2013 Summer League rosters, Orlando Summer Pro League – Philadelphia
July 8th, 2013
Michael Carter-Williams Criticisms of Carter-Williams include that he can’t shoot, and he can’t make contested shots at the basket either, as he’s too slender. He’s raw, he’s too turnover prone, he doesn’t use his left hand enough, and he makes poor decisions. All true enough, and all sound bad. But all can be worked at. What Carter-Williams does undeniably possess is size, a handle, the ability to score in isolation and in transition, a knack for getting to the rim more with guile than speed, passing skills and vision, and an innate skill for the penetrate-and-dish. If he needs to get bigger, tougher and smarter while developing a jump shot, that’s fine. So do most 21 year old guards. D.J. Cooper Cooper couldn’t have done much more for Ohio than he did, leading them to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16, and averaging 14.1 points and 7.1 assists per game. He did so while averaging 42% shooting, a marked improvement on his 34% the year before, and upped his three point percentage to 36%. A better jump shot is essential to the sub-six footer, who, no matter how good his passing and handles, and how blazing his speed, needs to be able to make shots to make the league. He’s both smaller and slower than Patty Mills, for example, so he needs to compensate. Micheal Eric Eric was signed to a substantially guaranteed contract with the Cavaliers last season – over 60% of it, in fact – and then was waived before the season started anyway. He then went to the D-League, and, although he played pretty well (8.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 22 minutes per game), he was nonetheless outplayed by Arinze Onuaku. Eric has shot blocking instincts, size, and effort both defensively and […]
2011 NBA Draft Diary
June 25th, 2011
David Stern and Billy Hunter drive towards a cliff. Hand down, man down. After one of the best seasons ever comes one of the worst drafts ever. With the NBA riding a wave of talent, a draft comes along that sees not a lot more talent being added. There’s no getting around the fact that, relative to years past, the talent level of this draft is not very good. There’s also no getting around the fact that this is the last dollop of NBA we are going to see for a while. There’s going to be a lockout starting in nine days time; after today, everything is into the realms of the unknown. That fact will make this draft the last NBA action in the foreseeable future. It also will make children cry. This is what they want. They want your children to cry. The former of these things makes the draft a bit of a downer. But the latter of these things actually makes it more exciting. When you can only get one more taste of something before it is taken away from you forever, then you’re going to enjoy that final thing. This is the reason behind Death Row last meals, and was also a key philosophical plot vehicle within the seminally dreadful movie, Thelma And Louise. With the impending stench of bureaucratic disappointment blowing gustily in our face, dammit, we’re going out in style. (This post is long. Very long. If you don’t have 90 minutes to kill, skip to a certain pick number below. Once there, click the pick number to return to the top) 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 […]
