Celtics Summer League
- Thread starter wade boggs chicken dinner
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I cannot wait until Jaylen is out there with Horford/Morris/Hayward/IT4. The floor is going to be full of space and he is going to have some monster in game dunks.
I have no idea what this means, but I'm going with that it's good
Easily his best game so far. Also like how he rolls on the pick and roll, though hasn't gotten the pass so much on those.
We all know that Tatum looks as good as billed. However Semi may be the new binky for a lot of us. If he can do a bit of what he has done this week against actual NBA players, he is going to be a very useful piece for Stevens and the C's.
I've said this before and will continue saying this. Comparing Jason Kidd to Lonzo Ball is like comparing Allen Iverson to Yogi Ferrell because they are both under 6'.
From the time he was in high school until he was something like 35, Jason Kidd was always - and I mean always - the best athlete on the court. While Kidd's shot was flunky, he could do everything else. Not only was he the best passer, he was an incredible defender and the best rebounder from the guard position.
That's not Lonzo Ball.
This is maybe implicit in the observation about Kidd's athleticism and D and rebounding but he was also strong as a bull. Whenever the C's went up against his Nets teams it was just a helpless feeling knowing he was going to do whatever he wanted out there, even without a great shot. Speaking of the '02 series, just laughed out loud checking the box scores and seeing that the C's rolled in game 2 despite Pierce and Walker combining to shoot 14-52 from the floor and 13-23 from the line (at 3-20 and 11-20, that must have been PP's worst shooting game ever).
As for tonight, definitely some fatigue for Tatum, who didn't quite have the same jump in his step after the first quarter. Eager to see him in space with the big club because the SL offense hasn't really put him in position for many open catch and shoot situations, so we're not seeing how he attacks close outs and such. He's good on the glass.
Pretty good work on D and the boards by Jaylen. Good to see him looking to pass a bit out of the post.
Semi was really good again, on both ends. He looks really comfortable in open catch and shoot situations and was causing problems on D. Like this guy quite a bit, certainly more than the other 2nd rd guys we've grabbed lately. Potentially a ready-made NBA skill set.
Huge step forward tonight for Zizic. Active on the glass, some blocks, held his own on switches (wasn't embarrassed at least), set a couple mammoth picks. Just looked a lot more comfortable all around tonight. Progress is good.
Totally agree. But my specific point was not comparing them, simply that the previous comment was a bit off. In particular, just because a PG can't break people down off the dribble and play plus defense doesn't mean they are destined for being an average backup.
Def recommend summer league to anyone in the area (at least when the lakers aren't playing). Went for basically the whole day today, even getting there partway through the first game no trouble getting a great seat.
Somehow ended up sitting with the Tatum clan when they moved up to our section right before the Cs game. His 3 year old sister in her custom Tatum shirt is adorable.
Then ended up sitting 3rd row court side behind the Spurs bench. Spurs summer league team is like a hybrid of the best of New England college basketball the last few years with Hanlan Lalanne and Bentil. Hanlan would be the best pg on the Cs summer league team by a lot and is probably the 3rd best pg on the Spurs summer roster....
Somehow ended up sitting with the Tatum clan when they moved up to our section right before the Cs game. His 3 year old sister in her custom Tatum shirt is adorable.
Then ended up sitting 3rd row court side behind the Spurs bench. Spurs summer league team is like a hybrid of the best of New England college basketball the last few years with Hanlan Lalanne and Bentil. Hanlan would be the best pg on the Cs summer league team by a lot and is probably the 3rd best pg on the Spurs summer roster....
BTW, check out the video below (compilation of Semi's defensive sequences) and tell me if you still think Ojeleye doesn't have any lateral quickness. The second defensive sequence where he guarded three different players - after switching twice - and then contesting the shot shows outstanding lateral movement for a man his size.
Plus, I can't think of a time that he's really been blown by on defense.
I thought the defensive intensity in general was very good in that game. Brown and SO both stood out.
Glad you're seeing that.
Also note that a bunch of the videos are from the Jazz and Spurs games - i.e., the UT league. In particular the (I think) 4th clip is where he switches on to Exum and keeps Exum in front of him. I also think there's a clip of him keeping Murray in front of him as well.
I'll eat crow too: I was very impressed watching him last night. He was covering guys much larger than him, including Swanigan and Collins, and refused to be backed down and performed credibly on the boards. He obviously moves his his feet really well: there was a possession against Gutierrez and one against Layman where he basically forced a turnover by staying in front of him. I thought his hands looked pretty good, too: there were a couple of deflections, if I remember correctly.
After watching him more closely I've become skeptical of his steal rate from college (perhaps just irrational Summer league exuberance ) and really wish there were hustle stats available from college so I could see how many deflections he turns up. I know they're counting them for summer league because they're running an article on it every day (De'Aaron Fox is a daily mention) but they're not publishing the stats.
Excited by Jaylen making 3 pointers above the break, too.
Lonzo apparently injured and won't play against Fox and the Kings.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19956044/lonzo-ball-los-angeles-lakers-miss-matchup-vs-deaaron-fox-sacramento-kings-groin-injury
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19956044/lonzo-ball-los-angeles-lakers-miss-matchup-vs-deaaron-fox-sacramento-kings-groin-injury
I wonder if his low steal rate is a result of him guarding bigs/non ball handlers in college. I'm not sure just speculating.
This kid can be a small ball 5. Zubac couldn't move him an inch. He could switch any PnR in that role too. A Smart Hayward jaylen crowder semi lineup gives me more than a semi amirite? Bulldog city.
That's interesting and plausible. I know SMU ran a lot of zone, too -- maybe that was a factor too? I also don't know how long it takes for steal % to stabilize. I've spent some time looking and couldn't turn anything up.
Any stat mavens have an idea?
If he was injured last week, why run him out there at all?
Groin looked okay on that dunk to get the triple-double.
Jaylen Brown, doing good deeds: https://sports.yahoo.com/jaylen-brown-hosting-welcome-nba-night-underage-rookies-las-vegas-201903171.html
Ahaha this was my exact instant reaction. Guessing this is why his shot has been terrible too....
Judging Zizic off his first few games in days immediately following him relocating to a new country, new league, and new teammates as a 20-year old always seemed foolhardy to me. He didn't remotely appear to be the same player we've seen this winter and for good reason. Zizic will be fine in time.
It's mostly unfair anyway because the kid was hyped to death and had unrealistic expectations put on him. He's been touted as a mid lottery talent in the 2016 draft many times over and people were pegging him in for 20-25 minutes a night. If you look at him as a mid 20 something pick, he looks pretty promising.
What he provided last night is what this team has been missing for awhile. He's a guy who will be active on the glass and most of his offensive game will be put backs and dunks. It'll be nice to have the option to sacrifice some spacing for rebounding if we are getting killed on the boards. I'm willing to chalk the bad start up to conditioning and learning the difference between team play and hero ball.
Markkanen was great in the first game looking like an NBA starter in short time........then this game happened lol.
He should be
Also regarding Semi, might be based on a small sample size (or my selective observations) but he seems much more comfortable shooting when he has a chance to set his feet.
I'm sure this is 100% the Lakers decision and not Ball ducking a matchup with Fox. Just like stuff with his Dad we must recognize what Lonzo Ball the person is doing and not lumping others (Dad and the Lakers) decisions into Lonzo's. He seems like a pretty down to earth and likeable kid.
Quoted, because I truly do not know if I should be celebrating this or throwing a tomato at it, but I firmly believe either way that it should be acknowledged.
Definitely celebrating. I hoping for him to have a monster game so we can see some 'AnteClimax!' headlines...