Mike@LG
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Joined: 10 Apr 2001
Posts: 65135
Location: Orange County, CA
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 Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:15 am Post subject: 2006 Summer Pro League Recap |
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The Long Beach Summer Pro League had four NBA team participants; the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, and the Dallas Mavericks B-Team. Many fans came to watch the progress of Andrew Bynum, as well as local UCLA favorite Jordan Farmar. Danilo Pinnock was a surprise steal from a trade with the Mavericks, while Devin Green and Von Wafer are returning veterans for the Lakers Summer Pro League team.
Other notable players include Peter John Ramos, Andray Blatche, Alexander Johnson of FSU, Rashad Anderson and Rudy Gay of UConn, David Noel of UNC, Kyle Lowry of Villanova, and Hakim Warrick.
Jordan Farmar is a heady point guard within the triangle offense. He did a great job changing speeds within the offense on cuts and curls, driving to the lane with a quick first step and crossover, and played very well throughout the event. A groin injury slowed his play towards the end, but he did show a wide range of skills. He had problems with bigger defenders such as Terence Kinsey and Junior Harrington, and got caught up picking up the dribble in the backcourt far too early. The Lakers utilized a two-guard front which made handling backcourt pressure easier. Within the triangle offense, he showed his ability to create off the dribble, including an array of teardrop shots, pull-up jumpshots off-the-dribble, creating for teammates, and 3-point range. Defensively he did a solid job on point guards, only having serious trouble with Kyle Lowry in the last game. His injuries did slow him down defensively, but he did show great ability to recover defensively from help rotation and contest shots well. He also did a surprising job forcing turnovers using quick hands and great ball-anticipation into passing lanes. His perimeter shooting and strength need to improve, but he has proven to be a very good pick for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Andrew Bynum showed strong improvement compared to last season. He looked noticeably stronger and more explosive. He added two post moves to his repertoire, a drop-step and a spin pivot off of his right foot for a face up 2’ jumpshot. Both of these moves were very effective and he looked comfortable utilizing them. He struggled with the jump hook, as he gets bothered by contact from the base on up. He tends to lose the ball by the peak of the jump hook. He showed better ability to rebound utilizing his length and increased vertical ability, but fails to box-out consistently. He would have games of 15 rebounds and 5 blocks one game, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots the next against the same Dallas Maverick B-Team. Defensively, he did a far better job with help rotation and shotblocking was obviously helped by the increased explosion. He was prone to quick moves in the post, especially a spin move from post position to allow the drive baseline. He did do a far better job of rooting out post players, namely Andreas Glyniadakis and Peter Ramos, who took quite a few shots just out of their comfort zone. There are two sides to the kid. One minute he’s dunking his own tapped offensive rebound in midair off the backboard. The next minute, he’s getting his dunk attempt blocked by former Texas player Brian Boddicker. His understanding of the offense is excellent. He is aware of where double teams are coming from and looks to find the open man every time to take full advantage. He did have a game high 6 assists, continually hitting Marcus Slaughter for midrange jumpshots against the Mavericks. He has a good set of physical tools and his work ethic has definitely paid off. It’s up to him to develop the consistency, as well as increase strength, conditioning, rebounding skill levels, and progress his low-post game.
Danilo Pinnock showed to be a surprise steal from Dallas for the Los Angeles Lakers. He displayed some ability to initiate the triangle offense. He shot very well from midrange, both in static situations and pull-up jumpshots off the dribble. His defense is solid all-around, though he does have problems defending smaller point guards. At 6’4” in shoes, it may be an issue defensively, but he did exhibit great abilities on both ends of the floor. He finishes well in transition, rebounds very well, and does a very good job staying in front of his man defensively, as well as ball-denial, and getting deflections both off the dribble and from ball-anticipation. Compared to Smush Parker’s play last season, Pinnock would absolutely give him a run for his money, especially considering his ability to create shots from midrange. He also grasped the triangle offense very quickly, picking his spots very well as to when high percentage shots should be taken, as well as creating shots for teammates. He’s a steal for sure.
Devin Green showed noticeable improvement with his midrange jumper, his glaring weakness from last season. In the last two SPL games, he was very aggressive attacking the basket, especially driving to his left. A solid defender, he rarely gets beaten off-the-dribble and handled tough defensive assignments ranging from Andray Blatche, Hakim Warrick, and Rudy Gay. He has the same trouble protecting the basketball during his drives, where he’s prone to being stripped. However, with his newfound midrange game, defenders played him honest, where he was able to attack the basket and finish with more aggression. Against Rudy Gay, he scored 22 points on 10 of 17 shooting. Against Andray Blatche, he finished with 26 points on 12 of 14 shooting, getting Blatche into foul trouble from dribble penetration. While he did show some inconsistency throughout the event, it was very clear that Devin Green could hang with the big boys, surprising to say the least.
Marcus Slaughter showed great activity around the paint. In transition, he showed a great sequence blocking 2 consecutive shots in a 1-on-2 situation against. He showed good ability to hit from midrange at a consistent basis. Although he’s a bit slight of frame, his activity on the glass, decent shotblocking skills, and midrange game should earn him a job in the NBA. He does need to work on his post-defense, basic post game, and strength, but could easily be on an NBA team in the mold of Udonis Haslem and Malik Rose. His activity on the backboard is a rare commodity in the NBA and coaches will love his energy on the floor.
Von Wafer stagnated since last Summer Pro League. He didn’t show any real improvement compared to last year. He’s still very aggressive attacking with the basketball, but prone to poor decision-making within the triangle offense. He has trouble initiating the offense with the two-guard set and hasn’t completely understood when to be a playmaker as opposed to a scorer. His midrange game, finishing ability, defensive ability, and aggressive mindset are all there, but I think he’d be better off in a run and gun team similar to FSU’s style of play, rather than the Lakers’s structure of the triangle offense.
Andray Blatche was by far the most impressive Summer Pro League player compared to last season. He was often being compared to power forwards and centers. This time around, he showed a wide range of guard skills, at times playing point forward and running the offense, 3-point range, midrange jumpshots, midrange floaters, and finishing with authority. It was a complete transformation of his game. You could see the hints of Tracy McGrady to his game. McGrady now looks like the upside, with the downside being Qyntel Woods. Against the Lakers he scored 26 points on 7 of 12 shooting, 3 of 4 behind the arc, 9 of 10 from the stripe, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers. He does have some trouble with ball-protection past the 3-point line and bringing the ball up-court, but I’ve never seen a complete transformation of skill level in an NBA athlete before.
Rudy Gay played a couple of games in Long Beach, but he did play fairly well against the Lakers. It was clear early on that he didn’t know the playbook, as he seeked to create his own shot on every touch. He did look rusty, an airball from 20’, and airballed 3-point shot, and a wide right shot on the free throw line that didn’t touch rim, but still, all the skills were there. He was assertive on the offensive glass finishing with authority. He did a solid job creating pull-up jumpshots from midrange and did look comfortable shooting from NBA 3-point range, though he only hit 1 of 5 against the Lakers. He was very active on the glass and looks to be a great prospect for Memphis on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to overcrowd along the perimeter defensively, much in the way that James Posey and Tracy McGrady do. This got him in foul trouble early. He finished with 19 points on 8 of 19 shooting, 1 of 5 behind the arc, 2 of 3 from the free throw stripe, 12 rebounds, 5 offensive, and 2 blocked shots against the Lakers, primarily matched up against Devin Green. For a guy who looked rusty, that’s quite a game for the Summer Pro League in 32 minutes of play.
Rashad Anderson showed a money mid-range jumpshot and even had some spot duty initiating the offense for the Wizards. Unfortunately, he’s turnover prone and shows poor ball-protection. His game his predicated on his midrange ability, where he seems to hit every shot from 15’-20’ when in a static position. When he’s creating his own shot, he has some trouble hitting with any kind of consistency. He’s not aggressive attacking the basket either, where an average first step and sub-average ball-handling ability prevent him from going all the way to the basket. However, on a team that can draw defenses into the paint with a great low-block player, he’ll be able to hit those midrange shots all night long.
Hakim Warrick added a midrange game to his arsenal and hit from 15’-18’ with decent consistency. He’s still far more comfortable in the post, where his obvious lack of bulk denies him good position in relation to the basket. He’s far too reliant on his athletic ability, where he does need to gather his base before he can explode to the hoop. His range needs to be extended to the 3-point line and he needs to learn how to attack the basket off the dribble in triple threat position to finish well around the hoop, instead of just simply being a power forward in a small forward body.
Alexander Johnson wins the Joey Graham award for being an athletic player who can’t bring all his skills to the NBA floor. He does a solid job of crashing the offensive glass and finishing around the paint, but when it comes to his post game, which consists of a turnaround shot from 8’ from the elbow of the key and the baseline, it’s rarely effective. He does play with good energy on the floor, but needs to develop a better range of guard skills to make himself more effective on the offensive end.
Peter John Ramos was noticeably bigger compared to last season. He looked all of 7’4” 300lbs. He didn’t take advantage of his size really except fouling. He was able to create shots off of Andrew Bynum, but Bynum did a great job keeping him off the low-block and just outside of his comfort zone. No real rebounding or shotblocking skills to speak of despite all that size.
Kyle Lowry is a strong, quick point guard out of Villanova who needs to assert himself attacking the basket. Too often, he’s content setting up the offense and bypassing open midrange jumpshots. He played solid defense on Farmar and is a good basic playmaker. However, when he pushes the ball in transition and looks to attack aggressively, he’s a different player altogether. He blows by his man, draws contact in the paint, finishes well with contact, and gains confidence in his perimeter game. Only in the most recent game he showed that aggression all-game long, where he ended up with 20 points on 5 of 8 from the field, 10 of 15 from the free throw stripe, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 6 turnovers. He definitely has multiple gears when he’s driving, and as soon as he hits 3rd gear, the defense is on its heels. How explosive is he? Well, Michael Fey is certainly a physical player in the paint, and Kyle Lowry blocked his dunk attempt. He’s a great athlete, who looks to fit the mold of Marcus Banks, previously drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies.
David Noel looked lost on the floor. Floating between power forward and center at UNC, he was lost playing shooting guard for the Dallas B-Team. Great athletic ability, but didn’t really show any ability to create shots, drive, and defend wing players. All I can report is his inconsistency from the perimeter.
This season was certainly an exciting Summer Pro League, where Danilo Pinnock broke the base of the NBA backboard, dancing cows at halftime stole the show, and improvement from multiple NBA prospects was very evident. Clearly, Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum, Danilo Pinnock, Kyle Lowry, Andray Blatche, and Devin Green were the stars that shined the brightest in the Long Beach.
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