ClutchCity.Net Summer Pro League Report : Game 2 - Rockets 79, Raptors 86

My wife and I were also at the game, and I would just like to add a little to what DoD has already said.

First and foremost Hawkins needs to be on the team. Jefferies on the Raptors didn't do that much because Hawkins was playing him defense. We just focussed on Hawk every time Chris Jefferies had the ball and Hawkins defense was intense. The guy was really bearing down and all over his man. I wish everyone on the team would do that. As far as opponents go I feel sorry for any guys who are trying to make their team and are guarded by Hawk because they probably aren't going to shine.

Boki rarely shot a 3pt attempt. If anyone is counting on him to be our outside threat think again, if his regular season game is anything like today's game. And I'm not just talking about the fact that he was missing shots. I'm just talking about the shots he was taking, and what it looks like his role on the team is.

DeMarco Johnson did indeed play pretty well, and I like Jason the pg.

One guy that puzzled me and I can't tell about is Hicks. The guy is a little man, but he plays like a big man. He was on the inside going for rebounds, and trying to take the ball to the whole, he was almost always blocked by the Raptors or fouled. He was also posting up and playing like he was 8 inches taller than he was. On one hand I loved the fearlessness, and guts to play like that. On the otherhand he was being blocked so much, I don't know that his tactics were the smartest.

All I can say is that I really hope Hawkins makes the team. In addition to playing terrific defense, he did hit his open shots.

 

DoD,

Did George Williams of UH fame get any pt? How did he look?

Are the Rockets wearing the new logo at all or have you seen it around?

 

Hey! Nice report...I think JVG probably likes Juaquin. I hope he stays too! He played very well the first game. Did you see DoD?

 

If I did see DoD I didn't know it. I don't think I did. There was one guy right behind my wife and I that was wearing a Rocket's hat. I think YoYao was supposed to be there too, and I didn't see him. I think the only way to really make sure we hook up is if we meet at the concession stand or something, or already know what one another look like. I kept an eye out for others, but didn't walk around really searching.

 

Thanks for the report, i always thought the report on Boki stated he was more of a slasher than outside shooter. Hopefully his stroke will come around in the next game or two.

 

DoD, you shouldn't have left after the Rockets game, there were many highlights in the Lakers/Clippers game. You missed a great game.

Macbeth, Chris Bosh is amazing, and I wished I could see more of him. He was the player to watch in this game with his highlight reel dunks and missed dunks. He won over the crowd easily, and I can't wait to see this guy in a few years when he's more polished.

Some of my insight from the past two days on the rocket players:

1. Hawkins deserves a place on this team. He by far out-hustles the other players. It really shows on defense. Not to mention he hit quite a few open jumpers when they kicked the ball out to him after penetration.

2. As DoD mentioned, Malick has a nice jumper. He has a high arc on his free-throw from what I noticed, but he can hit that shot if left open. He can even post up from what I saw, but I never got a good look because his teammates kept freezing him out. I love his hustle as he crashes the board and gets a lot of garbage points/fouls.

3. I don't know what is up with Boki, but he isn't hitting his shots at SPL. During shoot arounds, I was joking around with DoD that Malick hit more jumpers than Boki. Even though his shot wasn't falling, I did notice that Boki did grab rebounds and lead the break quite a few times. You can see the offensive potential in him, especially after one amazing pass he did, but his defense still needs a lot of improvement. Even my Laker friends yesterday were mentioning that Luke Walton of all people was scoring at will on him. If he can't stay in front of a slow white guy, then he has a lot of work cut out for him.

I'll write some more later, but keep up the good recaps DoD! It was fun watching the games with you.

 

Houston Chronicle article re: Nachbar...

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/1992177

 

Hawk is a much better outside shooter than we give him credit for. I have no problem relying on him to be our backup 2. According to JVG you have to make the defense pay and he is certainly proved that he will be able to do that. He has hustle, of course, and having played all around the world (I can't find my baby...) he is very hungry. Based on the following potential roster, and the summer play to date, I am still in a fog with the absence and rejection of Tmo.

Ming/Cato/
Eg/MoT/Ba
JP/Rice/Boki
Mobes/Hawk
Wink/Mooch/

 

rocketsfan34, Thanks for your report.

How was Wang Zhizhi in the game with Lakers? Did he play many minutes?

 

I was at the game, too. (FranchiseBlade, were you and your wife behind the Rocket bench, about midway up? Was there a guy in a Rockets cap sitting behind you and your wife? If so, that was moi.)

My thoughts:

Badiane will make the team some day. He's got a long stride and gets up the court VERY fast. His shooting touch is uneven, but not bad. A year of hard work and he could be a good shooter from 15 feet in. And his free throw touch blew me away, especially for someone his size. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Swear to God, if Shaq could shoot FTs like that, he'd average 40 ppg. Because Badiane's FT touch is so good, I can't help thinking he just needs to work on things like squaring up, creating space, etc. and he'll be a solid shooter, and possibly even a starter down the road. He's got a long way to go, though.

Another thing about Badiane: When you watch these summer league games, you're basically watching teams full of guys who are destined for the CBA or Europe. Maybe 2 or 3 guys on each team are truly NBA-caliber, and those guys stick out like sore thumbs -- they're very noticeable amid the riff-raff. And Badiane has a little bit of that NBA charisma. He gets your attention on a bunch of plays, much more than most of the scrubs. You find yourself watching him a lot, and that's a good sign.

Moving on, CD was right when he said someone needed another year in Europe to develop his game. Problem is, that someone is none other than BUSTjan Nachbar.

The good points on Boki:
* He looks like a nice guy.
* He tries hard.
* His teammates seem to like him.
* Like DoD said, he doesn't mind getting into the thick of things and taking a few lumps.

The bad points:
* He still hasn't proven he can shoot against even sub-NBA-level talent.
* He seems sluggish on offense. In fact, he looked quicker to me on D than on O. I can only imagine him being a slasher-type in an Italian league that isn't chock full of hyper-quick defenders like the NBA is, but I think his struggles here are going to be ongoing.

In short: He doesn't look anywhere close to being NBA-ready. I seriously doubt he'll ever be a starter. Weird thing, though -- he did look really good bringing the ball upcourt. Maybe DoD and I both ate tainted hot dogs and were hallucinating, but I was also thinking that he doesn't scare me as much as Moochie does.

As for the other Rockets, I agree with FranchiseBlade about Hawkins. We need this guy's intensity on our team. If nothing else, maybe he and Posey will make EG feel guilty enough to start trying harder. DeMarco Johnson had the quietest single-double I've ever witnessed.

One question I had was why Griffin isn't playing. I remember someone said it's because third-year players aren't allowed, but that can't possibly be true, since I saw both Lamond Murray, Wang Zhi Zhi and Tracy Murray play, and all of them have at least 3 years of NBA experience. Is this just a Rockets' rule? If so, it's stupid -- EG needs these games more than anyone.

With Tito Maddox and Chris Jefferies, that Fresno State team must rank high among the all-time freaky-looking teams. Yikes.

I stayed for some of the Lakers/Clippers game, and Chris Wilcox had a MONSTER 1st quarter -- something like 14 points, and he was nearly unstoppable. Most of the Laker skill is on the perimeter for their summer league team, though. Leon Smith was LA's starting center. I didn't know he was still around. Kareem Adbul Jabbar, Jr. got some PT for the Lakers, which explains why his dad was there. I also spotted Mike Dunleavy sitting next to Elgin Baylor near the Clippers bench.

 

DoD- How did Bosh looked compared to say Griffin of last summer? (speaking of EG, did you see him at this game?)

Re: Griffin not playing, there's also a rule based on how many games the player played the year before. Lamond Murray spent the entire year on IR, iirc. Was Tracy even in the league? Perhaps the 3 year thing only applies to first rounders? Also, I think Griffin needs to be playing amongst the men, rather than guys who have similar inside deficiencies.

Heh, imagine how sad this would be if we didn't have Badiane, and the only thing we could do was rip Boki.

 

I was only there for the first half, cuz I got too hungry and left after that. In the first half, Wang started the second quarter, and played most of it.

Wang didn't do much in the first half because he wasn't featured in the offense and isn't a defensive presence either. Pretty much all he did on offense was set screens for the guards and occasionally run a pick and roll (He hit a 3, but missed 2 others). He showed some really nifty moves on offense, and totally juked his man one time in the post.

 

no offense,but some of you(wont name names) have either bi-polar syndrome or ADD.

 

rocketsfan34 and topfive, I know this is off topic but could you tell me a little bit about how Chris Wilcox played for the Clippers in the game you watched afterwards. I'm curious to hear how a former Terp has been playing. I heard he put up 30 on the Lakers.

 

my dishwasher told me to kill them!

 

the rule is that you are only allowed three NBA veterans from your team, except for some cases where a player doesn't count against that (free agents, injured more than 20 games in prior season, played in the CBA for any part of previous season, and some more).

So, only Boki counts as a vet. Tito and Hawk are free agents. Thus, we must have just chosen not to include Eddie. Do we have another summer league to play in?