Grizzlies
Hakim Warrick Warrick continued his offensive onslaught from the previous game scoring 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting. In addition to his varied dunks and alley-oops, he once again proved the naysayers in day one wrong by showing a smooth stroke from 18 on a couple of shots and another from 15. He did clank a 3 from the top of the key pretty hard, but he looked comfortable doing it. In future games it should be interesting to see if he starts to make that shot with consistency.
Lawrence Roberts Roberts showed the same level of skills that he displayed in earlier games, but this was his worst game of the SPL posting only 9 points and grabbing only 5 boards.
Anthony Roberson Roberson has a nice stroke from the outside and shows some leadership skills as he animatedly tries to run the offense on the floor. Hes shown some promising defense too and had a nice recovery after getting back-doored managing to strip the ball and save a layup. The mainly Laker crowd didnt appreciate him as much as they booed him loudly after he gave a very weak dunk while wide open on the break.
Kyle Lowry Lowry is a vocal bundle of energy on the floor. Hes very fast, both with his legs and his mouth as evidenced by the technical he picked up in the second on an unimportant play. He wasnt involved as much offensively as yesterday scoring only 6 points on 1 of 2 shooting, but the shot he did make was a beautiful floater off the glass down the lane. He also showed some nice hustle after getting crossed over by Doron Perkins by recovering and then splitting the passing lane to steal the pass and then lead the break for a layup.
Alexander Johnson Johnson (whom Jerry West affectionately calls AJ) is the type of player coaches love. Hes all hustle and heart and can be funny and endearing at times as well. Hard-nosed defense, hustling after balls and going after offensive boards is Johnsons game.
Andreas Glyniadakis Andreas is a big strong Greek center who does a good job of taking up space, but thats about it. He has a decent outside shot, but has trouble finishing in the paint. Hes prone to flashes of talent however, sometimes doing something as simple as making a nice up-and-under move and then laying it off the glass in reverse. Glyniadakis is only as involved as his own hustle allows him to be and doesnt figure to make the big clubs roster.
Lakers
Andrew Bynum Following up his previous 14/15/5 outing against the Mavericks Bynum scored a more impressive 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting in 32 minutes of play. He only pulled down 7 boards and blocked 1 shot, but he did a good job of intimidating people in the paint and having his way on the offensive end with a couple of strong dunks for And-1 opportunities. However, Bynum only went 8 for 15 from the charity stripe and commented himself after the game that he wasnt following through with his shot. During a timeout he discussed this with Kareem Abdul-Jabar and tried to correct it and managed to hit two during crunch time to tie the game. Asked if he felt beat up during the game after being triple-teamed and clobbered every time he got the ball in the post he brushed it off saying that he felt just fine and would be ready to play tomorrow after some well earned free throw practice tonight.
Jordan Farmar This was Farmars best game of the summer so far scoring 21 points and dishing 5 assists while shooting 7 of 10 and a perfect 6-6 from inside the arc. Once again showing an uncanny ability to get to the rim he dissected the Grizzlies defense from the outset. Of particular note were: splitting the double team for a floater plus And-1, a dazzling display of moves ending in a spin away from the basket for a 10 shot off the glass, and a cross-over and layup that just about broke his defenders ankles to seal the win. He also continued his two-man game with Andrew Bynum making for an impressive duo amongst the admittedly limited summer league talent.
Marcus Slaughter Marcus got the start again and the confidence boost was in effect. He scored only 7 points, but managed to also pull down 7 boards (3 offensive), dish 4 assists and block 2 shots in 28 minutes of play. Slaughter showed his extreme athletic ability again getting back in transition and blocking a layup and in another play deflecting a pass and then dunking in traffic over several players. He did a good job spreading the floor by hitting an 18 shot from the top of the key and making two nice passes off the block to cutters for layups. An excellent game for Slaughter that bodes well for his future this summer.
Nile Murray Murray is an aggressive defender, but poor offensive player. His outside shot is mediocre and he has trouble hitting even weakly contested layups.
Danilo Pinnock 8 points, 6 boards, some hustle defense and a beautiful alley-oop from Marcus Douthit help what was otherwise Pinnocks least impressive performance. Still, he played hard on both ends and did a decent job handling the ball when Farmar sat.
Devin Green Not a very good outing for Green scoring only 1 point on 1 of 4 free throws and going 0 for 5 from the field. Devin needs to step his game up or he might lose his spot on the roster to up-and-comers like Marcus Slaughter and Danilo Pinnock.
Marcus Douthit Douthit needs to keep his hands in the ready position. Despite his improved offense since he summer league debut 2 seasons ago, Douthit is still having troubles catching quick passes in close quarters. Its not necessarily that he has bad hands, so much as hes just not ready for the pass. On the positive side he did throw a great alley-oop from the three point line while in transition to Danilo Pinnock for a spectacular dunk.
Comments