Summer League: Blazers vs. Lakers 1

Notes from previous Portland Summer League games: here, here, and here.

We all know the quality of Summer League play can make things difficult to watch. We accept this, and enjoy it anyways to see glimpses of our unknowns, unprovens, and hopefuls. The basketball snob in me despises NBA Summer League, but the Blazer fan in me makes sure I don't miss a thing.

So tonight, we had Portland playing the L.A. Lakers. I have to say, the Lakers have the least sexy summer league lineup of any Blazer opponent. Their most anticipated rookie is Javaris Crittenton, lets leave it at that.

Of course I can't be too critical tonight, as Portland only dressed nine players, and none of them were LaMarcus Aldridge or Greg Oden. NBA.com didn't even bother blacking out this one. The good news is that means other guys would get some burn, which could be good.

PART 2 CLICK HERE

Summer League: Blazers vs. Lakers 2

To my surprise, NBA.com had the KXL guys doing commentary on the webcast. Of course the highlight of their coverage came during what the broadcast team must have thought was a commercial break after the first quarter, when the play-by-play guy (jokingly, I think) yelled "Turn down the commercials you asshole!" Awesome.

After the half KXL wasn't on the webcast anymore, I'm not sure if this was from technical difficulties or not, but still hilarious. Oh, and there was also some basketball played. Portland managed to lose this one 73 to 81, box score.

I was eager to see if Sergio Rodriguez could be the best pointguard on the floor tonight. To me, in Game 1 it was actually Taurean Green, and in game 2 it was Jose Juan Barea of the Mavs. Against Jordan Farmar and Crittenton, I thought Spanish Chocolate would finally assume the role. He decently ran the point much of the night, and was able to penetrate and use that creative play-making ability that gets us all giddy. Then you look up and realize Crittenton has 26 points. Farmar got 17 in only 13 minutes. Not all Sergio's fault, but its part of a weakness that becomes glaring when he logs major minutes. Sergio has scary defensive lapses.

PART 3 CLICK HERE

Summer League: Lakers vs. Portland 3

Something I hope everyone notices that happened as a result of Aldridge and Oden being out is this: the awfulness of Josh McRoberts has been greatly exaggerated. I can't figure out why so many Blazer fans have been sending so much hate to the second-round pick, especially with more disappointing players on the roster (see above paragraph). I feel an extended blog entry on this topic coming in the near future, but for now let's focus on this game. Remember, McRoberts is 6'10 and has skills. The game saw him catch the ball at the 3-point line, pump fake to get his man off-balance, cross-over dribble, and finish it up with a pull-up that snapped the nets. He had a couple of these plays where he got to string together his impressive skill-set, and also showed his passing ability. As a complementary player, which McRoberts will always be in the NBA, he looks to be solid. Ease up Rip City.

Martell looked at his best tonight, perhaps because he felt comfortable being the man on the reduced roster. As we've seen in the regular season, if you let Martell get comfy by giving him a few open jumpers, he'll be solid all night. He was in that comfort zone tonight, and showed flashes of impressive defense as well.

It won't show up in the box-score, but Freeland showed his scrappiness again tonight. He seemed a little off all night, but didn't let that reduce his surly play. Even when he's not playing well enough to entice us with highlights, I like what Freeland brings.

You can say the same for Taurean Green as well. Its always good to have tough, hardworking guys on your team. Taurean didn't blow-up by any means, but he runs the offense and makes his man work for everything he gets.

Koponen didn't put much in the box-score tonight either, but we got some good flashes. When he runs the point, he's fast with the ball. He pushes it up court and can make nice jumpers or one-handed passes. Unfortunately also saw him play off the ball much of the time. In this position he seems anxious, pacing back and forth and mostly just watching the play develop. Its tough to see him get a lot of play at point with Sergio and Green, but it would be fun to see what he could do with more minutes at his strongest position.

Mancinelli again gave us flashes of a solid all-around game, and you could tell Zendon Hamilton knows what to do as a veteran, providing Portland's only consistent low-post offensive threat. Sad to see Portland native Terrance Green leave the team due to a death in the family.