This is my first time at summer league and I have to say, I kind of love it. It's like the NBA, only without the celebrities. Having celebrities around is great and all, but it winds everybody up. There are SCHEDULES TO BE KEPT. There is SECURITY. There are all kinds of places where you are not allowed to walk, or stand, or talk. But here? Now? It's laid back. This event is ego-light, for sure. You can pretty much walk, stand, and talk wherever you want.
Even when there are celebrities here, it's no big fuss. When today's early game, between the Kings and the Wizards, began there was hardly anyone watching, other than a big crowd from a local Boys and Girls Club, and ... Ron Artest and his family sitting courtside. A little bit later Kevin Martin joined him. Martin sat exactly where he could give his aspiring teammates support as they headed to the "locker room" at halftime. (Martin, by the way, says that he's perfecting the art of the off-season. First it was a couple weeks' rest. Then it has been intense shooting, weights, and drills, but not too much five on five which can be hard on your body. Martin says has put on 14 pounds of muscle since the end of the season.)
I say "locker room" because in fact there is not a locker room at all. There are no lockers and it's not a real room. Instead it is a a gap between the bleachers and the wall of the gym, with a curtain stretched in front of it. When I first got here, I assumed that after players got through that curtain, they were heading down some stairwell, or through a door into some place where you could change your clothes, go to the bathroom, or talk in private. But in fact that's not the case at all. They're just back there, where people in the stands can in some cases peer over the edge to see them. That's why most players arrive at the gym dressed to play.
Francisco Garcia looks pretty great. He has been a vocal leader, playing his heart out for the Sacramento team. Even though he's already someone who has played regular minutes in the NBA, he's killing himself here. He was knocked down hard to the floor, by my count, at least six times in today's game. Afterwards I asked him what he was doing on the floor so much. His answer: "That's my game!" Awesome.
This morning I sat down with Zabian Dowdell for an hour or so. He went undrafted, but didn't let it get him down. Then he had a mediocre outing on the Sonic squad his first time out, which was followed by very little playing time yesterday against the Knicks. If you wanted to give him a stress test, to see what he's made of, this would be the way to do it. He's solid though. Determined not to try to do too much, and convinced that he'll get more playing time as the week rolls on. He's also, surprisingly, TOTALLY in the dark as to what the Sonics plans are game by game or into the future. Guess that's part of the stress test. Dowdell says he is staying rested and ready, only leaving his hotel room for meals. After the whirlwind of draft workouts, staying in one place for a few days is not terrible.
I'm watching the Wizards' first-round pick from last year, Oleksiy Pecherov. I was pretty eager to see him, I've heard good things. And he has a pretty looking outside shot. But man, he simply does not look comfortable in the scrum under the hoop. His attempts to score in the paint were almost all fruitless, and when jostled his fine touch was suddenly nowhere to be found. He also had trouble keeping athletic players off the board. Again, you don't want to read too much into summer league ... but I'm not holding my breath. It only gets more physical from here.
Jose Juan Barea has sick speed. And even at Mach 2 he can make the right play. If he were a foot taller he'd be a legend.
You have to admire players like DeSagana Diop (often the starting center for the best team in last year's regular season) and Daniel "Boobie" Gibson (hero of the Conference Finals) for competing here. I'm guessing that Diop is here to get some work in on his underdeveloped offensive game, and for Gibson I suppose the reality is that he has not logged a lot of NBA minutes.
The Blazers have passed around a press release making official what Jason Quick first reported in this morning's Oregonian: Greg Oden is done for this summer league. He also will not attend the Team USA tryouts. The release adds that Dr. Don Newell in Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland) will perform the operation on Saturday. Recovery time is said to be two to three weeks. This is a neat trick, too, because it will force Oden take the break he has apparently been needing.
UPDATE: Pops Mensau-Bonsu barreled into a young ballboy, sending him into the Gatorade container. Sticky beverage got all over the floor, and even into the kid's afro. Everyone around leapt up to make sure the kid was OK -- he had been stuck under a pile of Mensau-Bonsu. He said he was fine, and then he cleaned up the Gatorade. UPDATE: That was Avery Johnson's son!
UPDATE: Watching Golden State play San Antonio, I decided it would be a good idea to focus on Patrick O'Bryant ... Golden State's prize of last year's draft. I watched him more or less get shoved around by a much bigger Jackie Butler, who couldn't get off San Antonio's bench last year but looks amazing against this undersized (especially without Brandan Wright, who is not playing) roster. Butler has ten points and eight rebounds in the first half. O'Bryant played one less minute and has three points and four rebounds. The Spurs lead by ten and will win unless someone can stop Jackie Butler from banging around in the lane. That is, I'd say, a bad sign for O'Bryant.
UPDATE: Everybody in Las Vegas loves Marco Belinelli. He's just cool.
UPDATE: I have a feeling that James White won't make it big as a Spur. He has been marinating in their culture for several months now, and he's still calling for the ball all the time. playing only OK defense, and shaking his head every time a teammate fails to send him an alley-oop lob. I'm no expert on Spurs culture, but from what I have seen in the regular season, that is not it.
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