NBA Summer League 2014

[GumbySquad]

Congrats to AG and Bunnies for getting picked up in the draft. The Orlando Summer League kicks things off on July 5th-11th and the Vegas Edition runs from July 11th-21st. It's always fun to see the guys play in the summer, because it will likely be the last time, for a long time, that they are featured in their respective offenses; AG is a few years away from being the type of player that an NBA coach is going to call plays for and Nick is going to have trouble cracking a deep rotation in Houston.

On an interesting side note, in case you had not heard, undrafted Jahii Carson is reportedly going to be playing with the Rockets for the summer. This, of course means that Nick and Jahii will get to play in the same backcourt together. I for one will be tuning in to see what a Carson/Johnson backcourt looks like, because it was very close to being the UofA backcourt of the previous 3 seasons, so it will be fun to take a look at how these two childhood friends play with each other. Regardless of the fact that we are supposed to (and do) hate all things asu, I have respect for Jahii's game and wish him well into the future.

As a rule of thumb I never root for anything that comes out of Phoenix (with the exception of guys who attend the UofA such as Bibby, Jefferson, Frye, Bayless, Nick, etc) and I won't be "rooting for" Jahii, but I also won't be rooting against him. He is no longer wearing wine and mustard, so as far as I'm concerned he is a kid from AZ and I hope he has a long career playing ball for a living...


...even if that winds up being in Uzbekistan.

 

[GumbySquad]

UofA alums in Orlando SL

The rosters are set for the Orlando Summer League, tipping off tomorrow. Along with Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson, who will be suiting up for the Magic and Rockets, there will be several other former Cats looking to either make a roster, or to cement their places with their current teams. I might have missed one or two, but to my knowledge, these are all of the UofA alums that will be in Orlando:


Detroit Pistons: Mustafa Shakur
Houston Rockets: Nick Johnson
Indiana Pacers: Solomon Hill
OKC Thunder: Grant Jerrett
Orlando Magic: Aaron Gordon

Also, it has been confirmed that Derrick Williams will be playing for Sacramento... so when the Vegas tournament starts in a week we have a potential D-Will vs AG match-up to look forward to. FYI, the Orlando SL will be broadcast in HD on NBA.com and costs $15.00 for all of the games... but I'm sure there will be creative ways to find individual games if you don't feel like forking over the dough.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Watching this Magic game.

 

[GumbySquad]

Watching this Magic game.

Yeah, I watched most of it too. AG looked like AG; missed a lot of mid-range to outside shots, but played solid defense and finished around the rim.

The saddest thing is the fanbase that he inherited. If Arizona fans are some of the most positive and optimistic around, which we are, then Orlando fans are some of the most pessimistic and cynical out there. All summer they had been hearing/talking about their need for a PG and how they were going to try and take Dante Exum with the 4th pick ... and when he was not taken 3rd, their 1000s of fans cheered because they were sure they would take this unknown/hyped kid from Australia... but when the pick was AG instead, many of them actually booed.

Now, if you go over and browse the forums at their SB Nation page: OrlandoPinstripedPost you will see that 80%+ of the comments about him are either negative, or downright nasty. Sad that many of them hate him before he's even had a chance to step on the court.

Either way, knowing that he is the youngest player from the NBA draft, with a ton of time to improve... and knowing the type of kid he is, and how big his heart is, and how his game is all about helping the team in any way that he can... I'm sure that eventually they will warm to him after he gets a few floor-burns and shows his hustle/heart.

I mean... how is it even possible that a fanbase would dislike what Aaron Gordon brings to their team? That seems like utter lunacy to me.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Yeah, I watched most of it too. AG looked like AG; missed a lot of mid-range to outside shots, but played solid defense and finished around the rim.

The saddest thing is the fanbase that he inherited. If Arizona fans are some of the most positive and optimistic around, which we are, then Orlando fans are some of the most pessimistic and cynical out there. All summer they had been hearing/talking about their need for a PG and how they were going to try and take Dante Exum with the 4th pick ... and when he was not taken 3rd, their 1000s of fans cheered because they were sure they would take this unknown/hyped kid from Australia... but when the pick was AG instead, many of them actually booed.

Now, if you go over and browse the forums at their SB Nation page: OrlandoPinstripedPost you will see that 80%+ of the comments about him are either negative, or downright nasty. Sad that many of them hate him before he's even had a chance to step on the court.

Either way, knowing that he is the youngest player from the NBA draft, with a ton of time to improve... and knowing the type of kid he is, and how big his heart is, and how his game is all about helping the team in any way that he can... I'm sure that eventually they will warm to him after he gets a few floor-burns and shows his hustle/heart.

I mean... how is it even possible that a fanbase would dislike what Aaron Gordon brings to their team? That seems like utter lunacy to me.

Magic fans are... well, Magic fans. Not really surprised by that reaction, because they all thought they'd be taking Exum, but I think they did a great job overall by taking their PG (Payton) to pair with AG.

The good thing is, there won't be as much pressure on AG if he was EXPECTED to go 4 and ended up not living up to his hype. Now, Magic fans expect him to become a bust... so should he develop like we know he can, then they'll end up being pleasantly surprised and feel like idiots for ever booing him.

IDK why everyone was so hot over Exum anyways, he's about as big of a question mark as there is. He could end up being a very good player, but he's far from a sure thing.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Nick and AG both had the top two plays from the first day of the Summer League. Not bad...

 

[GumbySquad]

Totally agree with you about Exum Sting. It's just the way things work now-a-days with the draft: Players who have very little game tape, but the little they have shows great potential go shooting up the draft boards (ie: Exum) The more a player is seen in college, the more warts are visible and the more their stock falls (ie: Budinger/Hill/Johnson).

It's like NBA GM's over-think every move, and talk themselves out of 3-4 year college players because they focus on their faults, while talking themselves into enigmas who's only footage is grainy youtube videos.

 

[GumbySquad]

Nick Johnson (Rockets) vs Aaron Gordon (Magic) tips off in the next 10 minutes. Tune into NBA TV, or find a stream if you care to watch these two former Cats and Soldier teammates play against each other for the first time. Should be fun.

 

[The Derski]

Nick Johnson (Rockets) vs Aaron Gordon (Magic) tips off in the next 10 minutes. Tune into NBA TV, or find a stream if you care to watch these two former Cats and Soldier teammates play against each other for the first time. Should be fun.

Watching it. Gordon had a nice fast break

 

[The Derski]

These announcers are stupid though. I guess it is summer league.

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

Nick Johnson looks off today. Maybe it's just me.

 

[The Derski]

Nick Johnson looks off today. Maybe it's just me.

Yeah I agree. Overall the Rockets don't look good.

 

[The Derski]

Damn Carson actually had a nice steal

 

[The Derski]

I thought Seth Curry was on the Suns summer league?

 

[GumbySquad]

Nick Johnson looks off today. Maybe it's just me.

He had 2 fouls in the first few minutes and hasn't played much. Thing about it is... Summer League is as much about getting looks at players on the fringe as it is about looking at first/second round picks. NJ is pretty much guarenteed a roster spot at this point, unless Houston signs a bunch of players in the next month.

So... the coaches know what he can do and are going to want to try and feature other players. So, it's more likely that guys like Carson get more time as the SL goes on.

 

[The Derski]

Johnson for three!

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

So are most of these guys on teams already or are they trying out? I don't know much about the D league. Looks like it gives teams a good chance to see their players in live action.

 

[The Derski]

Johnson and Gordon back to back nice

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

Looks like AG has added more of an arch to his free throws. Hope he ends up being a good shooter to shut all the negative nay sayers up.

 

[GumbySquad]

Channing Frye on his way to Orlando to play with Gordon. Interesting.