I just got back from the game

[jeddelong]

FYI: Glover was named the MVP of the shaw summer league following the game today.

The hawks controlled the game almost all the way through. Theo looked like he still has a lot of rust to shake off. He was manhandled by Oliver Miller and had difficulty getting clean blocks without fouls. Having never seen him live, I was amazed by his wingspan. As the game went on, he got a couple clean blocks, and on a few occasions, he made Boston think twice about going down low. He played quite a few minutes.

Demarr actually looked good in the second half. He drove a few times and was rewarded with good chances and a few baskets. He seemed to gain confidence until he was blocked in the 4th quarter. He was shooting well also.

Of note, Dickau didn't play the whole second half, he had his knee on ice and sat on the bench. He shot before the second half but didn't play. (I was at the game Friday and he looked spectacular at times and lost other times. He still seems young to me. When teams pressure him at half-court, he has trouble breaking through. While his stats aren't bad, he still has a long way to go before he starts)

Thats it, just thought I would post some thoughts from the game.

[DJ_Money]

He's never going to be the scorer that Dion is, I've given up on that. But, with his size, he can do things that Dion can't. Specifically, rebound. If DJ would work hard on the glass, he could get the garbage baskets that Newble does, while still having some offensive game to back it up.

Glad to see Dion get some recognition. I don't think he can be classified as "trade filler" anymore. I know this is summer league, but I think he's legit. I just don't know if he's the right fit for us.

J, Louis Bullock and Mario Bennett look like they had good games, going only by the box score. How did they look?

[Guest]

Not what we wanted to hear.Miller can play if he keeps

his weight down.Honestly that big butt can push alot

of people around,but if Theo can't handle a backup NBA

center we are in trouble.

[Guest]

Yeah, Bennett must have had a good game. I was surprised when i saw that he had 20 boards, thats the most ive seen so far in any of the SSPL box scores

[Guest]

damn, knew it was too good to be true. Doesnt really matter though, we won the league

[coachx]

I guess we won. We didn't specify but you did say we controlled most of the game.

Happy for Dion.

Do you guys think he won it over Richard Jefferson b/c the Hawks were undefeated in summerleague.

I know the critics will say that Raja Bell was the Shaw's MVP last year and was not productive in the regular season. That was due more to lack of playing time then anything. Dion has more of an NBA build than Raja anyway.

I hope Dion starts out this year like last year giving us 14 ppg would be nice. He did that while starting at sf at 6'5'', like Sprewell, playing sf undersized. He would be better off the bench with Newbell starting the game at sf for his D and Toni can fill in at sf.

I like DJ starting b/c he plays well in the half court offense b/c of his spot up 3. I love how JT drives the lane to draw the D in only to dish it back out to DJ for the spot up 3. Or when Reef is doubled teamed DJ is there for the spot up 3. DJ's only advantage over Glover on offense is his ability to hit the spot up 3.

Sorry I drifted off topic a bit but, congratulations to Dion, I'd love to see he and DJ develop as consistent scoreing options for the Hawks.

[Guest]

Was Dion or DerMarr guarding Kedrick Brown?

[jeddelong]

Sorry I don't know the answer. It is hard to tell some of the players because neither team had names on their backs. I know the Hawks but I am not up on the Celtics (at least those that played today). Of course, i couldn't miss Miller!

[Diesel]

In reply to:

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know the critics will say that Raja Bell was the Shaw's MVP last year and was not productive in the regular season. That was due more to lack of playing time then anything.

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Nope, Raja got much playing time last yr. The Sixers went through massive injuries. When AI was down, his replacement was Bell. When McKie and Harpring were down, Bell showed up briefly again.

What it really says is that the results of these Pickup games shouldn't be taken so seriously either way. IF SO, we'd have to admit that Theo can't get it done. I mean getting pushed around by Cal and Woods on one night then pushed around by Oliver Miller on another? We have to worry if it were anything more than a pickup game. When we get the real teams out there and not a bunch of guys trying to look good to the coaches, then we can start to talk about results.

[Admin]

In reply to:

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Nope, Raja got much playing time last yr.

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Sorry D but you are wrong here. Raja only got 12 minutes per game last year. Only a handful of guys on the Sixers played less than him, and none of those were big contributors like Bell was in the playoffs the year before.

[Diesel]

He averaged 12 mpg..

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/raja_bell/index.html?nav=page

But HE STARTED 12 GAMES...

Think about that. He plays behind Allen Iverson because Bell is a SG...

Iverson is ranked NUMBER 1 in MPG... with 43.8 mpg.

That means that after Iverson there's 4.2 minutes left in the game.

However, while Iverson was Hurt... Raja started in 12 games. IN those games he had to average more than 35 minutes... I mean in order to get his MPG average from 4.2 up to 12. Also notice that Bell played in 71 games. So he was Iverson's full time BU... In other words, Bell played a lot of basketball.

[Admin]

In reply to:

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But HE STARTED 12 GAMES...

Think about that. He plays behind Allen Iverson because Bell is a SG...

Iverson is ranked NUMBER 1 in MPG... with 43.8 mpg.

That means that after Iverson there's 4.2 minutes left in the game.

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Thats a nice theory, but thats all that is. Bell gets playing time at PG and at SF sometimes, so you cant exactly think that he only gets whatever minutes are leftover from Iverson as an exact number. Also, what difference does it make how many he got in each game. The point is that he only got 12 minutes per game last year, which is a very small amount.

[coachx]

The point I was trying to make had nothing to do with Theo. We are all skeptical about him to a certain point. He was basically on a rehab assignment. I do like the motssy he showed by showing up to something most 29 year olds would have passed on. I think his teamates really got pumped to see Theo out there showing he wants to help the team. This something he has failed to show until now. I now believe his injury was real but I bet a few of the Hawks were a bit skepticl b/c heck, this is a wierd injury that seldomly happens.

The only point I was making about summer league mattering was this.

It matters to Dion himself. He is coming off a stress fracture which are hard to heal and easy to re-injure. It built his confidence back up to where it was at the beginning of last year when after a stong Shaw league Dion strarted the season averaging 14ppg in the first 20 games or so when he was starting before another injury.

[Admin]

Its actually a pretty common injury, just not in basketball. Its a very common injury to sports like Hockey where you stretch out the hip area so much and put a lot of pressure on it. If you watch Theo play you can see how awkward he controls his body. They are supposed to be working with him on teaching him how to keep his lower body stable and twist at the waist and not contort himself so much. I think he will be fine and there hasnt been one moment where I have doubted his injury because I went through something VERY VERY similar to my hip which finally forced me to get out of Ranger Battallion. What scares me about Theo is that my hip got hurt 5 years ago and it still hurts a ton today if I dont warm it up slowly and very well before playing ball. Hopefully since he has gotten far better treatment than I did I will try and remain optimistic that he will return to full health.

[Guest]

Because of our good friends at TNT, we were fed at least 2 sixer games while AI was out. I guess a finals appearance will get you on TNT... Anyway, I saw Raja play about 30+ minutes as the starting 2.

He was not very good...

They had a vigil for Iverson or Snow or McKie to come back that night.