Summer League Game 3 - China

Ten thoughts about this game:

1. Gerald Green and I have the same dribbling ability. It hasn’t been a problem for me at the Young Men’s Christian Association but it’s going to be a problem for Gerald in the National Basketball Association. It’s why he hasn’t been able to consistently take it to the hole which, so far, has been his biggest non-defensive problem. Oh, and his defense? Not good ladies and gentlemen. At one point I think I saw him jumping BEFORE the head fake.

2. Leon Powe was so impressive…wow. If you put Leon and Yi in the paint and shot a thousand missed shots (maybe Allen Ray could help us with that) I get the feeling that Yi would get about 6 boards and Leon would get the other 994. I know this Chinese National team is kind of a joke but I LOVE LEON. He just won the preseason Tommy Award….it’s over.

3. He had a nice look away pass this evening at one point but I think it’s safe to say that the ‘Allen Ray Era’ is over. We hardly knew ye…

4. Brandon Wallace blocked Yi’s shot so badly tonight that they should’ve stopped play and measured the hand print on the ball for historical significance but instead they called a foul on him. Memo to David Stern: Yes, I get it, you’re a really smart guy and you’ve done a really great job marketing the nba we owe you a whole bunch….now shut up and fix the refereeing problem before it ruins this game.

5. Rajon was an absolute thing of beauty tonight. His shooting form looks much improved and at times he was flat out dominant. I understand it’s only one game, in the summer league no less, but if this is any indication of his performance this season all I can say is I can’t wait to go to battle with the kid.

6. Back to Yi. I realize it’s early and the summer league is dominated by guards BUT….he looks hopeless. He was the 4th best player on the chinese team. He gets pushed around in the paint like martha stewart in the correctional facility 3-on-3 games.

7. If Big Baby has entered into some kind of competition of who can work harder – him or Leon Powe – (which so far seems to be happening) we are in for really good things from this second round pick. Speaking of which, Gabe Pruit just looks like a solid NBA player even though he didn’t get a lot of touches tonight. You kind of get the feeling he’ll be a good player in the league 12 years from now.

8. Andreas Glyniadakis, although in desperate need of a nickname, looked really smooth for a 7-1 center. Though I’m a sucker for a 7-footer so take that with a grain of salt.

9. Ainge and McHale chatted all game long in the stands tonight. I believe Ainge is going to get us KG without giving up Al…it will bring us back the promise land for the first time in 20 years. Kevin is still a Celtic at heart let’s not forget, and he must know he’s going to be fired in the next 12 months anyway, so might as well help your friends in green out once more for old times’ sake, right? I say it’s a lock, you heard it here third. Sorry, I get carried away sometime, disregard this.

10. Wally, Delonte and Jeff Green/Yi/or Brewer for Ray Allen, Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis? Everyday of the week and twice on Sunday! If I’m correct and this draft goes down in NBA history as ’the draft that everyone thought was loaded but actually turned out to be absolutely hopeless’ then Danny has made the best trade in his tenure by far.

Nice thoughts “lovethecees”, good stuff.

Tommy point from me.

Leon and BB going at it in practice would be worth paying to watch. Talk about a war.

Cheers

Aussie

Good job Love the Cees. I don’t care that it’s only summer ball. I like it when a guy like Powe goes out and does it the way it should be done.

I hope we get KG. I’ll tell you this though, if the trade is made, depending if Big Al is in the trade or not, the team that doesn’t have him when the trade is over will be in trouble with a large % of their fans. I still think though, we need to make the trade because even with Gasol or Jermaine, I don’t think that puts us over the top. Darko, Joe Smith, Bevan Knight might get us a step higher on the ladder but it needs to be KG.

Yeah we mortgage the future, but: Pierce/Allen/ KG in my mind puts us right up there with the Spurs as the 2 favorites to reach the finals.

Too bad “Big Baby” isn’t 20lbs. lighter…he’d be all over the place and 1.5 steps faster. Then we’d really see a battle between Powe and him…got to love their nose for the ball!

Some of the fouls called on Davis were just due to inexperience with how the NBA game is played….what’s allowed and what isn’t. At least two of the fouls called on him were ticky-tac calls and showed the rust of our officiating crew.

I thought Gabe showed better mobility last night but it could just be the level of competition. He has yet to use his size and speed to maximize his game potential. He needs to make more use of alternating his down-court speed to throw defenses off.