Summer league thread

[Lipoli390]

I watching the Wolves first summer league game today and I'm watching the replay of the Bulls game against Dallas.

Regarding the Wolves, I didn't see any NBA material among our roster players who got in the game. However, three guys were good enough to merit more attention in future summer league games: Marcus Paige, Jack Gibbs and Deonte Burton. Paige and Gibbs showed they can shoot the three. But neither one of these two diminuative PGs showed much else. Deonte Burton didn't do anything very impressive, but he seems quick and fluid for a guy his size. I consider him the most intriguing prospect on our summer league roster. I'm still going to keep my eye on Kingsley. He was a pretty good shot-blocker in college.

Guys who've impressed me so far in other games include Fox, Dennis Smith, Markkenan, Ding, Valentine, and Dunn. Fox is so quick and has a super motor on both ends. He had 5 steals yesterday. Smith looks really impressive. I heard him interviewed and he sounded like he's got his head on straight. He and Fox looked like they could become stars. But of course, this is summer league. :). Dunn didn't shoot particularly well, but he hit some shots and played really well defensively. It will be interesting to watch him this season. He could become the player Thibs thought he's become.

I heard the Thibs interview during the Dallas game. As always, nothing very informative. The Carlisle interview was more interesting. I liked his comment about young players. He said the key to coaching young players is simplicity. I wonder if Thibs would agree.

Heard Zach LaVine interviewed during the Bulls game. I'm going to miss that guy. He's already on the floor dunking and expects to be cleared for 5 on 5 in the next couple weeks. I still think he's going to be a great player. People who've compared him to Jamaal Crawford haven't been watching Zach. LaVine is already a better 3-point shooter at age 22 than Crawford has been over his entire career.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good stuff Lip. We need to keep an eye on Burton because I think he is a guy that could create some real matchup problems for other teams. He has the width and strength of an NFL lineman, but is also quite agile and has some shake to his game. I'm just not sure he'll ever taken his game seriously enough to break through. He just seems a little undisciplined.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Oh, and you mentioned LaVine...cleared for 5 on 5!? If that's the case and it's only mid-July, then I have to believe he'll be ready to go by training camp. Isn't that super fast?

[Lipoli390]

Oh, and you mentioned LaVine...cleared for 5 on 5!? If that's the case and it's only mid-July, then I have to believe he'll be ready to go by training camp. Isn't that super fast?

That is definitely super fast. The guy must be a very quick healer. Actually, there's something about him that tells me we shouldn't be surprised.

[Lipoli390]

Watching some of these players in summer league, especially a couple of guys on the Mavs' summer league roster, has me asking the same quesiton many of us have asked repeatedly for years. Why can't the Wolves find and sign players like Ding and Yogi? Who are our scouts? They apparently get taken in by players like Adrienne Payne but never find the under-the-radar gems out there. It's really disappointing.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Watching some of these players in summer league, especially a couple of guys on the Mavs' summer league roster, has me asking the same quesiton many of us have asked repeatedly for years. Why can't the Wolves find and sign players like Ding and Yogi? Who are our scouts? They apparently get taken in by players like Adrienne Payne but never find the under-the-radar gems out there. It's really disappointing.

And don't forget Dallas picking up Seth Curry and making him into a real shooting/scoring threat last season.

You are correct. Our track record at finding and developing the proverbial diamond in the rough is horrible. As we've talked about before, a LOT of things need to go wrong for a team to miss the playoffs 13 consecutive years in a league where 50% make them every year.

[Duke13]

I watching the Wolves first summer league game today and I'm watching the replay of the Bulls game against Dallas.

Regarding the Wolves, I didn't see any NBA material among our roster players who got in the game. However, three guys were good enough to merit more attention in future summer league games: Marcus Paige, Jack Gibbs and Deonte Burton. Paige and Gibbs showed they can shoot the three. But neither one of these two diminuative PGs showed much else. Deonte Burton didn't do anything very impressive, but he seems quick and fluid for a guy his size. I consider him the most intriguing prospect on our summer league roster. I'm still going to keep my eye on Kingsley. He was a pretty good shot-blocker in college.

Guys who've impressed me so far in other games include Fox, Dennis Smith, Markkenan, Ding, Valentine, and Dunn. Fox is so quick and has a super motor on both ends. He had 5 steals yesterday. Smith looks really impressive. I heard him interviewed and he sounded like he's got his head on straight. He and Fox looked like they could become stars. But of course, this is summer league. :). Dunn didn't shoot particularly well, but he hit some shots and played really well defensively. It will be interesting to watch him this season. He could become the player Thibs thought he's become.

I heard the Thibs interview during the Dallas game. As always, nothing very informative. The Carlisle interview was more interesting. I liked his comment about young players. He said the key to coaching young players is simplicity. I wonder if Thibs would agree.

Heard Zach LaVine interviewed during the Bulls game. I'm going to miss that guy. He's already on the floor dunking and expects to be cleared for 5 on 5 in the next couple weeks. I still think he's going to be a great player. People who've compared him to Jamaal Crawford haven't been watching Zach. LaVine is already a better 3-point shooter at age 22 than Crawford has been over his entire career.

Lip, you wanted no part of Dennis Smith predraft because of his motor and other personality issues. You flip flop quickly. He's the guy I would of taken. Would of been interesting to see him along with our young core develop but we needed to make the playoffs this year or the world was going to end. Oh well...

[Lipoli390]

I watching the Wolves first summer league game today and I'm watching the replay of the Bulls game against Dallas.

Regarding the Wolves, I didn't see any NBA material among our roster players who got in the game. However, three guys were good enough to merit more attention in future summer league games: Marcus Paige, Jack Gibbs and Deonte Burton. Paige and Gibbs showed they can shoot the three. But neither one of these two diminuative PGs showed much else. Deonte Burton didn't do anything very impressive, but he seems quick and fluid for a guy his size. I consider him the most intriguing prospect on our summer league roster. I'm still going to keep my eye on Kingsley. He was a pretty good shot-blocker in college.

Guys who've impressed me so far in other games include Fox, Dennis Smith, Markkenan, Ding, Valentine, and Dunn. Fox is so quick and has a super motor on both ends. He had 5 steals yesterday. Smith looks really impressive. I heard him interviewed and he sounded like he's got his head on straight. He and Fox looked like they could become stars. But of course, this is summer league. :). Dunn didn't shoot particularly well, but he hit some shots and played really well defensively. It will be interesting to watch him this season. He could become the player Thibs thought he's become.

I heard the Thibs interview during the Dallas game. As always, nothing very informative. The Carlisle interview was more interesting. I liked his comment about young players. He said the key to coaching young players is simplicity. I wonder if Thibs would agree.

Heard Zach LaVine interviewed during the Bulls game. I'm going to miss that guy. He's already on the floor dunking and expects to be cleared for 5 on 5 in the next couple weeks. I still think he's going to be a great player. People who've compared him to Jamaal Crawford haven't been watching Zach. LaVine is already a better 3-point shooter at age 22 than Crawford has been over his entire career.

Lip, you wanted no part of Dennis Smith predraft because of his motor and other personality issues. You flip flop quickly. He's the guy I would of taken. Would of been interesting to see him along with our young core develop but we needed to make the playoffs this year or the world was going to end. Oh well...

Duke -- Smith's play was impressive as was his post-game interview. My post relayed those observations. But lots of NBA analysts were questioning Smith's attitude and those analyst reviews were the sole source of my misgivings about Smith. I still have those misgivings and I still wouldn't have taken him in the draft. But based on one summer league game and one post-game interview, I saw hope for Smith proving me and many others wrong. I've always known, along with the rest of the world, that Smith had the physical tools to be great. So I haven't flipped flopped on Smith yet. :). And it's probably a bit early for you to start crowing about your draft prognostications.

[Lipoli390]

Watching some of these players in summer league, especially a couple of guys on the Mavs' summer league roster, has me asking the same quesiton many of us have asked repeatedly for years. Why can't the Wolves find and sign players like Ding and Yogi? Who are our scouts? They apparently get taken in by players like Adrienne Payne but never find the under-the-radar gems out there. It's really disappointing.

And don't forget Dallas picking up Seth Curry and making him into a real shooting/scoring threat last season.

You are correct. Our track record at finding and developing the proverbial diamond in the rough is horrible. As we've talked about before, a LOT of things need to go wrong for a team to miss the playoffs 13 consecutive years in a league where 50% make them every year.

I wonder how much Thibs changed our scouting staff. He's talked a lot lately about how they rely on their scouting staff. It's a reminder of how important it is for and NBA organization to have really good scouts. If we have mainly the same scouts we've had the past 10 years, including those who raved about Payne, then I would expect the same results for the next 10 years. I have a lot of confidence in Thibs eye for talent, but he necessarily has to rely on his scouting staff, especially to find the diamonds into rough.

[Lipoli390]

Isaiah Thomas talked a bit about Thibs during the Wolves/Raptors game. He said he admired Thibs for building and coaching a team the way he wants to rather than copying the Warriors approach. In other words, he recognized the obvious. Thibs hasn't moved on from his vision of how you win an NBA championship. To Thibs it's about defense and grinding it out with half-court possessions, two-pointers and getting to the line. That's how his Bulls teams played. That's the style the Memphis Griz have been playing. As Memphis showed, that style, if played really really well, it can get you to the playoffs and make you a tough out in the playoffs. But I quesiton whether it can win a championship or even get you into the top 3 in the West. But we'll see.