The Fall

by djturtleface on Jul 19, 2009 8:40 PM CDT Comment 0 comments

Summer League is officially over, with the Summer League Grizzlies defeating the Summer League Spurs 76-75. Marcus Williams hit the final layup with about a half second left to get the win, as he and Sam Young took the majority of the shots in the final minutes. Lets get to the bullets on the other end of the jump:

DeMarre Carroll impressed again this game, even snagging the post-game interview. I counted four steals, though he only got three in the box score. He defended George Hill on their final possession and held the sneaky, experienced point guard in check until a big screen came his way. He was active every minute on the court. On the down side Carroll finishes with the ball low under the basket, using sneaky moves like circus layups to finish given his lacking height and stand still hops. Lots of the shots he drops in these summer leagues will be swatted into the upper bowl by great weakside shotblockers like J-Smoove and Dwight.
Jeff Adrien wasn't great on offense tonight, but he rebounded well and brought a ton of energy. I like the kid, and think he would be great to lock up for a couple years with a minimum salary. He's really quick, not unlike Darrell Arthur. They will provide good practice buddies for each other.
My best buddy Thabeet doesn't get the final bullet tonight. He played a pretty solid game tonight. Didn't show any more or any less than the other games. Just to remind everyone, his offense is at least as bad as advertised. Doesn't seem to have much of a motor; not a particularly impressive effort out there.
Haddadi backed up Thabeet well enough. He was basically as effective as Thabeet when on the court. Needs to learn to play far harder.
Marcus Williams looked pretty solid again. His risky passes finally caught up to him and he picked up a bunch of TOs tonight. I knew it was going to happen given how many were getting deflected. He was relatively poised down the stretch and hit the game winner, though he also took some TERRIBLE looks. His three point form is really poor. He fades away almost constantly and in all kinds of directions for basically no reason.
Sam Young was tonight's most notable. He really scored well. Really sneaky skills in isolation, Young reminds me a lot of a younger Paul Pierce. While nobody actually projects that kind of upside to him, he has that sneakily skilled game. Always knows where his opponents hands are, and when he pulls up on jumpers they're almost never challenged. Not quite as crafty when driving though. Young's move are lacking when he's attacking the rim; he normally just tries to go over the top, which he doesn't do particularly effectively.

Tomorrow I'll come back with some overall Summer League thoughts, but I'll admit I'm obviously pretty happy with the Grizzlies 5-0 showing.