Pass the Mic: NBA Vegas Summer League Live Blog, 7/14
Jerryd Bayless (photo. Aaron Taylor)Forget the shabby online video feeds with the “Twilight Zone” hovering scoreboard; the Vegas Summer League is back on TV. Today’s action includes the debut of Danilo Gallinari (Knicks/Cavs, 4 p.m. EST), a possible first look at Jerryd Bayless (Blazers/Wizards, 8 p.m. EST) and the debut of Kevin Love (Wolves/Mavericks, 10 p.m. EST), all broadcast on NBA TV. In between that you’ve got the online live-stream via NBA.com featuring Chris Bosh’s little brother Joel Bosh (Raptors/Nuggets, 6 p.m. EST), first-round picks Donte Greene and Robin Lopez (Suns/Rockets, 8:30 p.m. EST), and O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies/Spurs, 10:30 p.m. EST).
In our usual “Pass the Mic” fashion, we’re giving you this space to post your own thoughts on the summer games: player and team scouting reports, X’s and O’s, quick observations, etc. We’ll post some of the best ones in tomorrow’s Smack.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Gerald Green has not improved one bit…
July 14th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Homeless J says:
damn. I don’t have nba tv and I’m dying to see the blazers game in particular, so I can check out the kid petteri koponen and bayless. Are the last three games listed the only ones they’re streaming online?
July 14th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
D.H. says:
Anyone know if Oden will be playing?
July 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Michorizo says:
Oden will play and he will get hurt, thus making him available again for Rookie of the year honors in 2009/2010.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
SayItAintSo says:
@My breakfast sausage: damn thats cold.
I don’t think Oden is that injury prone…haha
July 14th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
ejay225 says:
Oden isn’t on the summer league roster, so pretty sure he won’t be playing, unless he pulls a durant.
Man, I’m so excited for tonight… can’t wait to see Bayless!
July 14th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Christian Grant-Fields says:
Knicks just tipped off.
Gallinari has one foul, a turnover, and is getting beat EVERY single time off the dribble.
It is going to be a long season….
July 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Austin Burton says:
What’s up with Clyde Frazier’s pink polo? I know it’s hot in Vegas, but I expected more from the fashion icon.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Christian Grant-Fields says:
Bright Spot: Wilson Chandler is killing.
He’ll do his thing this season.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Austin Burton says:
Has Anthony Roberson passed the ball yet? He’s trying to impress the scouts.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Christian Grant-Fields says:
Tractor Traylor is on the Cavs squad and he looks like 300 lbs easy….
July 14th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Dime Magazine says:
Peep probably thinks he can start at the 1 for the big team this season.
- PC
July 14th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Austin Burton says:
Will Conroy (Cavs PG) is from Seattle. Let’s get another one in the League, 206.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Austin Burton says:
Jawad Williams just took a 20-footer that traveled 18 feet.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Andrew Katz says:
Gallinari has played every minute of this game and they couldn’t even come up with a highlight of him going into the commercial break.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Coldchain says:
Galinari getting his a$$ ran over by Tractor Trayloy shouldve been a highlight. LOL!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Coldchain says:
Damn, Q-Rich is gonna look even fatter with that baldie.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Christian Grant-Fields says:
Nah Coldchain,
Q is looking good (pause). I am anxious to see how he plays under D’Antoni’s system again.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Joe says:
Why all the hate for Oden? The guy had a knee injury and had to have surgery, it happens. I know it was microfracture and nobody ever comes back from that, remember Amare Stoudamire, completely ruined his career. I guess the Blazers should think about trading him, I hear Kwame Brown is available and he has never had microfracture, sounds smart right?
July 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Wake says:
Danillo’s getting aggressive…but he just seems lost most of the time. But that’s cool. Summer league is the time to make and learn from mistakes. Man, Tractor is just BIG. I hope for a big baby and Tractor match-up in the future.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Andrew Katz says:
All he needed was some confidence. He’s starting to pull jumpers in rhythm – love Gallo
July 14th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
JOB33 says:
@ Wake
Kwame has never had a microfracture and he should still be referred to as “The Big Bust”.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Andrew Katz says:
Anyone see Gallo just hit J.J. Hickson with the Shammgod?!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
MC3PO says:
I called my doctor and The Rooster had 2 points, where’d the other ten come from? How does his game look (I can only follow the STATS on nba.com)
July 14th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Dime Magazine says:
I’m with Andrew. I think Gallo will be nice. you can’t take a whole lot from one half of one summer league game. i guarantee there will be a few games in Vegas where he kills.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Homeless J says:
Watching the feed now, the score tally on NBA.com says it’s in the fourth quarter with four minutes to go and on my live stream it’s in the third quarter. is this happening with anyone else?
The bald guy with the headphones who’s apparently a basketball player is REALLY boring. I guess that’s why he’s a basketball player and not someone who’s paid to talk for a living.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Damon says:
kmame plays as if he had multiple microfractures…
@wake
yeah that matchup would be hilarious.
btw, the guy called baby shaq played tonight for greece. i wanted to check out his profile and oops… there is no number. why doesn’t it surprise me? maybe they dont have such sclaes…
July 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Homeless J says:
I guess the bald guy is q-rich. I watch 0% of knicks games so don’t hate me for not knowing that.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Homeless J says:
Tractor traylor just leapt over some dude for a dunk. it’s kind of amazing he’s in his 30s and around 300 pounds and can still do that while I’ve watched almost every blazers game over the past few years and never saw Zach Randolph do that once, or even ever leave his feet.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
General Queef says:
Starbury sighting….
He tatted his head. geez. This n*gga gotta be smoking rocks
July 14th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Coldchain says:
They’re interviewing Steph!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
MC3PO says:
Since we’re talking about internationals — I’ve heard strong opposition to allowing foreigners to play the game because it reduces our ability to relate with the players. As an upper-middle class white guy who loves the game, I get excited when I see a white guy succeed in the league (even if he is from the Old Country). Just wondering if people disagree, have the same feelings, or think it’s dumb.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Homeless J says:
I don’t care if a dude came from the bermuda triangle and his skin is bright purple. If he can ball, I want to watch him play.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Austin Burton says:
I thought Steph wasn’t allowed around the Knicks?
July 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
MC3PO says:
Well yea, I’m not saying I only root for someone who looks like me. That’d be ridiculous. I just think it’s cool that there are actually people out their that disprove the “white boy disease” that I get labeled with the moment I join a pick up game.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Homeless J says:
They probably sat there listening to q-rich drone on for three quarters and decided “we need to put somebody crazy and erratic in there who will say something interesting. What’s steph doing right now?”
Steph: *smoking rocks in the bathroom while applying an Amazon.com logo to the bottom of his starbury logo tat with a thumbtack and some pen ink* “WHAT? SCREEN TIME? I’M FUCKIN THERE”
July 14th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
MC3PO says:
Poor guy — is he authentically crazy, or just medium crazy with a tv camera in his face and no one to tell him to stop screwing around?
July 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Homeless J says:
@mc3po – yeah, the Woody Harrelson effect. they see you getting off the transit in a hawaiian shirt and flip flops and think LOOK AT THIS FAKE ASS LARRY BIRD TRYING TO COME IN HERE AND WHEEZE HIS OLD ASS ALL OVER MY COURT!
I think Joe Alexander has the best chance of proving that, yes. white men CAN dunk.
as for me, I relate more to the style of play and attitude of the player than the color of their skin. I always related a lot to michael jordan growing up, because of his competitive attitude and how in that 60 minutes exclusive interview thing he did where he said he learned how to be so good at what he did and even to the extent of learning how to do all his own laundry and cook his own meals from an early age because he knew that it was never a guarantee that other people would love him and do all that stuff for him. That kind of gut feeling of ‘fuck everybody else, I’m gonna take this game over and validate my own existence through being incredibly good at something.’ I related to that a lot more than bird and magic.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
MC3PO says:
is jawai playing?
July 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Homeless J says:
I’m just now watching the last two minutes of the game – is anybody else on the west coast getting this one-quarter lag on their feed?
They just showed starbury on his cell phone. It’s going to be hilarious if he gets bought out by the knicks, signs with another team, and has to take a jersey number other than three. He’d have to take 33 and tat another 3 on his dome.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Jim says:
MC3PO I feel what you’re saying and I think you’re just saying what a lot of people feel. But as America’s poorest white lawyer, I don’t relate to Euros at all. I have a lot more in common with a brother from the city than with a guy from Serbia. I like the Klitschkos, really, I do. But I wanted Thompson to knock him out.
I’ve been crowned by plenty of my pale cousins, so it’s not like I’m waiting for Super Caucasian to validate me. If you are playing with good players it’s not like it makes a difference, and I always got that extra love reserved for us when my weak ass dunks would rattle in.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Michorizo says:
I just heard the Stephon Marbury interview and he states that the 3 on his head does not represent his jersey number … it actually represents how many women he has bumped uglies with in the MSG parking garage during Isiah’s reign as coach.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Jim says:
I’m glad Steph cleared that up.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Homeless J says:
what steph failed to clear up was the various sexual diseases he acquired from those fateful trysts.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Homeless J says:
@jim – I just saw the vladimir klitscho reference. I watched that fight too. I was listening to my headphones and writing something at the same time, and I look up and all of a sudden just see vlad fall over on thompson like a big clumsy retard. I remember thinking wtf just happened? weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!
July 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Homeless J says:
Watching nugs vs raptors right now. I thought the video quality on the last game was bad. This is an even farther away camera shot, making it harder to see people, and there are no announcers. I’d rather hear q-rich mumble boringly through his chunky jowls than nothing at all, because I have no idea who any of these players are.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Homeless J says:
The raps just got a rebound, fast breaked it down, and the point guard passed it to some other guy, who stood in place dribbling for a moment before dribbling BACK OUT to the three point line to take a miss. that was the worst fast break I have ever seen in my life. they’re lucky they got that rebound back.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Homeless J says:
Jamont Gordon for the nugs is getting his, he’s sinking his shots, just hit a three and is looking solid. I only know it’s him because it’s the only time the PA announcer has spoken up loudly enough for me to hear a name, besides Bobby Jones and Joey Graham (jesus hasn’t graham been in the league for like five years or more? isn’t there a limit on how many consecutive years you can play in summer league?)
This is shaping up to be like a really bad d-3 college game where everyone jacks up threes, even if they have an open layup or drive to the basket (like the guy in my above post did during that fast break, he was literally inches from the basket and had momentum going toward it and for some reason decided to dribble back out like 18 feet to try a 3.) I hope my weed dealer calls me back soon because I need to be stoned to watch this.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Homeless J says:
(sorry for all the posting in a row but it looks like I’m the only one trying to hide from the scorching summer heat by live blogging the games right now)
there’s this timeout/between quarters thing they’re doing where they bring out a bunch of little kids to play a game where they stand in place and try to sink as many shots as they can. kind of like Horse but they’re not trying each others’ shots, they’re just standing in place and chucking. they’re literally hitting more shots than almost anyone of the legit NBA players. someone get the kid in the yellow shirt a summer league invite.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Homeless J says:
Nugs dribble downcourt. Guy tries an awesome-looking dunk, that fails horribly, eliciting “OOOHHHheeehhh nevermind” reactions from the crowd. immediately after, raps get the rebound, dribble downcourt, guard throws up an alley oop… which is caught for the ultra-unimpressive alley oop layup, which looked particularly weak. crowd basically ignores this altogether.
this game can’t be over soon enough.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
D.H. says:
any idea who’s running the point for the Raps? Is Bargs playing?
July 14th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Homeless J says:
Bargnani isn’t playing.
Josh Lucas III is running the point and isn’t doing that bad of a job. He’s getting people passes, it’s just that they’re mostly doing idiotic things with the ball afterwards.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Homeless J says:
also it’s the 4th quarter and Joel Bosh has played all of 1:58.
meanwhile Rod Benson got a DNP. What’s up with that? Do you think he’s on his laptop blogging while he’s on the bench right now? They oughtta give him a mic, and then at least we’d have someone talking over this.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Homeless J says:
MASSIVE block by someone on the nuggets. of course I have no idea who that was because the idiot PA announcer didn’t say anthing but it was far and above the most impressive part of this entire game.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Homeless J says:
Joel Bosh checked back in and has committed three fouls in what seems like no time at all. it’s the only time the announcer has been calling his name because the announcer only calls names for what seems like every other made shot, and fouls. I can only assume joel bosh realized this and decided to foul everyone, because he’s sure as hell not making any shots, and the beloved ten-foul-out rule in summer league can only be bolstering his confidence in this area.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Homeless J says:
I don’t know what’s funnier – the DJ guy getting on the microphone and imploring the crowd to dance, which is acting extremely indifferently to his request, and then asking them to make noise, after which a combined two girls half-assedly scream. or the fact that one of the refs is actually stretching his legs right now like he’s doing something strenuous
thank god that’s over. my brain feels like mush. give me blazers game please.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Homeless J says:
I’d also like to thank jamont gordon who, after I went out of my way to sing his praises, proceeded to brick the rest of his shots and was pulled from the game. thanks jerk.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Homeless J says:
what. the. fuck. I’m not getting a feed. It just gives me a screen saying NBA SUMMER LEAGUE LIVE EVENT.
I don’t have to pay for league pass to see this game do I? I watched the knicks game with no problem, except the massive lag. but that was east coast to west coast, I could go outside and throw a rock and hit portland.
Dime, were you so displeased with my flood of posts that you personally called NBA.com and told them to block my IP address from seeing the games so I couldn’t comment anymore?
July 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Austin Burton says:
It only says “Live Event” when there’s no action. Don’t panic. It happened to me the other day and when the players took the court they went to the game.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Austin Burton says:
Or you didn’t already, go to the NBA.com summer league scoreboard screen and hit “watch” for the game you want.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Homeless J says:
thanks austin. it turns out the one-quarter lag is still in effect and the game is just starting for me. Crisis averted!
plus I get Snapper Jones announcing. life is good.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Austin Burton says:
I just tried to watch online and I got the one-quarter lag. They’re singing the anthem right now on my computer, but the game is going on my TV. That doesn’t even make sense since I’m on the West Coast. Shouldn’t I be getting this game live on my computer?
July 14th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Homeless J says:
wow – the coach for the Wizards summer leaguers is Wes Unseld Jr. Is he usually on their assistant coaching staff? I had no idea.
Jerryd Bayless is starting with Petteri, koponen is point and jerryd is playing sg. also Nic Batum is starting. then there’s two other bums, one I’ve never heard of, and Bernard Robinson, who I only know from playing NBA 2k games.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Homeless J says:
@austin – I know exactly what you mean. You’re in the seattle area right? and I’m only a couple hours south of portland.
Not only that, but the game’s taking place in nevada on the UNLV court. so the lag shouldn’t even be an issue at all.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Homeless J says:
Jerryd is jacking up a lot of shots but I’d like to think he’s just trying to find his rhythm before he starts distributing a whirlwind array of fantastic passes and racks up 30 assists. umm basically I’m just crossing my fingers that he doesn’t play like this all year.
Nic Batum made a pretty dumb mistake with slamming in that shot that was obviously inside the cylinder, and was obviously not going to miss. I could see a lot of growing pains in his rookie season, not only is he new to the NBA game, but also the country. lots and lots of growing pains.
I like what I’m seeing out of petteri. That was one of my main focuses going into watching this, because there’s talk that we’ll either sign him up this year or he’ll sign a big contract that will be hard to ever buy out. so far he looks servicable and is sinking shots but the jury’s still out on whether this guy deserves to be fighting Blake, Bayless and Sergio for PT.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Homeless J says:
damn petteri just got stole on. (for reference purposes, with the computer lag I am a little past halfway through the first.) good look by Javale mcgee on that.
the more I watch the more I realize that bayless being aggressive is the right thing. he’s drawing fouls and hitting shots and he’s the only real scorer on the floor for the blazers right now. it would be kind of futile for him to be trying to get Bernard Robinson and that other guy involved.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Austin Burton says:
Yeah, I’m in Seattle. Figured I could get a West Coast game in real West Coast time. Oh well.
I’m not near my TV or computer (using the Blackberry right now). How do Nick Young, Dom McGuire and Andray Blatche look?
July 14th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Homeless J says:
Nick Young is doing really good. he’s got a green light to jack shots and he seems to be making most of them. He’s made three shots and has the most points on his team. Blatche has been banging around in the post and has hit three shots and Dom hasn’t done anything of note yet.
Nate mcmillan is on the mic right now – “leave Bayless alone! He doesn’t need to be getting anybody involved. I told him he needs to shoot and shoot. Brandon Roy ain’t out there.”
July 14th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Homeless J says:
it should be noted that Dom is getting hassled on D by batum, as well as a couple other dudes on the Wiz. If nothing else I think Nic could come in handy as a lockdown defender type after he adjusts to the NBA. kind of like an Ime Udoka who doesn’t hit three-pointers.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Homeless J says:
Bayless with an awesome layup, running the full length of the court and hitting a left hander over two or three wizards. he looked really good on that play.
It should also be noted that there are two assists in this game, it’s almost halftime and both assists are for the wizards.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Homeless J says:
maybe I was wrong about Batum not having a three point shot. he just made one and now has three points to go along with three rebounds and a whole lot of defensive hustle. I’m liking what I see beyond that idiotic mistake he made at the beginning (although that’s what summer league is all about, making those idiotic mistakes when it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme.)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Homeless J says:
Dom Mcguire had the ball in the post with only Jerryd Bayless on him. Bayless defended him down and Dom missed the shot. dom looked really bad on that, he has to have at least a couple inches and some body weight on jerryd.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Homeless J says:
Dee Brown is playing point for the wiz – it’s really good to see him playing again since the last I remember of him was getting his neck jammed and D-Fish having to make the dramatic entrance to play. Not only that but he’s doing a hell of a job – he’s playing hard, he almost careened into the announcers (which maybe is a bad thing considering this is a meaningless game and he has a bad neck but whatever), he single handedly changed a charge into a blocking foul by pointing the line out to the refs, and just hit Nick Young for an assist on a corner three. You can’t help but root for Dee and hope he can get on somebody’s team.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Dimemagrules says:
Jerryd Bayless forgot how to wear a hat.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Homeless J says:
@ dimemagrules – you’ve never seen the HBO show Oz?
he’s rocking it Adebisi style.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j130/lolagg69/Adebisi.jpg
July 14th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
GMon says:
Adebisi seriously looks like KG on dat pic
July 14th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Homeless J says:
HOLY FUCK. Bayless just ROSE UP and blocked some dude’s shot on a fast break.
between defending down Dom in the post and this, you’d think dude was a forward.
plus he’s got close to 30 points. fuck wearing a hat, one thing’s for sure: he hasn’t forgotten how to score.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
M22 says:
@ the Knicks/Cavs game, there was a Robert “Tractor” Traylor sighting! I thought he died in like 06′ lol. Well it’s good to see that he’s active and has still been packing the pounds on over the years. Best of luck to you Tractor!
One other quick thing, Louis Amundson from G-State’s team, really suprised me. I remember hearing his name a few times before, but I never expected him to be as athletic as he was. In the first few minutes, he was jumping all over the place, and I did not expect that from a guy with his haircut. I hope his teammates play a prank on him by shaving it off.
Nuff said.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
M22 says:
And damn Homeless J, you don’t need to tell Dime EVERY single thing that happens.
But that doesnt mean I don’t respect you because I’ve read some of your posts and they make you seem like a knowledgeable guy, even though your homeless.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
D.H. says:
@M22 I’ve really appreaciated HomelessJ’s running commentary on whats going on. It kept me going throughout the work day today when I can’t watch games. Thanks homeless keep up the good work.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Dimemagrules says:
If a homeless guy has HBO, maybe you ain’t so homeless. maybe just your mom’s basement perhaps? “Style”..rockin a hat like it’s sittin behind your neck is as goofy as Flavor Flav rockin a giant ass clock around his neck. Sometimes it just ain’t cool. EPIC FAIL.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:58 am
E$ says:
Greene & Lopez are ready
July 15th, 2008 at 9:10 am
MSkittle says:
Bayless is nice!
July 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Michorizo says:
thanks homeless.