John Wall made his debut last night at the Las Vegas Summer League in front of a sold out crowd at the gym on UNLV’s campus. Despite the nerves (and there seemed to be a good amount of them), John Wall had a fairly impressive start to his professional career. Wall put up 24 points and 8 assists, but more importantly looked really good when moving around the court for the first time with other professionals. To breakdown Wall’s debut, I am going to look at both the good and the bad of his performance.
The Good
The Jump Shot
Wall was impressive enough to draw comparisons from Derrick Rose from many people on hand. I held off from making the comparison in college, but it was obvious watching the game last night that John Wall does have a lot of Derrick Rose in him, from the physical skills to the style of play. However, there is one big difference between the two of them, John Wall has a pro-ready mid-range jump shot that he looks comfortable taking off the dribble.
Breaking Down John Wall’s Debut
Wall’s form when taking his jumper off the dribble is real solid. He always seems to be taking off using the right amount of steps with a solid load up dribble (A dribble that takes him from attacking the rim to rising up for a jumper), and he also seems comfortable doing when attacking either side. The only thing that bugs me with his form is that he has a tendency to kick is leg too far out from time to time (as in the top clip). When you do that, you don’t really land on balance and it tends to have you miss your shot. I’d like to see him do what he does in the bottom clip (landing on both feet) on every single jump shot attempt.
After every day of games here at the Vegas Summer League, “Unsigned Hype” is going to be looking at the best performances from players who don’t have contracts with NBA teams or who were drafted by a team in the past year’s draft. Guys who with great performances in the Summer League, may be able to play themselves into a training camp invite and maybe even a NBA contract. Due to my schedule, we are now going to be looking at both day 2 and day 3 here…
Day 2
Edgar Sosa
Sosa only played 16 minutes on day 2, but he looked really impressive in my opinion. Edgar Sosa only scored six points, but he did a good job managing the team and getting the ball to scorers both in the half court set and on the break. Even more impressive, Sosa’s running seemed to get Greg Monroe going, and Monroe’s best stretch of basketball so far was mostly a result of Edgar Sosa.
Day 3
Shane Edwards
After a really solid day 1 performance, Edwards’ game dropped off a bit on day 2. Day 3 allowed for Edwards to get back on the unsigned hype list. Again, it was Edwards’ efficiency that really impressed me, scoring 15 points on just 7 shots. Edwards also showed an ability to grab rebounds, getting six of them in 27 minutes.
Coby Karl
These are the type of performances Karl can put up when his shot is falling. On Day 1, Karl couldn’t hit his shot, but his ability to everything on the court allowed him to have a productive game. Day 3 saw Karl do all those little things, grabbing seven rebounds and recording four assists. In addition to that, you saw Karl’s shooting stroke. He scored 22 points on 10 shots including 3-5 from the three point line. Karl’s ability to get to the foul line (7-7 from the stripe) is what might get him a camp invite/roster spot this year.
Austin Daye is currently in the middle of his second stint in the Las Vegas Summer League, and the one thing you notice about his play is that he just looks comfortable. Kevin Arnovitz noted it in his Summer League Day 2 Roundup:
I’m not sure what’s more fun — watching Austin Daye create for himself, or for others. Daye missed 12 of his 20 shots from the floor on Saturday, but he was clearly the best player on the court for the second consecutive game. Daye sees the floor with clarity and and is forever a half-second ahead of the defense, which is an eternity in basketball. He can deliver a pinpoint pass — no matter how fast he’s moving or how fierce the pressure — and is aware of his teammates strengths and weaknesses.
Daye showed an ability to use his length to either get himself to the rim (to either finish or find a teammate) or to get off an open jumper:
Here, Austin Daye puts the ball on the floor, gets to the rim, and uses his long arms to be able to get a shot up and over a defender.
After every day of games here at the Vegas Summer League, “Unsigned Hype” is going to be looking at the best performances from players who don’t have contracts with NBA teams or who were drafted by a team in the past year’s draft. Guys who with great performances in the Summer League, may be able to play themselves into a training camp invite and maybe even a NBA contract.
Shane Edwards
When asked what he was hoping to showcase at the Las Vegas Summer League, Shane Edwards was quoted in Fanhouse as saying:
“I’d like to showcase my ability to finish strong around the basket with contact and my athletic ability to get up and down the court.”
Boy did he ever. It helped that he was playing on the run and gun Nuggets team that were unselfishly passing the ball, but Edwards showed an ability to run the floor, fill lanes, and being able to finish with contact. Basically, he did everything he wanted to do out there. Edwards scored an efficient 15 points on 5-6 shooting and was able to get to the line 7 times, where he converted 5 of the attempts. He also rounded out his numbers with 3 assists and 3 steals:
If I told you that Patrick Patterson had the fifth highest Offensive Rating in the NCAA, you’d probably think that I am lying. It’s a true statement though, and Patterson’s offensive game is one of the reasons why I think the 14th overall pick for the Rockets will come in and make an impact right away.
The first thing that you notice about Patrick Patterson is his body. He is a strong guy, and his combination of size and strength makes him the perfect type of player to use as a screener in a pick and roll set:
Here, Patterson sets the screen and quickly separates from the defenders on the roll. The roll here is important because he doesn’t roll on a straight line to the basket. Instead, he rolls towards the baseline first, opening up a passing lane and then he heads towards the rim.
On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks Summer League squad played in their first game in the Vegas Summer League. One of the players I had an eye on was Dominique Jones, a wing player out of the University of South Florida who was drafted by Grizzlies with the 25th pick and then traded to Dallas.
In case you didn’t know, Jones lead the Big East in scoring last year with an average of 21.4 points per game. Most of his points came from attacking the rim. After watching the Mavericks’ first summer league game, it is apparent that ability to get to the rim is going to translate to the NBA:
Jones makes the catch on the wing and attacks the lane through the middle of the court. Initially, his defender cuts him off, but Jones makes a strong quick crossover. My favorite part about the crossover is how his defender reaches, but Jones is so strong, he just discards the reach in and continues to the basket.
There haven’t been too many close games in the Orlando Summer League, so when we get one, it is interesting to see how the rookies react. Sure, they have been in late game situations before during their prep/college career, but they never had to face this type of situation during their short stint as pros. Paul George found himself in a close late game situation yesteday, and he stepped up big time…On both ends of the court:
We have the Celtics point guard dribbling out the shot clock before he sets up the offense. With a 12 second differential between the shot clock and the game clock, the Pacers decide to defend straight up and not foul.
Derrick Favors and Evan Turner are the two marquee draft picks playing in the Orlando Summer League, and they have both struggled in their first three games. With Favors, you can understand his struggles since he is only 18 and still learning how to use his body. Turner though, well that’s a little bit more of a mystery. Turner, was the most experienced and pro ready prospect coming out of the draft, so he was expected to have a good summer league. It’s been quite the opposite however, and it leaves me to ask the following question. Should the Sixers be worried about this performance?
No, They Shouldn’t Be Worried
Not A Ton Of Touches
During Summer League, you usually have some young guys who have been in the NBA a year or two trying to be “Summer League Heroes.” Taking a ton of shots and trying to get their numbers up. On the Sixers, these Summer League Heroes have been Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks, and Marreese Speights. This summer, Meeks has gotten up 12.3 shots, while Holiday has put up 12.6, and Speights has taken 14 shots a game. Meanwhile, Evan Turner has only gotten 7.6 shots a game. Not only that, but it seems that Turner’s teammates miss him when he is open every once in a while:
Here, Turner is spotting up, but after Speights makes the catch, he makes no attempt to get the basketball to anyone and just jacks up a shot. Sixers’ fans can rest easy knowing that Evan Turner will be getting more touches during the regular season.
In the draft, the Pacers took a flyer on Lance Stephenson with 40th pick in the NBA draft. I thought this was an interesting draft choice when it was made because Stephenson is a very talented player whose attitude caused him to drop. With that being said, I thought he had a pretty good chance of making the Pacers, and that was before they announced that they thought Lance Stephenson could be a point guard.
The transition from shooting guard to point guard isn’t as easy as it seems, especially if you are doing it in the NBA. It isn’t just dribbling the ball up the court and initiating the offense. You need to make sure everyone else is in their spots, and most importantly, you need to balance distributing the ball among your teammates and attacking the basket.
Pros
Tyreke Evans Lite
Now, I am not going to say that Lance Stephenson is going to have the same impact as Tyreke Evans did last year (Evans had a year of experience running the point before coming to the pros), but you can see a little Tyreke Evans in his game. He has a similar combination of size and speed, and it gives him an advantage when being defended by smaller point guards:
Here, Stephenson’s defender actually gets his hands on the basketball, but he isn’t big or strong enough to get the ball away from him. This allows Stephenson to get into the lane and finish at the rim.
In addition to getting their first game action against NBA-level talent, Summer League is an opportunity for players to get use to some of the rules that differ in the NBA as opposed to college basketball. For big men, the toughest rule change they are going to have to deal with is the defensive three second rule. This rule is exclusive to the NBA and it is defined as follows:
a. The count starts when the offensive team is in control of the ball in the frontcourt.
b. Any defensive player, who is positioned in the 16-foot lane or the area extending 4 feet past the lane endline, must be actively guarding an opponent within three seconds. Actively guarding means being within arm’s length of an offensive player and in a guarding position.
c. Any defensive player may play any offensive player. The defenders may double-team any player.
d. The defensive three-second count is suspended when: (1) a player is in the act of shooting, (2) there is a loss of team control, (3) the defender is actively guarding an opponent, (4) the defender completely clears the 16-foot lane or (5) it is imminent the defender will become legal.
e. If the defender is guarding the player with the ball, he may be located in the 16-foot lane. This defender is not required to be in an actively guarding/arm’s distance position. If another defender actively guards the player with the ball, the original defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane. Once the offensive player passes the ball, the defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane.
It is something that Derrick Favors struggled with in his first game as a pro:
Here, Favors meets his man, Cedric Simmons at the top of the key. Simmons is cutting through the paint, and Favors gives him a bump for his troubles.
