zlavine01.jpg

By Rick Fois

2014 Summer League Day 1 & 2 Recap
2014 Summer League Day 3 Recap
2014 Summer League Day 4 Recap

2014 Summer League Day 5 Recap

Player of the Day

Zach LaVine: he played his best game so far leading the T-Wloves to the win against Phoenix. Zach, like yesterday, played most of the game as PG and he was very impressive. He can create shots so easily, has a quick release and finished the day with 20 points and 3 rebounds. LaVine attacked the rim very often and it is crazy to think what this 19 years old can become once he builds his lower body strength and learns how to use his left hand to finish around the rim. A well known, well respected NBA scout nearby described him as a future all-star for many years.

Biggest Disappointment

Tyler Ennis: his game today showed the limitations of this player, who is unable to beat anybody from the dribble and once again shot the ball very poorly. He was solid in running the team with 5 assists but a future PG can’t have game with 3 points in 24 minutes, and 0/6 from the floor. His offensive problems in creating with the ball in hands is what is most troubling about him. Today he lost the duel with LaVine on both defense and offense and the Suns struggled a lot in running their offense. He will not see a lot of playing time until he gets stronger and improves his shooting, but I’m not sure he will ever be able to get by somebody.

Biggest Surprise

Tony Mitchell: lead the D-league team to the biggest upset of the day beating the Denver Nuggets, Mitchell was a beast. He set the pace of the game in the first half attacking the basket hard in transition and making plays for his team. In the second half he was even better with some difficult finishes in traffic, using his strong body. He was impossible to stop for the Nuggets defense and ended up with 26 points on just 12 shots and 4 rebounds leading the D-league to the second round of the tournament and showing he has the skills to compete against NBA players of any level.

Top Performers

TJ Warren: he is playing an outstanding Summer League. He doesn’t need plays run for him to score, can attack the basket and uses his strong body to handle contact and finish after a foul. He had 26 points on 18 shots, 3 rebounds and 0 TO, basically keeping the Suns team in the game by himself in the second half. Warren showed once again the ability to score the basketball in multiple ways, a great motor and aggressiveness in defense. Looks more and more like a guy who can immediate contribute for the Suns.

Giorgi Dieng : Dieng had a very impressive game under the boards today grabbing 19 rebounds and scoring on some of those offensive rebounds for a total of 13 points. His energy and motor were great and though he had a tough match up against Plumlee, he looked very confident, making shots and running the floor extremely well. While on defense he contained Plumlee in helping the T-Wolves secure the W.

Gal Mekel: the crafty Israeli point guard played his best summer league game today in a losing effort against the Hornets. Gal was great on pick and rolls, making the right reads and was able to breakdown the Hornets defense multiple times, finishing the game with 17 pts, 5 reb and 6 assists.

Giannis Adetokoubo: The Greek Freak was the only player to impress for the Bucks today while they were trashed by the San Antonio Spurs by 30 points. Giannis played a lot of minutes continuing to show improvements in his offensive game. 20 points with 8/13 from the floor and 7 rebounds are important number for the youngster and the best thing for him is that the ceiling is still very far from being reached.

Kyle Anderson: he was great in the first half as he scored 14 points, attacked the basket in transition and made his nice reads. He also added 3reb and 2 assist, not huge number but he only played 19 minutes when the game was still competitive. It looked today he’s still adjusting to the Spurs system and finding his space to contribute to the team.

Keith Benson: the Clippers big had a huge game today with impact thoughout and he wasn’t able to come out of the game with a W today vs. the Heat. Benson run the floor extremely well, and took advantage of the opportunity he had scoring 18 points in 21 minutes, with 7/8 on field goals and adding 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Justin Hamilton: one of the reasons the Heat came out with a win today was the great performanc of Hamilton. 18 points on 8/12 shooting (including 1 three pointer) 5 rebounds and a consistent threat to the Clippers defense who struggled to find the right match up for him.

Dwight Buycks: he was again very good for the Raptors, shooting the ball well, attacking the basket with his quick first step and making some great passes. 24 points with 16 shots and 4 assists weren’t enough to defeat the Rockets but Buycks particularly in the first quarter was absolutely unstoppable. The defense focusing on him was the key for Rockets to take home the W, also a great sign of respect to him.

Draft Watch:

Bruno Caboclo: the Brazilian mystery man started the game really hot from outside with a couple of 3 pointers (also hit the board from a corner three). He cooled off in the second half as the Rockets pulled away for the W. 12 points in 20 minutes is still a good start for Caboclo, who played well defensively but also lost too many balls (he had 4 TO) something he will have to work on for sure.

Jabari Parker: Jabari struggled, like almost the entire Bucks team today. He particularly didn’t seem to find his rhythm on offense with 7 TO he had today shows. He has being great attacking the basket and getting fouled, as he shot 13 FT today but he is not shooting well from outside the paint. 4 rebounds aren’t also enough even if you are a tactical PF. Like the fact that he is able to find his points even when he is not shooting well, but needs to do more than just scoring to become a franchise player.

Noah Vonleh: third double double for him after the first nightmare game. Today he played really well in the Hornets miraculous come back against the Mavs. 14 points, 10 rebounds and a good presence on defense for him in the big Hornets Win.

Gary Harris: after his first game he is really having a hard time in making shots, and partially it is because of the bad shots he is taking with 18 or 20 seconds still on the 24 clock. He did score 15 points today but shot a dreadful 5/18. Taking better shots will increase his percentages exponentially, it will be part of his growth in this first year in the league.

Facebooktwitterredditmail

2 Comments

  1. Parker

    Parker will have a huge scoring load his rookie season, but he should try to set plays for others too. I know this is demanding of a player his age, but he must be willing to pass out to teammates and let others take a bit of the load too. He is talented, that is a given, but he isn’t always going to be the best player on the court anymore. For Parker to be the star he wants to be and can be, he has to play more team ball.

  2. Parker

    Parker will have a huge scoring load his rookie season, but he should try to set plays for others too. I know this is demanding of a player his age, but he must be willing to pass out to teammates and let others take a bit of the load too. He is talented, that is a given, but he isn’t always going to be the best player on the court anymore. For Parker to be the star he wants to be and can be, he has to play more team ball.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.