[SL]Thoughts so far

Hey guys so as some of you may know I was fortunate enough to attend the first 3 games of the summer league this year and just wanted to share some thoughts on the Rockets squad.

I'll post pictures with the side stories and all in another thread once i get pics uploaded but this is just about the players on the court.


These are just my thoughts and observations from what I saw from these players along with their interactions with the coaches on the floor, what the coaches told them and all. I am going to just focus on the guys that most likely will be on a rockets squad this year or in the future (their draft prospects/rookies)

I will try to be as detailed as my memory lets me I hope others share their thoughts as well.


Maarty Luenen --

Last year Maarty surprised me the most, his spacing and size along with his touch really stood out I was impressed. I was hoping to see how he had improved in his year overseas. Now one thing that I realized was last year Maarty had a distinct advantage of having played with Aaron for 3 years at Oregon so they had a good chemistry with each other and that showed a lot as he was featured in a lot of plays (or at least AB was but Maarty benefited by being in the right spot and knowing what AB was going to do next)

Maarty was solid again this year and it seemed like a lot of the good spacing he had last year had more to do with AB than his own bball IQ. There were several times that Coach Sikma would yell out to Maarty that he was in the wrong spot. He still has a very solid stroke and has NBA Range. I saw less attacks to the basket and cuts compared to last year but he came off of curls real well.

Defensively is where Maarty made the most strides I felt(but then again he wasnt much of a defender to begin with) while he was clearly over matched trying to guard Anthony Randolph he did much better moving his feet and sticking to his man even though many times he had to guard a bigger player. While he isnt going to be blocking shots he has some decent hands and get some deflections (though i believe he was called for a foul on a clean play) and even stripped Johnny Flynn of the ball out on a hedge on the perimeter that even surprised the coaches. He hustled really well and did a good job trying to box out (once again fighting against bigger players)

Overall I liked what I saw in Maarty but he is in that tweener area..too small for a true 4 and not fast athletic/quick enough to be a 3 in the NBA at least but maybe another year or so of playing overseas may help him bulk up to at least be able to battle 4s with some added strength. (would swap him in a heart beat on the team if it mean getting rid of Cook)



James White--

James is just like is named implies --white--as in plain. I came away terribly disappointed with him. He really just seemed to be going through the motions and while he scored points he never did it within the flow of the offense. for all the hype with his freakish athleticism he rarely drove to the basket, I wasnt expecting him to 360 and posterize someone but getting into the lane more than once a game would be nice. He was losing his man on defense and Coach Dunn often kept having to remind him his assignments. Both coaches were not too pleased at his lack of running sets at times.

he played his best overall game against GSW and going up against Curry but the other two games he seemed very disinterested. And even then Garret Temple did the best job guarding Curry.


A positive thing about white though he was a very good teammate despite whoever it was that scored or make a play he would cheer for them and congratulate them in every huddle.


Jermaine Taylor

JT didnt play the first game with a hammy pull and went limited minutes the next two games but you can see how he was in the tops in scoring last year. Was able to get to the rim and had the size, strength and athleticism to finish as well. He is still learning the game though as coach Dunn would have to specifically point out his spots and cuts during timeouts. He isnt much of a passer which was another thing coach sikma said twice about how either Newley or Maarty was open for a kick out and to make that pass.

I couldnt really remember him standing out on defense meaning he didnt do terrible but wasnt necessarily a good defender either.

Coach Respert looks like he is working on fixing his stroke as Taylor has an unorthodox form. He shoots the ball above and of the side of his head. Also he moves his body weird when shooting free throws. Daryl Morey even commented when JT was shooting freebies saying "Man look at all thats going on when he his shooting free throws"


Chase Budinger

Ooh where to start with Chase out of all the unsigned prospect he is the one I would put my money on to make the team. He has a great stroke and came off of curls very well and was able to catch turn and shoot and with his athleticism rise over his defenders and still get a good look despite what space he had. Shooting aside we all know he has a shot but offensively he is very solid. He has the ability to drive and MAKE the pass which is something that is lacking on this team IE a play maker. He had a few plays designed for him which surprised me but showed the coaches faith in his offensive abilities.

Defensively while he isnt a great defender he is a average defender he has to learn to move his feet quicker on defensive, but with his size and athleticism he was able to close out on shooters very hard. I am pretty sure that he always contested every shot his man took which was huge since even though he may have been beat he didnt give up a completely wide open look.

The coaching staff probably spoke to him the least out of the main prospect which to me at least shows that they worry about him the least when compared to the other guys.


I do believe DD has found a new person to pour his adulation on


Joey Dorsey

My man Joey D. in short offensively he still is a ways to go. He has developed a few moves but is no where near being consistent on it as a "developed go to move" he has a terrible touch around the hoop, if he is not dunking the ball (which he does really well and emphatically) there isnt much of a chance of it going in.

One nice development is his FT shooting, while its not Luis Scola-esque (you know mid 70s) it has definitely improved from that 30% range. Sure the sample size of his FT is small (I believe he is shooting about 58% for the summer league games) but his stroke and rotation of the ball is MUCH better than what I remember seeing at memphis. Coach Respert who has been working with him and his stroke said that Dorsey's form is good his release is fine but its too much of a mental thing with him and it gets to him. Which was true because whenever Joey missed a FT he would get visibly mad at himself.

Defensively the guy can hold his own in the post and of course if there is a ball he can snatch in his area he probably will. A rebounding machine and a very intimidating shot block despite his size (he went after every shot)

one thing though he sometimes has lapses on defense where his head is somewhere else and the coaches had to yell at him to get to his assignment or to pay attention to whats going on.


Also though it was only whenever Joey was in the game did the team really run set offensive plays. One of the plays they loved to run was something they called "Corner Axle" where Joey caught the ball at the high post and players rub off of him to cut and get the ball.

No ever said JD had good ball IQ.





The other guys are still too far removed from being on an NBA team (well at least the Rockets) of the other players Garret Temple impressed me with his defense and Conroy with his ability to get to the cup. Newley is still a project I dont think he'll be in the NBA.


I will post pictures and the other little side stories later tonight.

I would be interested to see what others had to think about our guys.