Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – It was a bit of a nothing season for KCP, who was given plenty of opportunity to succeed (80 games, 41 starts, 19.8 mpg) and simply didn’t. He averaged only 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game, shooting 39.6% from the field and 31.9% from three, looking very awkward on the offensive end of the court. Caldwell-Pope faired better defensively, given plenty of big matchups (especially at the start of the season) and using his athleticism and wingspan to occasionally be a deterrent to any slashing guard, but on offence he mostly looked lost, was unreliable with the handle, and settled for far too many long twos. KCP projects to be a very good three and D role player, which would suffice despite his draft position, but he absolutely needs to spend the summer honing that jump shot. There is something there to work with, yet a long way to go. Brian Cook – The 33 year old Cook is back for one final go-around, joining the Jazz last year for training camp and now back in summer league for the first time in a decade. Cook however has not been an effective player for seven years, and, having not played in his time since being cut by the Jazz, hasn’t done anything to show this will stop being the case any time soon. Justin Harper – Seems Stan Van Gundy is bringing in all the stretch fours from his Orlando days. Or at least, that’s what Harper was projected to be. He has not shot the ball well from three point range since leaving Richmond, hitting only 31.9% of his threes last season with Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Israel, on his way to 10.4 point and 5.1 rebound averages. Nevertheless, Harper can stretch the floor […]
Rasual Butler Butler returned to the D-League last season in an attempt to springboard himself back into the NBA. He played well, averaging 17.8 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Tulsa 66ers. However, aged 34, the once-good athleticism has largely gone, save for flashes. Butler would like to cash in on a reputation as a three-and-D guy, but the reality of his situation is that he’s average at both, and only ever was. He has been a sub-par NBA player for years – this isn’t meant pejoratively, although it’s appreciated that it’s hard to take it any other way – and he’s not going to reverse that now. Chris Daniels Years of summer leaguing it up finally paid off for Daniels with a training camp contract with the Lakers last season. He consistently remains on the cusp of the NBA because he’s legitimately good, a jump shooter with range and legit size who can also block shots and rebound when he puts his mind to it. But this latter thing is also what has kept him on that side of the fence – Daniels doesn’t always try that hard, be it on individual possessions, entire games, or in his overall conditioning. Even when he does, the reputation now precedes him. Nevertheless, Daniels routinely produces at this level, and he will likely do so again. Micah Downs In his first D-League season, Downs got out to a blistering start, the closest thing to a prime Andrei Kirilenko that the Maine Red Claws have ever seen. He tapered off over the final two months but still finished with season averages of 16.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Downs has always had tools but has never had a great run of actually putting them together. This year, admittedly […]
There is no better event in the American sports calendar than the NCAA Tournament. None. Zilch. Zero. And it’s not even especially close. All the games running concurrently, and the one game knockout format, make for captivating evenings of hours and hours of entertainment. This is particularly true of the first round, where action jumps from game to game, and Greg Gumbel struggles to keep up with all the information he’s getting in his ear. It’s like the FA Cup, except it’s better. Much, much better. And I like the FA Cup. Since this post is long enough already, the intro ends here, and there follows a preview (often in the form of a recap) of all 68 of the teams taking part in this, the 2011 NCAA Tournament. In this post: the 17 teams in the Southwest region. Use the following links to skip to relevant parts. Akron – Boston University – Florida State – Georgetown – Illinois – Louisville – Kansas – Morehead State – Notre Dame – Purdue – Richmond – St Peter’s – Texas A&M – UNLV – USC – Vanderbilt – VCU Brett McKnight pulling a silly face. Akron They might be relative minnows, but Akron boast some size. 7’0 centre Zeke Marshall is rail thin and fouls on pretty much every possession, but he’s sufficiently mobile to block 2.5 shots per game, and can finish around the basket. The Zips’ best player, Nikola Cvetinovic, is a 6’8 forward leading them in scoring and rebounding, but also an aggressive and fundamental defender on the interior. Reserve forward Brett McKnight is build like a tank, and backup centre Mike Bardo is, if nothing else, big. To go with that, Akron offer a good amount of shooting, particularly from specialists Brian McLanahan and Steve McNees, and the […]
