Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:Muhammad, LaVine and Fesenko are putting on a show tonight during the Wolves inner-squad scrimmage. Apparently LaVine and Muhammad traded big time dunks over a period. LaVine also racking up assists. Wish I was there to see it. If anybody can find highlights tomorrow...

I'm sure our man Lip is there. Hopefully we'll get the full rundown from him.

Fun to hear about the high-flying plays, but I doubt there was much defense being played out there.

Q -- Surprisingly there was a lot of good defense out there tonight -- both individual and team. Shved and LaVine in particular really went after each other defensively.

lipoli390 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I'm reading the same reports from an eyewitness on rubechat. Says Muhammad looks great slimmed down, has really improved his handles, and is the best player on the court (as he should be). LaVine has had some jaw dropping dunks, but apparently has suffered from the same issue he had at UCLA...standing around on offense. Flip and company are going to have to coach him up to his athletic potential, because the potential is there.

I disagree with the observation that Zach was standing around on offense. He played point most of the night and did a really nice job making quick decisions and facilitating the offense. I also thought he moved well off the ball. He was clearly the most talented player on the court. He did an excellent job running the offense and, when you consider the defensive side of the ball, Zach was also the best player (not just best talent) on the floor. I loved the way Shabazz played tonight. He hasn't slimmed down a lot, but he seemed much quicker and more explosive. And he seems to have improved his handle. I have high hopes for him this upcoming season, but I think Zach was the best player on the court.

Fesenko was the leading scorer tonight, but he had no one with any size to guard him. He played hard, but otherwise wasn't that impressive.

In addition to Zach and Shbazz, Glen was also very impressive. He doesn't stand out, but he was very. Effective and efficient. He plays within himself, has a beautiful looking shooting stroke and showed better handle than I expected.

That's the best news I've heard all night, lip. The rubechat eyewitness was as enthusiastic about the evening as you were, but said the only disappointments for him were Shved's ineffectiveness and Zach's tendency to stand around on offense. That bothered me, because I saw it so much last year in televised UCLA games. Good to get a more positive review.

Well, I just plopped down the $15 for the League Pass summer league package. Wiggins vs. Parker tonight. Good stuff.

Q12543 wrote:Well, I just plopped down the $15 for the League Pass summer league package. Wiggins vs. Parker tonight. Good stuff.

Its $15 now? Good grief no wonder guys are getting paid. LOL Honestly I think it should be free but I'll pay it cause I'm a sucker for SL.

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Well, I just plopped down the $15 for the League Pass summer league package. Wiggins vs. Parker tonight. Good stuff.

Its $15 now? Good grief no wonder guys are getting paid. LOL Honestly I think it should be free but I'll pay it cause I'm a sucker for SL.

Monster, I thought about it for a while and then realized that in the past 10 years, summer league may be the most optimistic and exciting time to be a Timberwolves fan. Then the regular season kicks in and the summer quickly turns to cold and darkness as we stare deep into the hopeless abyss of another lost year.....

So yeah, I'll plop down $15 for my annual fix of optimism!

Day 1 Vegas Grades

Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland Cavaliers | Grade: C+
Wiggins found ways to score inside, but his aversion to dribbling was well on display Friday. The athleticism, defense and transition game are all there. One of the most exciting plays of the entire day was a half-court alley-oop that just barely went over the fingertips of the flying Wiggins. Yes, 18 points look good, but a 1-for-8 night from 3-point range looks a little worse, and the way he got those points still needs to improve.

Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks | Grade: A-
All we hear about Parker is his skills as a scorer, but on Friday we saw some of his distributing ability. The rookie might only have totaled one assist, but he moved the ball within the Bucks' offense and had a couple of beautiful interior passes to set up his teammates. Parker still scored at a commendable rate -- 17 points on 11 shots -- but in Las Vegas, between the facilitating and the nine boards, he showed exactly why he's so much more than just a scorer.

Tim Hardaway Jr., New York Knicks | Grade: A-
Hardaway might never pass the ball in Vegas. Seriously, it could never happen, but that's perfectly fine if he's going to shoot like he did Friday. The Michigan alum dropped in 25 points on just 15 shots in chucking his way to becoming the day's high scorer. There aren't many guys out west with the arsenal Hardaway possesses, tallying points off the dribble and spotting up from long range. The Knicks should be excited about the prospects of yet another volume shooter.

Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers | Grade: B-
Bennett might have disappointed in his rookie season, but he looked notably slimmer in his first Summer League contest Friday evening, finishing with 15 points and even throwing down one of the dunks of the day, a vicious finish in transition. He still struggled a bit on the defensive end, but just imagine what the Cavs could be like with contributions from Bennett this season to add to their refreshed roster.

Ricky Ledo, Dallas Mavericks | Grade: B-
Ledo might have shot just 4-of-14 from the field, but his performance was more about grace and command than anything else. Sure, maybe he wasn't that effective, but he surely looked the part, galloping to the hoop seemingly whenever he wanted to get there. Considering the 21-year-old is 6-foot-7 and is learning to play either guard spot, that's a pretty useful skill moving forward.

Noah Vonleh, Charlotte Hornets | Grade: D-
Noah? More like NO-ah. Vonleh couldn't have struggled more in his initial summer league game, clanking like he was playing the lead in "Stomp." Vonleh ended his first ever pro contest scoreless, finishing 0-for-13 from the field, 0-for-4 from long range and even missing his only two free throw attempts. Vonleh could easily come back and wow in his second match, but he set the bar extremely low in Game No. 1.

Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers | Grade: B+
Clarkson might not have been the biggest name entering summer league, but he was surely one of the most impressive performers on the first day, knocking in 21 points, including some nifty finishes around the basket. It wasn't just about finishing at the rim, either. Clarkson was distributing off the bounce as well, finding teammates down low as he dribbled around screens. If the 6-foot-5 point guard can lock down his shooting form, the Lakers could end up very happy after selecting him with the 46th overall pick.

Nik Stauskas, Sacramento Kings | Grade: B
It's always encouraging to see a scorer who can shoot in a variety of ways. Stauskas showed off those exact skills in his first summer league performance. In college, he earned a reputation as more of a spot-up shooter, but he progressively learned how to hit shots off the dribble. Friday, we saw him dribbling around screens and accurately pulling up for controlled attempts off the bounce. He might have attempted just nine shots, but the way he got them was plenty encouraging.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks | Grade: B+
Last season's rookie darling is starting to show off a more refined skill set in Vegas. He's packed on some extra brawn to complement the two inches he's grown since being drafted last summer, important if only because it gives his jersey a little extra room to spell out his surname. After playing with a more hesitant offensive mindset as a rookie, Giannis was assertive during his first summer league contest, dropping 17 points on 12 attempts and coming up with the block of the day in the process.

Kyle Anderson, San Antonio Spurs | Grade: B
Can Slow-Mo work in the NBA? Anderson enters summer league as one of the most intriguing prospects in Vegas. Watching him in his first game, you could see what you wanted to see. At times, he was a little slow to dribble by his man. At others, he found space and when he did that, he always seemed to find an open teammate. He made arguably his best play of the game driving baseline, pulling in a help defender and kicking to an unguarded Marcus Denmon for a corner 3. That's Anderson: polarizing, but always fluid.

via ESPN
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/69662/las-vegas-summer-league-day-1-standouts

I thought Wiggins beat Parker in the matchup. I thought they both played well and had stuff they can improve on, but I was definitely more impressed with Wiggins overall. It's a bit crazy to me how strict his rating was considering Parker couldn't even stay on the floor that long cause he was winded most of the game. Wiggins never really got all the way to the hoop, but I didn't think his handling looked terrible. He had a couple nice step back plays and wasn't losing the ball when he dribbled. I only remember 1 turnover because he lost his dribble when his defender beat him to his spot which it's clear Wiggins has to get stronger anyway which will stop that from happening. I think Wiggins was good everywhere but beyond the arc which, given the adjustment, I don't get how that would drive his grade down that far. The article came off as someone who is trying to prove Jabari is better because they thought he should have been taken over Wiggins. Especially when there was no mention of Jabari being useful defensively more than a couple instances and the fact that he couldn't stay on the court as long because of conditioning issues.

Edit: I guess their minutes were similar. I just thought every time Parker went out, it looked like it was because he was gassed versus Wiggins coming out just as part of the rotation. The announcers even mentioned Parker sat out a lot of the second because he was gassed. Also, I was more impressed with the Greek Freak than Parker. That guy was the tallest guy on the court and he's gonna play some 2 and 3 for them this year. Crazy. Finally, Wiggins was 6/10 from inside the arc and 1/8 from behind the arc so I think he'll be fine if you just keep him inside the arc.

What the heck? Summer League is now showing as only $5. It was $15 during the Orlando Summer League.