Summer League Wraps Up
You laughed, you cried, you agonized - the schintillating games and storylines of the 2008 Orlando Summer League. Alright, it’s not exactly the playoffs. In fact, it’s not much more than an inter-squad practice, a more organized extension of the pre-draft camps, with structed 5-on-5 games, and a few veterans mixed in.
For now, summer league is our only evaluation tool for progress. Early indications, Brook Lopez can play center in this league, Sean Williams still can’t play in this league. Lopez displayed adeptness in the post scoring almost 20 points a game, more importantly improving each day. Williams showed no ability in the post, picking up right where he left off last season. The Stanford rookie even recored more blocked shots than Williams in slightly more minutes.
The team posted a 4-1 record, which means…well, NOTHING. When players can record 8 fouls and keep playing, you can throw the proverbial record books out. However, this week did confirm my beliefs that Lopez and CDR will both make contributions as rookies. CDR more so than Anderson, even though the Nets selected the Pac-10 leading score 19 picks ahead of CDR - and don’t think he’ll forget that. I envision Lopez finding his way into the starting lineup at some point in the first half of the year. He’s simply better than Josh Boone. CDR will crack the Top 8 for this team, unless they decide to play these veteran free-agent signings by virtue of experience.
If you’re scoring at home, here are the Nets final stats:
Nets 2008 Summer League Stats
Drop your comments on the summer performance here. More on the free agent signings later. But here’s a hint - I have a strong opinion on it. Stay tuned.
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Tags: 2008 Orlando Summer League, Brook Lopez, CDR, Chris Anderson, Chris Douglas-Roberts, New Jersey Nets, rookies, Sean Williams, Stanford, Summer League
4 Responses
jarkid July 13th at 8:01 pm
Yeah, SL shows Brook Lopez can play, he is a stud, I don’t get it that why some writers say he is a bum, he is polished and skilled, at worst, he can be a Brad Miller type big man, and that’s good enough.
At best, I think he is like Timmy. That’s just my personal comment.
Anonymous July 17th at 7:01 pm
I strongly disgaree with your latest podcast… you why should we get 2 players like Najera and Hayes? because they are swingman, and we don’t have swingmen!! Now we have competiton with Bobby Simmons for the starting Small Forward position. If we didnt make this move, who would play back up 3-man? CDR? he’s a 2 guard! So were we planning on playing Bobby Simmons 40 minutes a game? Hayes is exactly what we need: An outside shooter that plays the position we need: 3-man. You also say we should go out and get a lock down defender… how many lock down defenders were there in the FA market? the only one that comes to mind is James Posey, and he, NOT Eduardo najera, might prevent LeBron coming to the Nets in 2010. Najera’s 3 million in 2010 isnt all of a sudden going to prevent us from getting LeBron. You also bring up the Nets, if they are to make the playoffs, make it using all young guys… but the Sixers didnt do that! They had veterans like Reggie Evans, Kevin ollie, Sam Dalembert, Willie Green, and Andre Miller (nearly half their roster) that all had 5+ years of experience in the league, which is exactly how many years Jarvis Hayes has been in the league. I couldn’t disagree with you more on the latest FA signings by the Nets.
Michael July 18th at 7:28 am
I agree with the issues you brought up, but I can’t support signing both Najera AND Hayes. And its more to do with the contracts, specifically 4 years for Najera.
Lock-down defenders are hard to find. Someone that actually plays defense, however, would help. You saw the games the end of last season - they speak for themselves.
The reference to last season’s SIxers was that they played with two rookies (or close to it) in Young and Smith. Williams and Igoudola were still on rookie contracts. Green came out of nowhere. No team wins with 12 rookies, point is they did not make bad signings and everyone contributed. I feel the Nets need to experiment with Anderson or Yi at the 3 spot because of their offensive game (just a thought, without seeing the team dynamics). They need to evaluate Lopez, Boone (more), Yi, Anderson, and S. Will (if he is still around), then you still have Swift and Hassell. I just don’t want to see a 35-win team with Najera and Hayes playing 25-30 min a night. Not good for the future.
Anon July 23rd at 2:17 am
– “No team wins with rookies”
That’s because rookies can’t play NBA defense. Even people like Artest need seasoning. When Lopez plays D, he will start. Same for Yi or Anderson. CDR will be a backup until he hones his game. Will these happen this season?