2012 Cavs Summer League

[MRMsix6]

Good, because I didn't.

I haven't been on here tooting anyone's horn or on the flip side, bashing anyone. It's summer league, it honestly does not matter. There are guys that kill summer league and do nothing in the NBA and there are guys who get killed in summer league and turn in to very good pros.

It's not worth the time many people devote to it. It's just organized practice where every fringe player is out to "get theirs". Ball movement typically sucks, there's little floor spacing, guys take terrible shots, there's no continuity, many don't play defense and the refs just want to get out of there. It's somewhere in-between And1 and an All-Star game.

Watch it, try to enjoy it but drawing conclusions from it is typically a shot in the dark (at best).

This whole post, specifically the bolded, cannot be overstated.

These games are going to be analyzed because we have nothing better to do as basketball fans. But if people are drawing conclusions about a player's NBA career from one or even five summer league games, we have a problem.

 

[STAT]

The Bobcats pressed for most of their summer league Game 1, and the new coach has talked about pressing and playing uptempo this season. So I don't think it was a gimmick just to get more points off of DJ Kennedy. It just looks a lot more effective when you're throwing a press at him versus other players. We'll see how it works for them in the regular season.

Yup, you're correct here. Mike Dunlap seems to be fairly well-known for his ball pressure defense/transition offense style. The following looks a bit like what we saw last night too.

[video=youtube;yFKWS3bmuJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFKWS3bmuJA[/video]

 

[sailfish]

Here's a funny pic. Check out Zeller & Harangody both mining for gold:

http://ow.ly/i/M1Zq/original

 

[narbar32]

Good, because I didn't.

I haven't been on here tooting anyone's horn or on the flip side, bashing anyone. It's summer league, it honestly does not matter. There are guys that kill summer league and do nothing in the NBA and there are guys who get killed in summer league and turn in to very good pros.

It's not worth the time many people devote to it. It's just organized practice where every fringe player is out to "get theirs". Ball movement typically sucks, there's little floor spacing, guys take terrible shots, there's no continuity, many don't play defense and the refs just want to get out of there. It's somewhere in-between And1 and an All-Star game.

Watch it, try to enjoy it but drawing conclusions from it is typically a shot in the dark (at best).

Yeah, I know you didn't. It was more of an aside.

But Summer League is awesome because it's a series of practices that we get to actually watch. It's an oasis of basketball in a boring desert of stupid baseball (I wish I could convince myself to like baseball... every season I try anew). Plus, we get to see these kids that we've literally JUST been over-analyzing, debating over, projecting, etc... just get out and compete on the court.

You're right, though. Somebody brought him up earlier, but I remember watching Jerryd Bayless in Summer League and just marveling at how the kid blew by everybody, getting into the paint absolutely at will. I remember JJ Hickson and Marreese Speights both looking like total steals where they were picked during their first Summer League, commentators in awe of the constant stream of thunderous dunks each put on display. I loved Joey Dorsey despite the fact that he's about a 6'2'' center and found myself upset that we didn't have him after he ate up all the rebounds in his first Summer League.

I remember Luke Jackson not wowing anybody in his first Summer League and Pavs looking like a disinterested chucker when he was forced to play Summer League games. Ok... sometimes Summer League play does actually end up being an accurate barometer of talent.

I'm glad MKG wasn't able to play because I know I get overzealous watching these games and watching him dry hump our wings up and down the court for 30 minutes would have been painful, given how badly I wanted him to end up a Cav and given Dion's poor debut. But Dion will not see that bullshit garbage can defense in the NBA and his game is the kind that is most stifled by a zone defense, particularly when he doesn't have shooters around him to bust it up (Hi, Kyrie). With Kyrie out there alongside Dion and if Zeller can hit the mid-range shot with consistency, that zone is toast. Kyrie would also make a highlight reel just out of breaking the press if they tried that shit against him (cue Olympics gif?).

More than anything, though, Summer League is just good old fashioned fun. It's fun to see what the high picks are doing. It's fun to get over-excited. Hell, Zeller just changed my mind about him in one meaningless game, even though I know it's meaningless. It's just part of being a fan. It's also entertaining to watch guys like Garrett Temple try to play basketball and wonder what their day jobs will end up being.

 

[Pioneer10]

narbar: i did like your take about lack off the ball movement with Waiters.
It will be interesting to see if he gets better with that as well as unfortunately I think this is related to the offense they ran at Syracuse: the Orange games I caught with them there talented guards they would pass to each other on the perimeter and wait for an opening to drive but didn't feature a lot of backdoors or pick and pop type of play.

Just one game obviously and we'll see how that changes when Irving gets back

 

[Surge]

Here's a funny pic. Check out Zeller & Harangody both mining for gold:

http://ow.ly/i/M1Zq/original

Must have been a RIVETING part of practice. I'd consider Zeller's more of a "scratch" but Gody is knuckle-deep and Tristan looks like he's wrist deep into a junk-adjust. :chuckles:

 

[jhard]

Must have been a RIVETING part of practice. I'd consider Zeller's more of a "scratch" but Gody is knuckle-deep and Tristan looks like he's wrist deep into a junk-adjust. :chuckles:

Sam-Sam is pondering some Einstein level brilliance as well.

 

[Jon]

Well, ya, of course. That goes without saying. But, talent is often lost when overwhelmed by a loser's mentality, idiocy, ego, entitlement, etc. I think the main point was that proven winners bring a tremendous intangible that is undoubtedly necessary in fostering a winning environment. We've all seen a [plethora of teams, in all sports, that just ooze talent all over the place, but can never seem to bring it all together. True leadership is often the missing element. I think the percieved core of this team has a great combination of talent and the aforementioned winning pedigree.

Absolutely, but a lot of championships have been won with some talented knuckleheads, prima-donnas, me-first types, and jerks on board as well. Certainly CG is trying to balance things. He's not ignoring talent and upside potential. But we'll just have to see how it goes.

 

[Rich]

I just find it so hard to put any stock into anything that ever happens in summer league ever since Anthony Randolph score 1324 points in a game and was going to be a sure-fire all-star for years to come. And yet, here we are years later and he can't get off the damn bench on some of the worst teams in the league.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

I just find it so hard to put any stock into anything that ever happens in summer league ever since Anthony Randolph score 1324...

really unnecessary low blow

And THIS will be the year that Randolph takes over. Probably will be Denver Nuggets bound.

Unleash the greatness

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

really unnecessary low blow

And THIS will be the year that Randolph takes over. Probably will be Denver Nuggets bound.

Unleash the greatness

I'm looking forward to a few years down the road when we can get Anthony Randolph, Earl Clark, and Perry Jones all on the same team with Lamar Odom as the Head Coach.

Gonna dominate the D-League, no doubts.

 

[Rich]

So I'm only watching the box score, but man, DJ Kennedy has to be super bad. 6 minutes and he's got a solid row of 0s, aside from the 1 turnover. That's impressive shit in a summer league game.

 

[Ohio]

Dion needs to do something out there. Christ.

Zeller looks like he was the #4 pick.

 

[PosterTime]

Yup. Zeller looks like our #4 pick and Dion doesn't even impress me if we took him at #17 or lower...

 

[catfish]

Waters did finally "pop" a little at the end of the game. Extremely frustrating to see him throwing the ball around the perimeter with Sloan. Caught a couple of glimpses however of what the CAVS saw. Hope we see more of that. Zeller looks like a 12-15 year starter in the association with possibilty of being a 20/10 guy. I think we can see after 2 games that drafting him 17 was a misdraft. If he is not a top 10 pick I dont know what one is. Guess the only reason he went low was he was a senior. Comparing him to Drummond is a joke.