I'm excited about our four rookies [Motiejunas, Lamb, White and T_J (like that?) ] and am surprised by the lukewarm reception that some are giving them. Here's my question: have any of our other summer league "stars" [i.e. John Lucas III, Donte Green, Dan Langhi, Marcus Morris (?)] been so consistently good over the short course of that season or were they 1 game legends? D-Mo's game two was a cipher but I think that was a team problem as much as anything. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I was very impressed with their consistency. Royce is a little inconsistent but he also looks to plug-in more than the others and do what needs doing in a kind of selfless way and I (we) may just be mis-reading that.
you want to crown these guys after what they did in summer league. The same league where Jimmer looked like Jordan at times. I'm excited about them and given our draft positions, I think we did good. Let's see how these guys become pros though and translate their game.
Cant place too much judgement on Summer league performances. Dan Langhi and Donte Green played well, but so did Blake Griffin and Jeremy Lin. What you are looking for are skills that will translate against the next level. Some skills I noticed that will translate- -Royce White- elite passing, ball handling big man who can push the ball upcourt. Also can guard multiple positions one on one. Excellent footspeed for a big. -T. Jones- Versatility and ball handling for a big will translate. Ability to guard multiple positions. Good rebounder. -Motiejunas- Big that can run the floor very well. Good footwork in post for big. -Jeremy Lamb- good shooter, nice floater So even though White might not have put up the best SL numbers, IMO, he has the best skillset to translate at the next level, and the guy who was taken highest in the draft really has only one or two skills that will translate at the next level. Summer league can be very decieving.
Everyone's opinion is welcome but can anyone answer my central question: have these four showed a rare level of consistency (a feature of professionalism) that those who came before did not?
Granted it is a short sample but it still would be five games in a row. The questions remains, though, how did our other "stars" fare in this same scenarioi. I'm not really asking for absolute projections as much as relative comparisons.
The proverbial "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" applies to this thread........I hope all our chickens hatch....
PF Comparison- Griffin, B. GP 5 19.2 PPG 10.8 Reb 34.5 Min per White, R. GP 5 8.4 PPG 7.2 Reb 25.4 Min per 3.6 APG Scoring Guard Comparison- Curry, S. GP 5 17.4 PPG 4.6 Reb 33.4 Min per 4.2 APG 32% FG% Lamb, J. GP 5 20.0 PPG 4.4 Reb 29.2 Min Per 0.8 APG 46% FG% Does this mean that Royce White will be less productive than Blake Griffin, and Jeremy Lamb will be a more efficient, and better scorer than Stephan Curry??? Not really. All you can really say is that this is how well they played in 5 games against sub-par competition. All four of these players played pretty consistent in Summer league, and played SL starter's minutes in all 5 games. Again, its about skills that translate to the next level that will get them playing time in order to see them play enough minutes to judge. After they play consistently at the next level, then you get a better sample size of what they are going to be. If you just want to know "are they more consistent than past Summer league teams?".... I dont think your going to find an answer to that question that makes logical sense.
Green and Langhi weren't that high of draft picks compared to Lamb/Jones/White. The first rounders should have higher expectations.
Sort of reinforces the point. Summer league stats say nothing about your future success in the NBA. It's skills that translate at the next level that should garner the most attention. Not sure why that's still not clear.
I don't think their reception has been "lukewarm". I'm pretty sure the majority of NBA fans think very highly of our rookies. It wasn't the numbers they put up (though they were very nice numbers), it was the skills they showed us that they had. You can put up fluke numbers in Summer League, but you can't put up fluke skills. You either have'em or you don't. Our rookies have'em. *Jimmer Fredette may have put up numbers in SL but the way he did it was horrendous. He forced his shots on numerous occasions, turned the ball over, and took poorly selected shots.
Lmao @ consistency=5 games against inferior competition. Like one of the posters above said, I'm impressed with them and what we got when you consider our draft position, but lets calm down a little. I'm so tired of talking about this anyways, you guys will see when the season starts and then the excuses and defense of morey will begin..
One thing about these rookies is that they didn't play selfish. You may get your points by chucking against inferior defense. You can't just play smart ball without having high IQ. These kids seem to have that IQ that may be a good sign.