My take of Summer League game against Memphis

[daniel80111]

Ok, so I just got back from the Summer league game today against Jerry West's Memphis Grizzlies. First off, it was nice to see the logo sitting in the corner enjoying the game with Rudy Gay and Earl Watson. Though the game was incredibly entertaining with its fair share of dunks, blocks, passes, and at times effective triangle execution. Now I'm going to give my take on some of the player's performances today(only the guys that have a shot at making the team).

Andrew Bynum-Saw much of the same from him as we did last year regarding problem spots. Couldn't hold any post position, consistently failed to box out his man, and got into foul trouble that would have made Mihm proud. The first 3 minutes of the game he picked up 2 fouls where he left his feet to block shots instead of holding defensive position. He eventually fouled out in the 4th quarter. Most of his points came in the open court where he would grab an offensive board off a missed layup or catch an alley oop. Another thing is his hands have not improved. Jordan Farmar threw him a picture perfect oop that he managed to fumble around and miss. He didn't attempt a hook shot at all today(dont know if hes still working on this). Another thing I saw was he was getting his shot blocked almost every time he shot. It seems to be that whenever he goes up for a dunk, someone is able to get a piece of the ball and knock it loose from him...today it happened to be one of the guards and Alexander Johnson. Some of the positives I saw today is that his body looks great. He really looks like he's been hitting the weights. Another thing I liked was his intensity on the court, it seemed like he was playing hard and had a meaner streak to him which I would love to see more of. He also looked to dunk the ball and finish strong every chance he had...it just happened to be that the ball was blocked a lot. He's still really young so we have to see what happens, but his physical size alone should allow him to be extremely dominant and efficient over the subpar big men he plays against.

Danilo Pinnock-This guy seems like hes going to be the steal of the 2nd round. What I got from this game is: Good enough ball handling skills to assume the point role at certain points in the game, extremely good lateral quickness to defend 1's, quick hands to knock balls free and get in passing lanes, a good jumpshot, good court vision, stays within the triangle, and finished well in traffic. This kid played great today, single handedly he led the Lakers back from a double digit deficit with his defense and his scoring. He seems to be the player that Von Wafer WANTS to be. He has the athleticism, and unlike Von he's able to use his athletic ability and maximize his game. Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw wanted to limit his minutes and get Von in the game because he's paid his dues by being a 2nd year player, but in the end they left the kid in crunch time due to his great play. His ability to actually execute a simplified version of the triangle that Devin Green and Von Wafer had trouble with today shows that he's one of those kids that KNOWS HOW TO PLAY BASKETBALL. btw, he missed a game tying shot at the buzzer today...I guess he can't do everything right?? haha

Jordan Farmar-In my mind, Jordan didn't play a great game...but somehow he ended up with 17 pts and made key plays in the game. He's so sneaky because he seems to always be at the right place at the right time. One thing I love about him today was that he has such good movement off the ball. When he has the ball he gets the tri set up and seems to work well off of it. He did make a mistake with the 8 second violation ala Sam Cassell, but other than that his rookie mistakes were limited. Another thing I noticed is that he has trouble recovering on some screens, I believe he doesnt have the footspeed to work through screens. He decided to work under a lot of the screens on defense. You can tell his leadership abilities by him yelling out assignments and at times ordering guys where to be in the triangle. His shooting was sub par today, he got most of his points off lay ups...he's definitely a good finisher.

Devin Green-Had no impact on the game today, couldn't run the triangle, made stupid turnovers because he couldnt make entry passes to big men at the elbow...all around I was dissapointed that Pinnock had a better grasp of the tri and made a bigger impact than him.

Von Wafer-Bad shot selection, had no awareness of the triangle whatsoever...what bugs me most is he can't move off the ball and create some easy opportunities. Some of the shots he took were awful, off balanced, and had no chance. His dunks during the pre game were once again fun to watch. Pinnock took his spot in crunch time and he was left sitting on the bench. Overall, he doesn't seem to be able to work within the constraints of the tri.


Of course we cant take anything seriously at all since this is SPL basketball and it is ONLY 1 game...but these are my impressions from the game I saw today. I'll be glad to answer some questions if you guys have any. Thanks.

[Richcbt]

I just got back from the first SPL game.

I may say more later, but here's a quick sketch.

Bynum was unimpressive to me, or at least not as impressive as I wanted him to be. He went up against a big Greek dude whose first name is Andreas, so perhaps we can call him Andreas the Giant or Andre the Greek or something, because his last name is Glyniadakis I think.

Anyway, the Greek dude more than held his own against Bynum. Andrew did have a couple of blocked shots but he fouled a lot too. His scores came either on lobs in transition from Farmar, or offensive put backs. Although he was much more aggressive fighting for low post position, the Laker squad didn't get him the ball much because of poor spacing, and when he did get it he didn't do much with it.

Farmar had a low key but effective game. I think he led the team in scoring with 17, and as mentioned had a couple of nice assists to Andrew, who I think had 12. Farmar got one steal at mid-court, at least one block, and knifed quickly to the hoop off of handoffs out of the pinch post. His man defense wasn't brilliant, by any means, and his man beat him a few times. He made one particularly heady play that was very reminiscent of when Smush stole the ball from Nash in Game Four last year. Douthit had turned it over with about 15 seconds left and the Lakers down one. Farmar aggressively trapped the ballhandler in the corner of the front court just past the line, and the ball was knocked loose and the Lakers appeared to have it, but Devin Green got tackled (just about literally) with no call and the Grizzlies came up with it.

The most positive part of the generally dull game (lots and lots and lots of whistles) was the play of Pinnock. He finished with 16 and was excellent in all phases of the game. He had a couple of impressive drives, including one where he made a difficult catch of a bullet pass on the baseline, drove into two defenders, hung, and shot a reverse layup. It was very Kobe-esque, if I do say so.

Douthit played reasonably well but had two costly turnovers down the stretch, so that was unfortunate. I think he finished with 14.

Devin Green didn't score much but looked good, helping out and anticipating on defense and generally playing under control. He had 7.

Well, that's the preliminary. Rudy Gay didn't play, and Memphis won. I'm not sure if Rudy is going to play or not. Jerry West was there, as was Mitch of course, and even Bill Sharman and Bill Bertka, not to mention Rambis, Shaw, and Hamblen.

[Coop_21]

I also attended the game and pretty much share the same views of the previous posts.

Bynum continues to hesitate when he gets the ball down low.
Its like he has to gather himself before going up with the ball which lets the defenders react. I wish he would just catch and go up strong quickly. And even when he goes up for dunks theres no sign of that 33 inch vert and he seems to finish with one hand after taking it up with two and barely getting over the rin (think of that dunk against the Heat last season).
I dont know...if other teams are offering something for him then maybe the Lakers should listen...unless he really is impressing them behind the scenes.
(BUT look at the brightside....he could be Keith Closs...and those who watched the earlier SPL game today can tell you that Closs is still 7-3 of nothingness & freckles)

As for Farmer...he cant shoot! I like his on the ball defense and contesting shots. He cuts to the basket and goes to rim strong. And the leadership and poise are all there. Just cant hit from outside even in warmups.

And like the others...Pinnock really impressed me. He already is better then Wafer and should be on the squad. He can shoot, drive and play some defense.

Also Douhit (I think thats how you spell it) looked good. Blocked some shots and looked comfortable in the triangle.


As for the team... I think they both have an advantage and disadvantage in the triangle offense. Its good that they have a system to run which gives some focus and organization. Its bad in that it appears to cause the players to over think and takes away some chances to show individual talents.

[aznk0b8]

thanks for the reports guys

[Muad'Dib]

I pretty much echo what everyone is saying here, except I was pretty disappointed with Devin Green. He was dribbling it way too much in traffic and just didn't really show that heady play that got him his spot last year.

[angel]

Thanks for the report!
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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~

[wormz1012]

Good takes guys....I was also at the game today and here are my two cents on our 2006 picks.

Jordan Farmar:

What worries me is his foot speed on defense. He's definitely got the smarts and skills to be in this league. But if improvements does not come around, he will be a Darrick Martin, Rick Brunson type player in this league. Lacks laterial quickness while defending. Anthony Roberson got past Farmar a few times and Farmar seems unbalanced when recovering. If Roberson were to be a NBA PG, Farmar would be in tons of trouble. Smush at least had the long arms to help recover when he's beaten. On the positive note, he does have the quickness however. He must incorporate that speed into his laterial quickness to be successful in this league. I believe his shooting will improve as he gets more experience under his belt. As of now, I dont see Farmar being anything more than a second string PG in this league.

Danilo Pinnock:

The guy surprised me when he threw down some highlight reel dunks in pregame. What surprised me more is his ability to pick up the tri offense in such short time. Asides from Farmar, Green, Douthit, Wafer, Bynum, Pinnock and Horvath, none of the other players picked the tri when they're in the game. Pinnock played almost a flawless game tonight with the exception to some erratic turnovers. He could create his own shot and also set the table for others. Plays excellent on the ball defense. I can really see this kid competing for a roster spot if Profit is not resigned. This guy does everything well and is a heady player. Downside could be that he does not do one things particular well. Think a more athletic Luke Walton with more offense but less court vision.
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This game is in the refrigrator! Door's closed, light's out, egg's cooling, butter's getting hard and the jellllloooo is jiggling. - You'll be greatly missed, Chick.

[Richcbt]