, CREATE YOUR OWN SHOTS, and score in transition, then you are a truly skilled offensive player.

I’ve said nothing about Omri Casspi’s defense throughout this entire conversation.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

He’s not overly skilled or overly talented, I don’t think anyone is arguing that– but you’re not giving him the credit he deserves. Hitting spot jumpers is a skill, at least when you hit them at a high rate like Casspi does. He does get to the rim decently, however his biggest struggle is finishing which he has been working on and I assume will improve. His game is more toughness based than skill based but you’re not giving him the credit he deserves

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

My bad on the defense part, I misread what you had originally said. I just think we have different definitions of skilled, I am starting to see what you mean a little bit more, but I still think you should watch him play a couple more games, just for fun.

[JNixonParticipant]

How have I not given him credit? All I said was he’s not very talented or skilled offensively, which is true whether anyone wants to believe it. It’s not like I said he sucked. Y’all keep bringing up shooting as being a skill, but that alone doesn’t make you skilled. It’s a skill yes because its an aspect of basketball, but that doesn’t make you skilled offensively. Not alone. You have to be able to create shots to be skilled. I’ve given him all the credit he deserves.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Because you’re talking as if he is completely inept at creating any sort of offense for himself– He’s not the most skilled guy but he’s not exactly unskilled either. I’ve seen him take defenders off the dribble to the hoop plenty of times. I don’t really know what more I am supposed to say. Yea he falls in love with the jumper at times but he can do some things with the basketball (not great but not bad enough to say he has no skill–he didnt score double digit points his rookie yr on only spot up j’s trust me)

[JNixonParticipant]

“He’s not the most skilled guy but he’s not exactly unskilled either”

–Please show me ONE time where I said he was “unskilled”

“not great but not bad enough to say he has no skill”

–Show me where I said he has “no skill”

If you can’t, that means I didn’t say it. I basically said what you said yourself. That’s he’s not the most skill player. Making a case that a jump shooting, transition scorer is a skilled offensive player is illogical. If he’s skilled, then so are Brandon Rush, Sonny Weems, DeMar Derozan, etc…And that’s obviously not the case

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

“Oh so spotting up and hitting shots is what you consider skilled. Well I don’t, so HE’S NOT SKILLED TO ME”

He didn’t score 12 ppg prior to the all star break by just hitting wide open shots. He does have a decent first step and has some control/strength to finish at the rim–shooting is obviously his strength (you saying he needs to improve his shooting ability tells me you haven’t watched him much)–but he’s better than those guys you listed. He was only a rookie with a lot to learn.

Again, I didn’t watch this game but if you watched Casspi the first game he played very well and took it to the hoop many times–and for what it’s worth he played pretty crappy in SL last year too, I doubt he is more motivated to prove himself this year.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@JNixon-Iggy9

You got attacked by Kings fans lol.

BasketBalAllan wasn’t right when he said Peja didn’t have the ability to create for himself. You don’t average 20 points five seasons in a row without being able to create your own offense. Peja used to have killer one/two dribble pulls and step back moves. He could also put the ball on the floor and take it to the rim. He must be a new Kings fan because he should remember that.

I agree with you. Casspi is a good player. Yes, he can hit the spot up jumper and take it to the rim when needed. He also scores well in transition. He’s a tough player and plays with energy. However, he isn’t a player you want creating his own offense during the regular season. He’s not THAT skilled or talented to be that kind of player.

[JNixonParticipant]

LOL, yeah I did get attacked. It’s cool though. They’re fans of the Kings and I honestly don’t watch alot of Kings games if they aren’t on TV here in Georgia. I don’t agree that he’s skilled though as you see. Never came off as a guy you want creating shots for himself, therefore he isn’t very skilled offensively.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

He is good offensively, but I think some of the Kings fans here are overrating his offensive game. He has skill, but he isn’t a huge offensive threat. He can shoot, and he can get to the rim, but isn’t really a great ball handler. He seems to get to the rim because he is aggressive and initiates contact to get to the hoop and to draw fouls. He also plays to score and isn’t an especially great passer. He wouldn’t get the minutes he does if he didn’t play such an attacking, physical style of basketball to go along with his jump shooting ability.

[GodfatherParticipant]

OMG I LOOOOOOOOOOVE THE SUMMER LEAGUE!!!!!!

NATE ROBINSON MVP!!!!

[Author]

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