| Summer League Analysis: Game 1, Vs. Boston Authored by J.T. Magee - July 7, 2007 - 3:37 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | The First Three Weeks of 2008-09 Now that we’ve had a little time to watch free agency unfold, along with the usual accompaniment of trades, let’s look at some of the key moves and how they impact the teams involved.
Grading The Deal: W's Sign Maggette And TuriafThe Boom Dizzle era is over, and the Warriors quickly recovered by signing two nice pieces to complement their young core.
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LaMarcus Aldridge
I tend to start these with the best player. Aldridge was flat-out dominant overall. He shied away from contact, but it wasn’t as often compared to last season. His go-to shot, the 15 foot jumper, was on point. He ran the court like a guard and finished like a power forward should: above the rim and with power on top. His first bucket of the game was an And-1 play off a full court pass from Sergio Rodriguez. He was a little under the hoop, so he took a lay-up instead of trying to pack it home. It worked. Touch and speed, out of a 7-footer?
His touch is feather-like. He looks stronger, but he was still being pushed out of position in the post. Once he gets acclimated in the post, watch out. He could lead the Blazers in scoring this year. If this game was any indication in regards to how he was being used, then he’ll be one of the most versatile power forwards in the NBA. He’s still a year away from being able to consistently play center, but he has the tools to play the position immediately. He should be a lock for Most Improved, if his teammate Travis Outlaw doesn’t take it from him. Look for him to get more touches in the post.
Greg Oden
His play was pretty gruesome. He was drained and it showed. He was reaching in for fouls in the post. Normally, he would just move his feet and that would be enough to disrupt the offense. He lacked touch on the few actual looks he got in the post. He showed a good eye for passing out of the post, but it’s not something he can depend on. Unless teams allow him to play one-on-one, the LVSL won’t be easy on Oden. A couple of the triple-teams Boston threw at him were just the beginning. Once he gets into shape, he’ll be the dominant self he usually is. Off game for Oden.
He seems to be the type of player that starts off slow and finishes strong. If he’s not ready to go by their third game, I’ll be shocked. He wasn’t ready to go hard fro 40 minutes, let alone against a bruiser like Powe. On offense, I want to see him be able to find the open teammate as well as look for his own shot. Defensively, he was strong in his reads, but weak in his preparation for the LVSL. Hopefully, this was just the first game jitters.
Sergio Rodriguez
Overall, he was a disappointment. He wasn’t running the pick & roll like he should. He had a hard time getting everyone in tune and within the offense. His defense on Rondo was confusing. I understand the need to press the opposing point guard, but on every possession? Rodriguez would continue to scramble back on D, only to never set himself properly. Offensively, he showed his improved jump shot, now unafraid to take it when left open. Aside from the jump shot, Rodriguez struggled as the two-guard (when Taurean Green was in) and as the legit floor general. He is being looked at as the team’s future starting point guard, but didn’t look like it on the first day. I want to see him with an in-shape Oden and how he gets the ball to him. I also want to see that Rodriguez who came to life against Denver during the regular season, the Rodriguez who knew what to do. He wasn’t there. I’ll give him a few days to figure it out.
Martell Webster
One play turned Webster into the shooting guard/small forward Portland has been waiting for. When cutting to the hoop, he found a backdoor crease and gets the pass from… Oden. Trying to think. Yep, pretty sure it was Oden. Instead of laying the ball up, he goes up for the pile driving dunk. He misses and draws the foul, but if I had a picture of his look at the free throw line, I’d send it to him and tell him to never lose that look in his eye. He looked pissed off. After that play, he struggled a little bit but lit up the fourth quarter, including a 4-point play in the process.
Webster has some crazy lift on his jumper and his shot can become unblockable. The coaching staff wants him to assert himself as a leader. All he has to do is get the ball in the post. There’s no way Gerald Green could body him up on the low block. At 6’8”, Webster has to find that one area that will leave him with an open jump shot two possessions later. For me, it’s a low-post game. His lift on his shot will get him one every time down the court. Overall, if teams plan to defend him like the Celtics did, then he’s going to have a long LVSL. However, if he continues the late-game heroics, or at least has the intensity of being in the latter part of the game every minute, then he’ll find his place in the Blazers’ rotation. It was a down game, but his play late in the game brought it up to neutral. The yellow/daisy color on the color grid. Of basketball. With red being the worst. Or, best. Or… just get to Taurean Green.
Taurean Green
Green’s defense and hustle were two reasons why Portland even had a sniff at coming back. He continued to deflect passes in the second half, forced the issue and tried to make plays. I wasn’t enamored with his shot selection at all. Even the ones he made were a bit iffy. Green was a scrapper on defense and made life hard for Rondo, Allan Ray and Gabe Pruitt. Green, if he continues to control the tempo and play very solid defense, has a chance to make the roster, pending on what the Blazers end up doing in free agency. If he’s not on Portland’s roster by the time the season rolls around, he’ll be on someone’s team when the season ends.
Stefano Mancinelli
I can’t say too much about Mancinelli. A former draft prospect, Mancinelli doesn’t have the assertiveness to match his skill set. He is a good passer and a decent perimeter player, but Portland is trying to utilize Oden and Aldridge down low. He wasn’t getting many chances to make plays, so it was hard to fully gauge his value. He has a lot of size for a small forward, so I’ll look forward to see how he uses his touches on offense.
Peterri Koponen
Koponen played just a couple of minutes, but this is how Portland may have come to the conclusion he was worth trading for. Last year, the Reebok Eurocamp has select players to form their All-Star team, and then they usually play a country’s international squad. The first time Koponen played in front of NBA-heads was when the RBK All-Stars demolished Finland’s Under-20 National team. Koponen was by far their best player, a tall, blond playmaker. I didn’t think anything of him because I didn’t know enough about him then and it never clicked that he was there. One of the coaches at the camp happens to be an assistant on the Blazers’ coaching staff. Al Gore’s nifty invention, I believe it’s called the internet, can help one figure out who it is, but I bet his good word prompted the team to scout him extensively during the season.
Joel Freeland
For those who haven’t heard his playing situation over in Spain, he wasn’t getting any. There is an audio interview with him on one of the Oregonian pages where Freeland is saying he had to work out because he wasn’t getting any playing time. For a kid who was bagging groceries a few years ago, one season can up the learning curve, especially when trying to enter the NBA. He looked a little lost out there, being pushed out of the low-post without even realizing it. He looked lost on all but a few offensive sets. It didn’t look like he knew how to react when a play broke down. His huge block on Powe got some oohs and aahhs, but wasn’t counted in the box score. Freeland has a ways to go, but showed glimpses he could contribute in a few years, key word few.
Josh McRoberts
McRoberts will never play small forward. Let’s get that out of the way. Now that’s settled, McRoberts showed a good eye for getting the ball into the post, something the guards on the team failed to figure out. He wasn’t aggressive at all. I want to see him next to Oden and Aldridge more, but I wasn’t getting the itch to say he should be out on the court. I want to see him attack the basket after facing up on the block. Never saw that from him and it seems those types of situations are where he would flourish. Defensively, ugh. Not much to write about there. I just want to see something that says, “I was supposed to be picked in the first round, not in the second.” It should come, but it never did against the Celtics.
Chris Ellis & Zendon Hamilton
There always seems to be a pair of players I can’t quite watch enough. These two were those players on the Blazers. Hamilton was a crafty veteran, deflecting passes and boxing out. He’s bounced around the world and I’m not sure he’ll get a roster invite. But his presence at the LVSL should help a young kid like Freeland out a lot. Ellis is a burly guy. Decent in the post, but in the LVSL, one has to be more than decent. I’ll be on the look out for these two. |
