The average NBA guard will simply snatch the rebound from above his head. He’s not a traffic cone, but he’s definitely a cinder block.
He did…but Thornton’s stats are actually better. You know what other players also performed well in Summer League? John Wall, Dame, Blake Griffin, Jimmy Butler, Bradley Beal, Kon Knuppel… Obviously performing well in Summer League isn’t a guarantee of anything. But it’s certainly better than the alternative.
I view it as a pass/fail test. If you're total dogsh*t in Summer League you're probably not going anywhere special (maybe some guys who come in as teenagers, I guess). If you're okay to great, you pass and move on to the next test. We don't know yet if Bruce will translate to the NBA, but he has passed the first test.
whitmore summer league stats: 23-24: 28% 3pt% 62% FT% 24-25: 38% FG% .071 3pt% 68% FT% https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Cam-Whitmore/Summary/176080
whitmore didn’t perform well. He put up Christian Wood/KPJ type numbers. Doesn’t matter if he put up 16 ppg. Look at the efficiency and FT’s. (See post above) Awful
Outplayed Demin and Brown Jr and it wasn't remotely close with Brown Jr I maintain that the most promising thing about Thornton's game is his physicality and ability to draw contact and get to the line. Players who can do that are generally steady, consistent scorers. If you want to get crazy with it and start making Brunson comparisons, that's where you begin.
Whatever the case, SL doesn't matter. It's for fringe guys trying to make a roster on some kind of pro team. Still, rather have a guy look good in SL than bad. Bruce probably going to get his shot at real minutes though with old ass FVV and Thornton, they aren't playing all 82, so hopefully he shows out when he gets a chance to unless he's going down to the gleague which I could see as well. Still, a very intriguing prospect and a good pick for a 2nd rounder. I still think the guy will carve out a spot in the league, probably as a good backup guard but most 2nd round guys are lucky to get that.
Good G-League coaching is important for fringe players. Bruce might respond to Ime’s coaching on defense, but he needs a strong all round G-league performance first. I wish him the best.
Dude is 6'1 without shoes. He is taller than FVV and the same size as Kyle Lowry. If we compare him to Reed Sheppard, he is only 0.75 inches smaller but has 2 inches more arm length. Why you acting like he is 5'8 or something? Mikel Brown 3/15 D Maddox Jr 1/7 C Hepburn 1/5 K Simpson 4/13 He isnt a lock down defender but neither is he a bad defender. He is actually pretty competent having spent 4 yrs in college and being insanely strong for his position.
6’0 even without shoes. But yes, Fred, CP3 and Lowry were all a similar heights, at the same time small guards are becoming more and more of a rarity in todays league
My bad he is indeed 6'0 not 6'1. Small guards becoming a rarity refer to guys like Aaron Holiday who are bad defenders and get outsized by the competition. Thornton has a large mass he wont be bullied by bigger guards. In fact bigger guards are better for him cuz he is better guarding a bigger guard like Egor than a lightning quick guard like Maxey. His second game he got switched and ended up boxing out the opponent center. Same thing with Lowry and FVV, these guys are small but have a lot of mass.
