A Look Back at the Orlando Summer League
Before we get too entrenched in Vegas Summer League stories and stats, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at some notable performances from Orlando. I'm going to focus on players who have seen a lot of D-League time as well as some other guys who came into Summer League without a guaranteed spot on an NBA roster (though there are a few second-round picks sprinkled in here). As with the daily breakdowns, the emphasis here is on the positive - there certainly were players who could've done better, but this is about letting you know who played his way onto NBA radars (or should've, anyway), not telling you that Terrence Williams needs to work on his defense. You'll have plenty of time to figure that one once the season starts. Oh, and I'm mainly looking at guys who played a lot. Josh McRoberts, for instance, has a decent rebounding average but he played in only two games. With all that as preface, let's take a look at ten players who did well for themselves down in Orlando.
Kasib Powell (6'7") - Yeah, yeah, he's been contributing to RU, but Powell really did play very well in Orlando. He was the Magic team's second-best player all week behind NBA-er Ryan Anderson, and while his shooting wasn't always there, he ended up shooting 53 percent on threes, and he helped out in plenty of other ways with 23 rebounds in four games, eight assists, a pair of blocks and only three turnovers. The Magic frontcourt gets more crowded seemingly by the day, but Powell would be a nice addition to the Orlando bench.
Richard Hendrix (6'9"F/C) - Hendrix had a great week rebounding-wise, averaging 15 per 48 minutes, and his 29 rebounds came about evenly divided between offense and defense, so he was taking care of business at both ends of the floor. He also shot 56 percent through four games, and had seven blocks. With Marcin Gortat headed to Dallas and Tony Battie gone as part of the Vince Carter trade, Hendrix wouldn't be a bad backup in the middle for the Magic.
D.J. White (6'9" F) - White was the best OKC rebounder on a per-game basis and was a pretty efficient scorer overall, with 54 points on 41 total shots. White had some injury problems when he was with Tulsa last season, but he's talented enough to play for the Thunder this year
Chris Lofton (6'2" G) - I didn't talk about Lofton much on a game-by-game basis, and looking back I have no idea why not. He came into camp with a reputation as a good three-point shooter, and Summer League only emphasized that - he made 60 percent of his threes. He didn't really offer much else, with a combined five rebounds, three assists and three steals in five games, but he also didn't turn the ball over (four total), and he had the best free-throw percentage on Boston's entire roster, a respectable 89 percent. If teams are looking for an outside shooter, Lofton is one of the best prospects coming out of Orlando.
Russell Robinson (6'1" G) - Robinson was running the point for Orlando all week, and he did a pretty good job of it. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but he ran the offense and distributed the ball pretty well. About eight assists per 48 minutes, and he also had five total assists, tied for most on the team.
A.J. Price (6'0" G) - I'm somewhat skeptical that Price will make an NBA roster this year (he was arrested for stealing laptops while at UConn), but if he spends a few years in the D-League he might get a shot. His Orlando performance demonstrated that he may deserve one, as he shot 57 percent on his three-pointers and led the Pacers team in assists, averaging a little under 7 per 48 minutes, which is decent for a guy who's not really a true point guard. He also had only five turnovers all week. The downside to his performance is that he shot only 8-20 on two-pointers and didn't get to the line very much (only three free throws in five games), but the talent is there.
Kevin Rogers (6'9" F) - Rogers had a few disappointing final years at Baylor, but he showed some skill in Orlando, with 43 points on 34 shots and 22 total rebounds in five games, which averages out to about eight and a half per 48 minutes, which is solid. He also led the Boston team with seven total blocks. He may need a year or two of committed development time before he's completely ready, but his performance here intrigues me, and I think a team that doesn't need an immediate contribution would do well to take a look (Houston, I'm looking in your direction).
Josh Duncan (6'9"F) - Duncan may not be all that athletic, but he did a great job scoring this week, making seven of his nine three-pointers and shooting 72.4 percent overall. He also finished with respectable rebounding and free-throw shooting numbers.
Kevin Kruger (6'2" G) - Kevin Kruger didn't finish the week with great shooting percentages, but he did a good job running the point when he was on the court and finished averaging just over eight points per 48 minutes. He didn't get a ton of playing time, but he was solid enough that he might get a preseason look. He still dribbles the ball too much, but that hasn't held other guys back. He also averaged one turnover about every 11 minutes.
Kevin Lyde (6'10" F/C) - Lyde didn't play very many minutes either, but he rebounded the ball really well when he did play - 21 total rebounds in 64 minutes, just under 16 per 48 minutes. He shot under 50 percent on free throws, though. Yikes.
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Adding to your list...
The Idaho connections -
Jason Ellis: Looked like he got a nice amount of minutes on that message of a Philly/NJ team. Stats got stronger as the week progressed – glad he got an invite; he works his butt off. My guess is he gets a fall camp invite but is back to the D-League.
Coby Karl: As people from Boise are aware, Coby is going to make a lot of things happen when he is out on the floor – most good, but not all good. His Orlando experience seemed to be more of the same. Almost as if he was pressing after his Euro layoff. He gets a fall invite for sure and depending on the situation – might stick.
Lance Allred: Sigh…the type of ball played in summer league does little to show the attributes that Lance can bring to the table. On the other hand, when you are in that situation don’t you have to tailor your game a bit and make a go of it? I mean, what can it hurt? On one hand I admire his standards, on the other hand, WTF is he thinking? Lance for sure gets a fall invite – the question will be whether it is Orlando and if it’s not, did he just waste some valuable time?
Josh McRoberts: We got to see first hand how Josh performs when he is not motivated during his stint with the Stamps the year before last. That being said, when motivated does a lot of little things that need to get get if you are going to win basketball games on a consistent basis. Since he was not around last year it is hard to gauge where his head is at. My guess is that if he will continue to work cheap there will be a place for him with someone going forward.
I watched some of the games as I could from Orlando but like RU, won’t pay the $$ for Vegas. Very interested to see how PDX and DEN perform as well as Petway, Jackson, et al.
Rumble
by Rumble on Jul 13, 2009 1:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Ellis and Karl (and Allred)
I almost included Ellis, because he did put up some nice rebounding numbers towards the end of the week (and finished second on his team in offensive rebounds), but his first two games were pretty rough. It was nice to see him start and get so much playing time, though. Karl I thought was pretty inconsistent – one game he’d shoot the ball well but have six turnovers, the next he’d have a poor shooting percentage but contribute a lot of rebounds, assists and steals. He never seemed to put it all together in one game. I agree that what Allred does well doesn’t always translate to Summer League. Hopefully he gets a preseason invite anyway. McRoberts I left out because he only played in two games, and it’s hard to evaluate from that compared with five games for other players.
Now writing for Ridiculous Upside, now with more draft coverage.
by Jon L on Jul 13, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jon -
My guess is that Jason was tight/nervous early on – just strikes me as that type of guy. But maybe he was getting the hang of it by the end of the week. As a fan, I love the way he plays “full on” all the time.
My only mention of McRoberts was that I was actually curious as to whether he was really hurt or if he was just bored and didn’t want to play anymore. Shame that the question even needs to be asked…
Thanks to you guys for keeping things moving this summer…
Rum
by Rumble on Jul 13, 2009 2:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think he was really hurt....
He came out on crutches at the end of the game in which he turned his ankle. That’d be some acting. I’m pretty sure he tweaked it pretty badly and the coaching staff decided to keep him out the rest of the week. No news that he actually broke or seriously sprained it though, so I assume it was as short-term sprain.
Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.
by Aisander D on Jul 13, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sounds good to me...
…although I know all you Dookies like to cover for each other…
by Rumble on Jul 13, 2009 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah actually McRoberts...
is at my house right now. I’m playing twister with him and Nate Jawai in my basement. We’re also eating a massive amount of chips and queso dip.
Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.
by Aisander D on Jul 13, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
...and my invitation is where?
I have guacomole, Keystone and novelty ice cubes…
by Rumble on Jul 13, 2009 10:27 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Sorry Rumble...
McBob and Nate agreed that your mom’s cooking wasn’t good enough to warrant an invite. Not my decision I promise. Though we did run out of cheese fries halfway through watching The Jonas Brothers Live 3D, which sucked. We could have used your Idahoness then.
Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.
by Aisander D on Jul 13, 2009 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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