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https://forum.midwestvolleyball.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=26840
AbeVigodaLive wrote:I know the summer league has taken on a new life... really popular right now.
I also think that it's probably pretty obvious almost immediately which players are legit NBA players and which ones are not...
monsterpile wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:I know the summer league has taken on a new life... really popular right now.
I also think that it's probably pretty obvious almost immediately which players are legit NBA players and which ones are not...
Maybe. I remember Amile looking pretty bad last year then he went on to be one of the best players in the G-league just keeps putting up numbers at the summer league level.
lipoli390 wrote:I'm back from Vegas. I watched tonight's game on DVR after watching the Wolves first two games courtside in Vegas. Here's my overall take on what I saw.
First, I'm sad to say, I didn't see anyone on our Summer League squad who excited me.
I liked the hustle, grit and quick hands of Okogie and he looked like he has the makings of a decent, perhaps really good, 3-point shot. He has a knack for drawing fouls and rebounds well. Watching him confirmed what we all read about him coming out of college -- the good and the bad. Scouting reports questioned his handle and those reports were correct. His handle needs a lot of work before he can become an effective wing player at the NBA level. I also recall reading that he tended to get his shot blocked a fair amount. That tendency was readily apparent in the 3 Summer League games so far. I think he can contribute this upcoming season off the bench con the defensive end, but I'm not sure how much more we'll get out of him. Eventually, I think he'll become a very good NBA player because of his wingspan, athleticism combined with his intensity and drive. He's also a decent passer with pretty good court awareness. But unfortunately, Okogie is not the second coming of Donovan Mitchell. Let's hope that, with patience, he turns out to be the second coming of Jimmy Butler.
I really like Bates-Diop's length and shot. He also knows how to defend, not biting on pump fakes and staying with his man. He's also a good rebounder who boxes out fairly well and uses his length well on the boards. Flip used to say that you're position is determined by who you can guard. In that case, KBD can play the 2, 3 and 4 positions. He has quick feet to go with his incredible wingspand and he has a pretty good knack for defending. Unfortunately, his ballhandling is terrible for an NBA wing. So on the offensive end, I see him strictly as a stretch 4 unless he can substantially upgrade his ballhandling.
Only three other players on the Wolves Summer League squad looked like they have any chance of playing in the NBA -- Amile Jefferson, Jared Terrell and Jonathan Stark. I guess I should include Charles Cooke since his played in the NBA last season, but he wasn't impressive at all.
Stark has super quick hands and has great lateral quickness. He plays super hard. But he's not a great shot-maker and he's not a particularly good playmaker either although he's the best playmaker on the squad. Combining those limitations with his size and he's a marginal NBA player at best. But I liked him enough to hope he ends up on our G-League team.
Terrell looked terrible in the first game, but he came on in the second game and played well tonight as well. I guess I understand why the Wolves game him a two-way, although I think there are better unsigned young players on other Summer League squads. He has a nice mid-range shot, but he's not much from 3-point range. Fits right in with the Wolves I guess.
The more I watched Amile Jefferson, the more I liked him. He's all over the court and has such a great nose for the ball. He doesn't look particularly good on the court. He's awkward and not physically strong. But he makes an impact and he plays hard every single second he's on the court. He has a very high basketball IQ to go with great heart and intensity. At a minimum, he should get our other 2-way contract. And I wouldn't mind if he ended up taking our 14th roster spot.
So there you have it. Nothing to get excited about, but our two draft picks don't look like mistakes. In fact, KBD looks like a really nice get at #48 in the second round. Now if Patton can eventually get healthy we might have 3 young guys who can eventually be decent NBA players making positive contributions to the Wolves down the road. Okogie and KBD might be able to contribute to some degree this upcoming season. But we'd better acquire a good veteran wing player if we're serious about upgrading our bench from last season.
Finally, an observation on Lucas as a coach. I liked what what I saw from him. It was fun to watch him courtside. We were 12 feet from him in the huddles in yesterday's game against the Raptors. He made some terrific play calls that worked well. He gave the young guys some rope to fail, but not too much rope. Lucas kept telling Josh Gray to take the ball inside and look for a cutter or an open 3-point shooter. When he did that he was often successful. But he repeatedly refused to follow instructions, snapping back at Lucas a couple of time. Lucas as brushed it off the first time, but sat him down the second time. It was the right thing to do and the team's play improved. Lucas finally was at his wits end with Andrew White who proved pretty early in the second game that he has no place in the NBA. Lucas started White the first game, but not the second game. When Lucas put him in for the first time in the second game, White was characteristically horrible. Lucas eventually pulled him. Lucas then put him back in a second time in that second game. White was so bad, that Lucas called a timeout after one possession, rolled his eyes and sat White down for the rest of the game.
We also watched the Charlotte-Heat game yesterday. I really liked Charlotte's Dwayne Bacon, Willy Hernangomez and Devonte Graham. The first two already have NBA experience, so it's a bit unfair to compare them to all the rookies. But you can see that Bacon and Hernangomez are NBA players. I was especially impressed by Bacon. Devote Graham looks like a very nice second round pick for Charlotte. He has a great handle and uses chance of pace and direction to slice and dice his way through the paint. I also liked Petrosak. He's long and has a really nice 3-point stroke. The only guy on the Heat squad who stood out for me was Derrick Jones Jr. He played like he was on springs with great quickness and explosiveness. Unfortunately, he went down early with some sort of ankle injury. It looked pretty bad and I felt sorry for the guy. He's already 2 years to of UNLV and was fighting for NBA career. Hate to see any of these guys go down.
Well, that's it for my report from Vegas. We don't have what I would consider any elite talent on our Summer League squad. But all our guys played hard with a lot of intensity on both ends of the court. And our two rookies look like they'll be NBA players eventually. Whether they become allstars, starters or even just significant rotation players remains an open question in my view based on what is admittedly a very small sample side.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:monsterpile wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:I know the summer league has taken on a new life... really popular right now.
I also think that it's probably pretty obvious almost immediately which players are legit NBA players and which ones are not...
Maybe. I remember Amile looking pretty bad last year then he went on to be one of the best players in the G-league just keeps putting up numbers at the summer league level.
But he's still not a legit NBA player.
Yet?
Q12543 wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:monsterpile wrote:AbeVigodaLive wrote:I know the summer league has taken on a new life... really popular right now.
I also think that it's probably pretty obvious almost immediately which players are legit NBA players and which ones are not...
Maybe. I remember Amile looking pretty bad last year then he went on to be one of the best players in the G-league just keeps putting up numbers at the summer league level.
But he's still not a legit NBA player.
Yet?
He doesn't really look the part, but the dude produces. He's got a great nose for the ball and has a nice runner that he can bank off the glass using either hand. His passing is very solid too.
To me he's a guy that you can have at the end of your bench and rely upon for steady, smart play in the event everyone ahead of him goes down. The problem is he's a 4 with zero stretch to his game or an undersized 5....but may be that's not a terrible thing these days (?). IDK...He deserves a shot somewhere.
monsterpile wrote:Pretty solid article on the 2 draft picks in summer league how they may fit going forward.
https://zonecoverage.com/2018/timberwolves/josh-okogie-and-keita-bates-diop-a-wing-cocktail-in-vegas/