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Authored by Derek Flack - 24th July, 2008 - 3:13 pm
Game 1 Spurs vs. Mavericks
Once again Gerald Green of the Mavs was the superior talent on the court in this game. Against this level of competition he dominates; he can get his shot off at any time and get to the basket with ease. However, often times he settles for outside jump shots. He has a small flaw in his shooting technique that causes him to miss occasionally; he doesn’t square his feet up to the basket. Instead his feet flare out to the left as he gathers himself to shoot, which sometimes causes his misses to fly to the left. If he could clean up that part of his jumper, he could be a deadly spot-up shooter. He needs to work on his defense awareness, though; often he loses his man on the perimeter, occasionally giving up wide open shots from the to Malik Hairston (4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 block) and Devin Green (7 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist). Other than that, all was good for Green, who finished with a game high 27 points, including going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also hauled down 5 rebounds but was a little sloppy at times with the ball in his hands, forcing bad passes into the post which resulted in 5 turnovers.
Aaron Miles had another efficient day running the offense for Dallas. He made good decisions and found the open man for 8 assists and looked very confident running the team.
Shan Foster had another quiet day. He finished with 6 points but only took 5 shots. He is too passive without the ball, standing around and not running hard off screens to get open. His lack of production is killing his chances of making the Mavs' regular season roster. They drafted him as a knock-down shooter, and he has not shown that skill so far in the Revue.
For the Spurs, George Hill had another strong game and seemed to have found his jump shot. He shot 50% from the field on 14 shots and had 18 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. He hounded Mavs' guard Derrick Low every time he had the ball and was able to force some turnovers and create scoring opportunities for his team. This was probably his best all around performance so far at the Revue.
Spurs' center Ian Mahinimi was dominant on the block today. He got to the free throw time 11 times, making each one of them. He finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds and completely destroyed the Mavs' bigs down low.
In the end Green was too much for the Spurs to handle. His huge offensive game pushed the Mavs to a win, 84-77, over San Antonio.
Game 2 Nets vs. Warriors
Warriors' rookie Anthony Randolph was one the players expected to dominate the Revue. He started off great, nailing an open three 10 seconds into the game, but after that, things fell apart for him. He has a great handle for a player his size, which should cause matchup problems in the NBA, but he is rail thin and has trouble finishing at the basket. He is relentless going to the basket, but he has no midrange game so he forces bad shots trying to go all the way rather than pull up from 10 feet out. He had a terrible game from the field but had a decent outing in his first game of the Revue. He was only 2-10 from the field, but he did make 11-of-13 free throws. He finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 5 turnovers.
Nets' big man Brook Lopez had his struggles, as well. He was laboring up and down the floor, often being the last man to cross half court. It could be the high altitude that was giving him problems, but either way, it was painful watching him try to run. He came up short on most of shots and was bullied around by the much smaller Warriors' center Richard Hendrix. Lopez was very slow on defense and soft on the boards. He has a lot to work on before the regular season begins. He is, however, an excellent post passer. He was able to find cutters going to the basket and avoided turnovers when he was double teamed. Lopez finished with 16 points but only made 5-of-14 shots. He pulled down 6 rebounds and swatted away 3 shots in a lackluster performance.
The Warriors had two surprising performances on their team. Dion Dowell found the open spots on the court and finished 20 points, including 3-for-5 from long range. Warriors' guard Anthony Morrow was absolutely on fire in the contest. He shot 10-of-18 from the field including a blazing 3-of-4 from three. Morrow flew around the court and was always the first guy to lead the pack on fast breaks. Morrow had a great game and was the best player on the court for the Warriors.
Ryan Anderson for the Nets was advertised as a great shooter coming into the NBA Draft; however, he was only able to knock down 4-of-16 shots and missed all 4 of his bombs from long range. His shot was off, but he did finish with 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Julius Hodge, who may be fighting Chris Douglas-Roberts for a roster spot with the Nets, was everywhere on the court. He finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and played great defense on Randolph for much of the game. He badly outplayed CDR, who had 6 points but stood around for most of the game.
DeMarcus Nelson of the Warriors played great defense on Nets' guard Marcus Williams, forcing Williams into a rough 6-16 performance. Nelson showed great hustle diving for loose balls and making things happen on defense. He finished with 9 points, 6 assists, and 5 boards but showed his strength and athleticism finishing well at the basket.
Though Williams struggled from the field, he did have 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but he was mainly looking for his own shot, ignoring his open teammates to take contested 15 foot jumpers. If Williams would have been traded to the Warriors on Monday instead of Tuesday, he could have just switched jerseys in the middle of the game. It appears as though he is done playing in the Revue after the trade, though.
The Warriors balanced play helped them destroy the Nets in a blowout, 108-84.
Game 3 D-League Ambassadors vs. Hawks
Once again Acie Law struggled to run the offense. He had 10 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. He doesn’t look very good at all on the floor; he has no jump shot and can’t finish at the rim. The huge numbers he put up at Texas A&M seem like a fluke at this point. The competition in the Revue isn’t that much better than some of the players he faced in college on a nightly basis, but he is really struggling on this level. He, who should be one of the best players this summer, has fallen flat on his face. If Law doesn’t step his game up soon he’ll be out of the league once his rookie contract is up.
Hawks' big man Othello Hunter had another big game this week. He corralled everything around the basket and finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 steals. So far in the Revue, he is averaging 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and has been one of the best big guys at the Revue.
On the Ambassadors' side of things, forward Glen McGowan was a beast on the block. He went to the free throw line 10 times, making 9 and was relentless at going to the basket. He finished the game with 17 points and 5 boards.
The play of the night came on a beautiful bounce pass from Ambassador forward Doug Thomas (9 points, 4 blocks, 3 rebounds, 1 assist) to Josh Gross from the top of the key. Gross was being denied on the wing and made a back cut to the basket, gaining a step on his man when Thomas delivered the perfect pass to the streaking Gross. Gross caught the ball and in one motion exploded towards the basket, throwing the ball down through the rim hard while getting fouled in the process. Unfortunately, he missed the free throw, but it was a spectacular play regardless. Gross finished the night with 12 points and 5 boards.
This game was a nail biter and came down to the final play, but poor execution by the Ambassadors, who needed a 3 to tie with 10 seconds left and opted for a quick 2 that missed, led to a 74-70 victory for the Hawks after they made a free throw in the final seconds of the game.
Game 4 Jazz vs. Iran
It is amazing every time Iran takes the court, it’s like it’s more than a summer league game. Their fans show the team great support even though they get destroyed by superior competition in each game.
The struggles continued again for both Jazz big men (maybe “big boys” is a more appropriate phrase at this point). Kosta Koufos looked terrible in the post; he couldn’t finish inside against the Iranian defenders. On the night he made only 2-of-7 shots from the field, missing most of them around the basket. He ended the game with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers that both came from trying to pass out of the post.
Kyrylo Fesenko wasn’t much better. He was 1-for-3 from the field and 4-for-7 from the free throw line. Numerous times he received the ball in the low post with great position but didn’t seem like he knew what to do with the ball. He did shoot 7 free throws, but 3 of those came off an injury to Jazz point guard Kevin Kruger. He was fouled on a three-point attempt but was injured in the process, leaving the game for good. Because of the injury, Iran’s head coach was able to choose the free throw shooter, and for good reason he chose Fesenko, who made only 1-of-3. Fess finished the night with 6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, and like Koufos, 2 turnovers from the post.
Iran big man Hamed Ehadadi had another big game in the Revue. He went 4-for-5 from the field and finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He out hustled and out played Fesenko and Koufos on nearly every possession, but he struggled when he faced Jazz back-ups Hiram Fuller and Kevin Lyde.
Fuller, who has had an impressive Revue, had a strong game against Iran. He fought on every possession and never gave up on offensive rebounds. He finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. When he was doubled in the post, he was calm and made good passes to shooters and cutters and didn’t turn the ball over. He was huge for the Jazz when they finally started to pull away from Iran in the 2nd quarter.
Lyde also had a huge game. His enormous body helped him dominate the boards; he hauled in 14 rebounds in less than 13 minutes of work. He played great defense against Ehadadi, forcing him to rush shots and make bad passes and physically wore him out. Lyde finished with 6 points, 14 rebounds (7 offensive, 7 defensive), 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He knows how to use his enormous body really well and could possibly make an NBA roster if he could ever get his weight under control.
Jazz gunner Morris Almond started the game very aggressively, exploding to the basket on every possession and forcing Iran’s bigs to help on defense. He only had 10 points but didn’t play a lot of minutes in the blowout; with Almond on the bench the non-contract players were able to get extended minutes to show their skills to scouts . Almond played his best defense of the Revue tonight, forcing Iran’s top scorer Mohammad Nikkhah (23 points off 25 attempts) into difficult shots and did a good job of staying in front of him; now he just needs to do that against athletic NBA 2-guards.
The Jazz easily ran away with an 82-57 victory over Iran. |
