Raptors Crush Knicks in Summer League Action, 102 to 89
by RaptorsHQ - Franchise on Jul 15, 2010 8:01 AM EDT
48 comments
Toronto makes it three straight wins in Sin City with a 102 to 89 thrashing of the New York Knicks...
Can we start the real games yet?
Toronto made quick work of its third straight Summer League opponent here in Vegas beating up on the New York Knicks 102 to 89.
While New York made it close up until mid-way through the third quarter, the Raptors combination of speed, athleticism and size down low were too much for the Gotham group and in the end, this one was another laugher.
In fact it was such a laugher that doing any sort of post-game press proved incredibly difficult as the boys from HoopsWorld found out:
Never a dull moment when the Young Gunz are in the house.
I was hoping to grab Bobby Brown for a quick chat but unfortunately he was one of the first to take off so I'll have to try and catch him tomorrow if he's around. (Toronto doesn't play.)
So can Toronto be beat over its final two games?
Unfortunately I'm flying back to Toronto late tomorrow night so won't get to see them, but there's not question in my mind this club can win its final two matches. Having watched a good deal of Summer League in my time, the best teams tend to be ones that have an excellent mix of leadership, athleticism and speed, rebounding and toughness, and veteran experience. Toronto has all of these traits, even getting some solid gunning yesterday from Michael Roll and Ronald Dupree to really complement the squad's formidable inside-outside attack.
They also are getting great point guard play from the aforementioned Brown.
He doesn't wow you in any one area, but he's extremely steady, hits his outside shots to keep the defense honest, stays with his man on D, and doesn't try to do too much, perfect for a third stringer in the NBA.
A number of people were asking me via Twitter and on the site yesterday if I thought he'd stick with the team and I think it depends on what goes down with Jose and Marcus Banks. I'd much rather give a min-contract to Brown than keep paying top dollar for someone like Banks, and if Brown helps propel this team to a 5 and 0 finish, tough to see why Bryan Colangelo would let him walk unless the logjam at the 1-2 can't be cleaned up a bit.
Getting back to the team itself, as I mentioned yesterday though, a successful summer league doesn't necessarily mean anything, and can be a blessing and a curse. A good summer league team may simply mean that your best regular season players are young and inexperienced and while they dominate in this type of environment, struggle at the next.
I love what guys like DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems and Joey Dorsey are doing here in Vegas against the likes of Eric Boateng and Marcus Landry, but can they do the same against Tayshaun Prince and Paul Pierce etc?
We shall see.
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Joey Graham
I really like the first line of the summer league team they look solid, defensively and offensively but a little out of shape, they are only 10min quarters. The second group is not too strong but I guess thats what you get in summer league.
My real concern is that Sonny or Demar turn into another Joey G. Remeber how he dominated summer league a few years back, look how that turned out.
Say it ain't so...
Yes, all of us(including Triano, Colangelo et al) don’t want to see that happen. The thing with Graham was that he never really showed any improvement in any area of the game. From the few summer league games played this year, Weems showed improved range on his jumper and DeRozan seemed to absorb contact better and be a little smoother. The difference between them would be Graham=never improved, Weems&DeRozan=seem to be improving.
Plus Graham never got to see the floor as Smitch didn’t like his practice work ethic. These guys are going to see plenty of minutes and should improve organically anyway.
Not sure if it was the practice work ethic
as much as it was the perpetual bone head mistakes and mental lapses.
I am not sure how he was suppose to get better if Smitch pulled every time he made a mistake. Maybe Joey never stood a chance but I think that the 47 win season hurt his chances of ever getting time to play regularly.
Allowing players to play through mistakes is fine if they eventually learn. With Graham he just kept doing the same things wrong over and over like a broken record. Smitch had no choice but to pull him on a regular basis.
no young guys
had an opportunity to play threw their mistakes in 06/07 or 07/08. The team was looking to be successful.
“projects’ on teams looking to win are a always a mistake
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jul 15, 2010 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions
It wasn’t so much Graham’s work ethic as the stupid mistakes he made. Talked to Joey’s agent last year and Joey would be great in practice, but then would do stupid things in games. Really a mental thing with him.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by RaptorsHQ - Franchise on Jul 15, 2010 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Better than sucking
Maybe you are saying “don’t get too excited over summer league”. I totally agree. However, playing well in summer league is a lot better than going there and sucking.
Indeed. If you are awesome in summer league – you MIGHT be good in the NBA.
If you suck in summer league – you WILL suck in the NBA.
by dhackett1565 on Jul 15, 2010 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Hey Franchise,
Interested to get your thoughts on Solomon Alabi. I’ve ben PVRing the games and have not yet watched the Knicks game, but watched the Houston game last night and was impressed with his play. Albeit, he is obviously raw, he is a LEGIT 7’1" and had a knack for getting to the offensive boards and drawing fouls. However, the most impressive aspect of his game, and one that I did not expect, was his touch. He has a soft touch and shooting stroke and made a good percentage (I think all) of his free throws and even a pull up J in the lane. Steve Smith even commented that he was impressed by the kid’s touch. Thoughts?
chatter
in the live blog yesterday mentioned he was far ahead of Thabeet in terms of development.
not bad for the 51st overall!
well Thabeet may turn out to be 2009 draft bust of the year, so that’s not necessarily saying much… Thabeet has not developed any offensive skills whatsoever and Alabi has already picked up a new move since FSU. He’s working on some kind of skyhook, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Thabeet just looks lost in the paint, while the few minutes I’ve seen of Alabi, he going in there looking fairly comfortably, which I thought would be his biggest challenge.
Alabi
I’ve got a whole post tomorrow on Vegas thoughts and that will include a discussion of Alabi and Ed Davis, both of whom I talked to ESPN’s Coach Thorpe about (Thorpe is working with Alabi right now.)
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by RaptorsHQ - Franchise on Jul 15, 2010 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions
De Rozan
is the best 20 year old down there in Summer League.
that definitely says something, and good for him. Love his attitude and love where his game is going. Also really like his leadership dynamic with Sonny Weems.
Looks like DD’s picked up a solid step back jumper, which he didn’t show at all last year. In my books, that’s huge for a small to pick up.
Noticed that too – instead of getting stuck on drives he’s now able to spin, step-back, and hit the J. Huge.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by RaptorsHQ - Franchise on Jul 15, 2010 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
DeRozan
Looked fantastic in the Houstan game. His jumper was money. His Ball handling was noticabely better. There were a few plays where he drove to the basket and did a great job of absorbing contact and finishing.
DeRozan is going to be more effective if he is not option #5 on the court as he was mostly when playing in the starting line-up last season (still don’t understand that decision). He tends to drift and defer to others if that is the case. This year, without CB4 and (shudder) Turk, I think we are in for positive signs from DeRozan as he will have to shoulder more of the offensive load, and it appears he is doing well to prepare himself.
If the NBA is a toilet bowl… and the Raps are a floater….
I guess that means the Raps come out on top!
by dhackett1565 on Jul 15, 2010 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Bobby Brown
has looked real good to… but he is a concern to me as he is more of a scorer than a passer.
He has really made some bad passes and bad decisions (3 on 1 break in Houston… with Weems(or Derozan can’t remeber) running the wing and Davis trailing, he dishes it to Davis last minute, and at his knees no less). He just seems to be thinking how do I get a bucket, rather than how do I create a bucket.
Just looking like a classic PG/SG tweener…. mentality of a 2, body of a 1… rarely leads to anything good.
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jul 15, 2010 10:13 AM EDT reply actions
He is a bit of a tweener but I thought that he’s generally made good decisions with the ball, and only looked to shoot when the clock was winding down or he was wide open…unlike Mike James.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by RaptorsHQ - Franchise on Jul 15, 2010 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Joey
Its funny how were all dissing Joey for his mistkes in the past but he had all the tools to be a solid player but never showed it enough..I mean when garbo went down Joey was 1 of our best players down the strecth but when the playoffs rolled around he was like a deer in headlights. But I think both weems and DD will not end up like Joey cause by the way their playing they both have improved their games greatly
by sherwin316 on Jul 15, 2010 2:32 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
re Joey
One thing of interst about Joey G., he played 63 games on a winner, who made the playoffs, and he played 4 play-off games last year, not someting any current Raptor can say.
Media reports have been unclear. Maybe Friday, maybe Monday. Definitely one of the two.
by dhackett1565 on Jul 15, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
I got two things to say about this video...
First, I like these kids have taking on the whole ``Young Gunz thing and after watching this Ì feel like at least I can cheer for these kids next season (`cause unless something drastic happens, it`s not like we will be cheering many wins).
Second, Nate Robinson is going to try and drop 40 on us next season! LOL
http://amirjohnson.com/amir-tv-presents-the-young-gunz-dunkoff-vote-now/
Vegas League
Just nice to see the work put in by everyone is paying off. I can’t remember the last time something like this happened where the guys seem so together from before summer league until now. Kinda makes you get tingly all over.
Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com Twitter @RapHQVicious
by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Jul 15, 2010 11:43 PM EDT reply actions
The Knicks Summer League Teams Sucks
I love what guys like DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems and Joey Dorsey are doing here in Vegas against the likes of Eric Boateng and Marcus Landry, but can they do the same against Tayshaun Prince and Paul Pierce etc?
We shall see.
======
A bunch of midgets who at least against the Raptors chose not to play defense.
A better test of how good this LVSL squad is will be tomorrow vs Scaramento assuming that Scarmento plays the full compliment of guys that they have been playing.
===
Having said that DeRozan has been the best Raptors player in the LVSL and you can see his increased strength since April and improved game. Look for him to average 15-20 ppg in 10-11.
Weems has looked good and seems to be playing under more control than he did last season.
Dorsey is a younger and stronger version of Reggie Evans with about the same skill set except Evans was a better defender when he was Dorsey’s current age.
Alabi has shown a nice shooting touch and good aggressiveness in crashing the offensive glass.
Davis has shown a lot of rust and generally not looked too good against good competiton like when he good outplayed by Patterson who the Raptors passed on. The one thing that Davis has done well is pass the ball especially on the interior and shown good court awareness in the process.
I wonder about his conditioning or general attitude because even against the Knicks he did not get back adequately during the transition game even trailing Alabi back down the court. You would think that Davis would be faster than Alabi? Maybe he is but for some reason Davis keeps showing up in the rear view mirror during the transition game.
Also, other than going for a safe block his interior defense has been way too much matador evidently wanting to play it safe and avoid the fouls rather than trying to stop his opponent if their was a risk of committing a foul.
Davis is also really light in the pants and against anyone of any size he has so far been totally manhandled. physically.
So far to me he has looked more like a 33 or 43 pick rather than a #13 pick.
Of course all of this could be do to rust, sure. it is.
I'd say...
…wait a bit. Dude needs to really bulk up to be able to fully take his game to the nba and actually produce. I don’t have too high of expectations for him first year. 2011-12 is when he’ll emerge.
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