MoonKnight

I have watched the first two summer league games on NBATV and I have been surprised with Jackson's play. He has a good spot up jump shot, plays with a high basketball IQ, and is still a fluid athlete. I was very surprised by his good passing skills and his willingness to penetrate into the lane and draw fouls. He seems to be the low cost/high reward type of player we need to fill out the roster. I prefer Jackson to Richardson because Richardson brings nothing to the table but his spot up jumper. It seems many posters here have unrealistic expectations about how the ASG is going to fill out the roster based on the venom printed about signing Jackson. Low cost/high reward marginal types of guys to fill out the roster are the best we can hope for given the ASG's recent track record.

I am watching the game on NBATV and can only hope that Mario West can maintain this new found jumper throughout the summer league and into camp. Richardson and Jackson both have shown great jumpers but Jackson is much more of a fluid athlete. Pickney and Hunter play with alot of energy but don't fill up the lane like we need on D. I am looking forward to watching more of these games throughout the week.

We need better talent toward the end of our roster to take the next step but I suspect Finley is out of our league. Even if we had the money to sign him (after resigning the Joshes), I am not yet convinced we are perceived as legitimate contenders to attract vets looking for a shot at a title before calling it quits. I think we have to hope that Luke Jackson or some one of his stature takes his game up a level to improve the end of our roster. Maybe Sund will surpise me and sign someone I did not suspect.

I could be wrong but the silence out of the philly press tonight makes me give more weight to the credibility of Sheridan's report. All we heard from the rumor mill was how philly was going to make an huge quick strike contract offer to Smoove. Maybe they have and Smoove's agents and Philly ownership have done a good job keeping the contract numbers quiet. However, I suspect if Philly had made a firm contract offer the numbers would have slipped out somehow by now.

indicates the Sixers were caught completely offguard by the recent free agent events. He suggested the Sixers were going to take a slow approach to the free agency period and would feel out the free agent field before making offers. He said they are now somewhat in scramble mode about what to do next due the Clipper and Warriors situation. I made the assumption from his report that the earlier reports about the Sixers readiness to make Smith an offer were inaccurate.

have agreed to new deals with the Clippers and Kings respectively, according to ESPN. Baron got a 5 year 65 million dollar deal while Beno got a 5 year deal worth the full mid-level exception. Maybe some oldtimers on here may remember but I used to constantly talk about acquiring Beno after his rookie season with the Spurs. Our PG problems may have been solved a long time ago if we had acquired him when his value was low. Now the man is getting paid (though he could be come the next M. Jaric).

Marvel's Production studio has the rights to Ant Man with a possible release date of 2011 (possibly just before the Avengers Movie). It was brillant for Marvel to establish their own production studio and can now market and tie in all of the characters.

For what its worth, I think Morris and Smoove share primary agents. Morris never panned out like I thought he would so I would also rather take a chance on Brown.

There was an article this past week in USA Today indicating the Ant Man script was ready and would, like Iron Man and Cap. America, be a lead in to the Avengers Movie. The writer/director of Ant Man is the guy who directed Shaun of the Dead (never saw it but it was supposed to be good) and he claims his vision of the film is to be similar to Iron Man. I don't know how the movie will come off but as a kid I thought it would be very cool to have a army of ants fight for me.

Other teams have dealt with this same issue and they have been successful with it. The Pistons have routinely found guys to contribute from the end of the roster. At some point during an 82 game schedule, the end of the roster guys will need to make a positive impact on a game or short series of games. Since the Fratello gravy days here, this organization has done a poor job getting the right guys to fill out the end of the roster with. This needs to change if we are going to be serious about taking the next step.

He simply is to expensive given our intention to resign the Joshes. It is important that we add good depth behind JJ. I have never been impressed with Richardson who has alot to prove if he plays on our Summer league team. Our realistic options include: Casey Jacobson, Richie Frahm, Kirk Snyder, Derrick Byars, Juan Dixon, Luke Jackson, Quinton Ross, Ira Newble, etc. I can't recall his contract but maybe D. Wilkins would be available from the Sonics. Sund has a history with him and he has lit us up in the past. He could also play the point for small periods of time if needed. We need better play from the end of our roster to ultimately improve in the regular season.

from South Alabama U according to cite given on Sekou's blog. Don't know much about him except that he is a shooting guard with NBA three point range according to the article.

Mario West was certainly not "hyped". I do not believe he even started at Tech. These are just invites nothing more, and we will have many spots to fill on the summer league team with only Law, Solo, West, and maybe Al and/or Richardson on the roster playing.

We should invite Anthony Morrow from GT and S. Gaines from UGA to participate in the summer league. Morrow has a very good jumper but could never adapt to being a primary scoring threat. I have a hunch Morrow could develop into a decent 12th man in the NBA as a three point specialist (I think he lead the ACC in 3pt percentage a few seasons ago) Morrow might be better as a pro player because he never had a major scoring threat to play off of while at Tech. Gaines is an short combo guard (under 6 ft) who is built like a linebacker. I think he led UGA in scoring, rebounding, and assists. I thought he was fantastic in tournament play. While an erratic shooter, he knows how to score. He is without an NBA position or body, but would be worth an invite. Neither guy will likely stick, but many would have said the same thing about Mario West before last season.

I would like to see Brian Skinner here as the physical post body we need. I have always been impressed with his tough, workmanlike approach. He has also occasionally shown a decent offensive post game at times. There are alot of reasonably priced guys who fit this bill that are free agents, to-wit: Skinner, Elson, Foyle, Pollard, DJ Mbenga, even Deke, etc.

"Marvin shot 10 three point shots last season and he hit 1. How exactly is that making our shooting less horrible?" Nicely done. We need to worry about scoring in transition and in the paint moreso than taking deep jumpers for spacing needs Starting Al at the 4 and Smoove at the 3 helps in this regard. The Hawk teams during the Fratello gravy days rarely shot threes but got their scoring done in transition and in the post. Yes, Al worked very hard manning the 5 spot and could be an above average center. I would prefer him to be an elite 4.

I can live with Smoove's shaky jumper due to the other benefits the lineup would bring. Additionally, he would play the majority of his minutes at the 4 spot during the 2nd and 3rd periods of each game if Woody will ever learn how to use a rotation.

whether Horford can be a successful center (he can), the real question is whether he could be an elite power forward? IMO, I think he can be. We need a Tree Rollins type center to start and play 20 (maybe even 15) minutes per game, I have no problems with Smoove starting at and playing the 3 position (he will still probably alot at the 4). We need to bring in a Brian Skinner, F. Elson, Foyle type player at a reasonable contract, start him at the 5, and watch Horford abuse other 4s and become an elite player.

It would be interesting to have an Aussie on our roster but I still say he didn't fit a need. Not to harp on the gravy days of Fratello (which is not so great compared to other organizations), but those teams took few three pointers. Most of their points came off transition baskets and post scoring, which is where I would like to see the majority of our points come from. Horford needs more chances to score with his back to the basket.

I have not posted here in awhile due to many factors but this Andersen talk has finally brought me out. I do not understand the fascination with him. I have not watched him play at all on television but most people who have describe him as a finesse jump shooting big man. We simply do not need a finesse jump shooting big man, especially one that is unproven in the NBA and demanding 5 million a year. I would have been very upset if Sund had agreed to pay him anywhere near that amount. IMO, we need a tree rollins type starting center. With a true center, Al moves to the 4 spot and Smoove to the 3 spot. Tree, despite being a starter with very limited skills, only averaged alittle more than 20 mpg during the gravy days. There are many guys in the free agency class that could fit this bill: Diop, Brian Skinner, F. Elson (who might have a connection to Sund), Foyle, Ely, DJ Mebenga, Theo Ratliff (he did average 16 mpg with the Pistons which surprised me). Some of these guys should come cheap and yet provide us with the physical defensive center we need.

Maybe someone has already posted this but I remember AJ showing flashes of last night's play when he was here during his first tour of duty. Does anyone remember when AJ was forced to start for an ailing Mookie in Indy? At that time, Indy was on a roll, and with Mookie out, our prospects were grim. AJ played almost the entire game and was wonderful leading us to a W. Of course he did the same thing starting for Kidd in NJ. If any of our backups can become healthy enough to truly back AJ up, then our pg position should be solid enough to make a playoff run. P.S. Maybe I missed it but how did Salim become injured? He needs to toughen up and play as he is likely playing for his NBA career.

This team has no offensive identity. None. We will play whatever style our opponent is playing. I stopped watching the game going into the 4th because it was simply painful to watch. The Bulls started this game much like they have all season by shooting almost all jumpers and missing most of them. In return, we start shooting almost all outside jumpers and also start missing them. The change in this game occurred when Chicago started to make their jumpers in the 2nd period and we didn't. I don't even agree that we played good defense b/c Chicage continued to make bad decisions with the ball but were making those outside jumpers they should not have been taking. I believe JSmoove recognized that we should be driving the ball more but he lacks the ability yet to do this on a regular basis. The bottom line is we never dictate the game on anyone because we lack a coach with the coaching ability to establish an offensive identity.

The marketing for the movie fails because it reminds me too much of John Carpenter's "The Fog". I doubt I will see the movie until it is released on DVD but I suspect the box office could be disappointing because of the marketing.