Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:31 pm
Wolves got up big, then frittered away the lead and lost the game in crunch time. Sound familiar? LOL.
A few takeaways from this one:
- I found it somewhat instructive that Beringer didn't play (along with Shannon, Dillingham, Clark, and Miller) but Jesse Edwards and Rocco Zikarsky did. That should make it pretty clear where he is on the depth chart of Centers.
- I really hoped we'd find that diamond in the rough among free agent summer league squad team members, but none really popped to me. If I squint hard enough, I can kind of see the potential in Amari Bailey, but he first needs to figure out the trick to not dribbling it off his leg or an opponent's leg. Once he figures that out, then he can move on to how not to telegraph cross-court passes into the awaiting arms of the opponent.
- Tristen Newton is close to being a serviceable 3rd PG, but he seems like one of these guys that will be just one big strength short of making an NBA rotation. There is nothing he is terrible at, but nothing he's great at either.
- Rocco continues to be slow to react and lacks in "small area quickness", making him not nearly the rim protector he has the potential to be because guys can maneuver around him pretty easily and he's just late a lot in contesting.
- Jesse is a half step faster than Rocco, which isn't saying much, but it definitely enables him to be better at blocking and deterring shots. But offensively he is one of these guys that always has to bring the ball down and has a super long gather in order to go back up with it off boards or post ups in traffic, making it easier to strip or tie him up. He's just kinda weak with the ball...not quite as bad as Rudy, but pretty bad. I put him in the Tristen Newton category of being fundamentally sound and impactful against weaker competition, but just might not have the juice to compete against real NBA players.
That wraps up summer league. It ends with a fizzle!
A fizzle indeed! My take-aways are similar to yours but I’d put Newton in a slightly higher category than Jesse. As you noted, Tristen is not terrible at anything. I’d go far to say that he’s pretty good at just about every facet of his position but certainly not great. In contrast, Jesse is really bad at finishing shots inside. You identified correctly part of the problem as his need to bring the ball down and gather himself before putting the shot up. Another contributor to his finishing problem is that he’s simply physically weak, which was painfully obvious when he couldn’t score at the basket in the final seconds against far smaller players. Yes, he was fouled on the second shot and it should have been called, but he should have finished on his first attempt and even on his second attempt in spite of the contact. As for Newton, after the first SL game I wondered why TC offered him our last two-way deal. But after watching him in the four games thereafter I absolutely see why. He’s solid and, unlike Jesse, I can seen Tristen providing some solid minutes in the regular season if needed.
I had the same thoughts as you about Rocco. I started SL with the hope that his 9’7 standing reach and solid frame would make him a potential defensive asset for us. But after watching him play more minutes today, I have serious doubts about him ever becoming a good rim protector at the NBA level. But I do like his shooting stroke and I think he can become a nice short and mid-range shooter - perhaps even with some three-point range. As I watched him tonight, he started to remind me a big of Luc Longley - and not because they’re both Australian. . Rocco moves like Longley but also seems to have a nice shooting touch like Longley. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Jesse’s already 25 but Rocco’s still 18 so there’s hope that some areas of his game develop to the point where he can become an NBA-caliber player.
In the end, I only saw one NBA caliber player on the floor four the Wolves today and it was Tristen Newton. So I’m hoping Newton signs that two-way deal.
Edward's did have some nice plays on offense earlier in the game. He played 24 minutes and went to the line and took 8 FTs plus added 18 points 4 blocks and a steal. Yeah he also had 6 fouls but he was easily the Wolves 2nd best player in this game. He is very Rudy-esque in his strengths and weeknesses. He was a plus 13 which led the team and he was out there with a few different lineups.
Monster wrote: ↑Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:27 pm
Also the analyst for this game was horrific. Jaylen Clark was pretty fun when he was on with them. I can't believe that analyst never answered the play by play guy's question about how assess talent in SL even if it was one that is truly difficult to answer. He could have said so and moved on but first it was a lengthy awkward silence and then when asked again eventually said said nobody wants to hear what I think. WTF are we listening to to you for then? He also claimed Jesse Edwards was really good offensively...i mean I think I give him more credit on that end than some here but...no.
. Rocco moves like Longley but also seems to have a nice shooting touch like Longley. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Jesse’s already 25 but Rocco’s still 18 so there’s hope that some areas of his game develop to the point where he can become an NBA-caliber player.
