LaVar 108 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Some players get steals and blocks as they occur in the game. Others get steals and blocks by gambling and for every steal they get, they're out of position multiple times and give up points. Would you rather have a guy who gets 3 steals per game but gives up 8 points on gambling or a guy who gets 1 steal per game but is always in front of his man. i think he was using sarcasm but I do agree with you. there is a balance a player should have on the court. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaVar 108 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 I refuse to believe Tony Allen isn't an objectively worse defensive player than Josh Smith. Look at the blocks and steals! lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Jaudon 221 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 lol I would not compare gordon to dennis. as I stated before it is more so my opinion and first impression. I also stated that gordon has shown great on ball defense thus far. Denise was both great on ball and off ball. He got some blocks and steal but taking charges was his great strength. Dennis would has close out defensive stops with rebounding. Dennis showed production on the court and was alway active. I am a big fan of rodman. I dont see the same activity on the court to compare them. you may want to wait until gordon records his first double digit rebound game first. Don't get me wrong. Gordon is not Dennis, as a rebounder, which is a big part of - as you said - closing out defensive possessions. No one in recent memory has been. I think Gordon has the talent to be a very good rebounder, if he learns to box out, but not a Dennis type. My point was simply that reading too much into Gordon's stat line - not getting any steals - is silly. He did get a couple of blocks, and I never saw anything from him that indicated a lack of awareness on the defensive end, especially for an 18-year-old - for reference, Rodman wasn't even in college yet by 18. I don't really have an opinion one way or another on Gordon's NBA team defense, as of yet, because he hasn't really played for a real team in the NBA. Summer League is basically a super-talented version of pickup games at the Y. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaVar 108 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 i believe vick, payton, and noel have played well on defense. I dont think that they have been out of position a lot or hurt the team much on that end but they have got defection, steals and blocks. These stats do not alway reflect a player's true impact but they are tanible. For the third time, gordon has shown great defense one on one. I was very impressed with him switching on guards and keeping them in front of him. I did not see players score much on him. I think he can have a bright future, I just want more rebounds and activity off the ball. He is only 18 so no panic from me, just first impressions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Secretly Space Jesus 670 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 I was very impressed with him switching on guards and keeping them in front of him. This is literally the definition of good help defense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaVar 108 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Don't get me wrong. Gordon is not Dennis, as a rebounder, which is a big part of - as you said - closing out defensive possessions. No one in recent memory has been. I think Gordon has the talent to be a very good rebounder, if he learns to box out, but not a Dennis type. My point was simply that reading too much into Gordon's stat line - not getting any steals - is silly. He did get a couple of blocks, and I never saw anything from him that indicated a lack of awareness on the defensive end, especially for an 18-year-old - for reference, Rodman wasn't even in college yet by 18. I don't really have an opinion one way or another on Gordon's NBA team defense, as of yet, because he hasn't really played for a real team in the NBA. Summer League is basically a super-talented version of pickup games at the Y. since the tread was about sl. I just wanted to give my feedback. my thoughts on the off the ball defense was more on rotation and challenging at the rim. There was a few times he was late or never rotated for a challenge. That was pretty much my thoughts. If he is only a defensive stopper and average rebound in his first year. Give me full effort and activity on that end - going forward. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Passenger57 65 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Liggins.... Harper... Are we playing the 2012 magic summer league team? SVG still doesn't trust rookies to produce, even in Summer League. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaVar 108 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 This is literally the definition of good help defense. one aspect but rotating is a factor as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Catman 380 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 14-40 0-10 on 3's, 11-23 FT's Keep drinking that kool aid brother, i expect the highest drafted player playing in this tournament to do better than 8 points and 5 rebounds on terrible shooting there is nothing "uninformed" about being concerned with the fact he can't shoot or get his own shot if we are willing to acknowledge that he's a project, ok but i don't see how he demands much playing time this year unless there are injuries I think he plays in a bench role at SF next to Harris at PF. He can guard the better of the 2 players on the other team because he is already better at D than Harris at 18. The reason I consider it uninformed is simply because it is quite normal for young players to have poor shooting mechanics. When the Magic drafted this guy they looked for signs that it could be improved and apparently liked what they saw.I also believe the low FT% = will never be good at shooting is something that the Magic do not believe in since both Payton and Gordon struggle there. Shooting is a great bonus to have in a draft pick but teams value so many other traits over that when drafting a player since shooting can be developed. Putting in work is a major trait of this team that I do not think enough people really value. We have Victor and Gordon as total gym rats, and that simply means you should see improvement over a faster period of time. There is no guarantee this guy will be good, but when you take immense talent and athleticism and combine it with a hard working mentality, there is a much higher % of success here than guys who just coast on their natural skill sets. That's the sad truth of all if it and what made the Lottery so awful. We tanked hard to get in that top 3, and we got screwed. Parker could be an all-star this year, Wiggins is an incredible talent. Gordon is a total project who may or may not be a productive player in 2 to 3 years (which is an NBA eternity). But he's pretty painful as the guy we all patiently sat through a year of tanking for. I think that's where a lot of the angst is coming from. Still think it was a very poor pick, but we'll see. This is the crux of it - if people want to get mad, be mad we did not get a top 2 pick like we wanted. We would have Parker or Wiggins and those guys are clearly the elite picks in the draft. Once we got 4, the Magic had to shift gears and go for who they believed would be the best possible talent with the highest ceiling. That is why I do not think Gordon was a "very poor pick". He has an extremely high ceiling, probably the highest in the draft outside of Wiggins. He also was going to go 5th to Utah if we took Exum. So if Exum becomes a superstar in a few years and Gordon never does, then I think everyone will have a right to be upset. But to be upset now is a waste of time. Especially when the time to be bummed was during lottery night. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
~O~ 565 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Payton ranked the MVP of the Orlando Summer League: http://www.nba.com/m...summer-league-3 Among the inhospitable forest lies a spring of pure fresh water. This is positive news. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Catman 380 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 It is an Orland Magic article so it is very biased. But I'm trying to be real about it and see who would have been voted over Payton. Smart had a nice game against us, but was not as consistent. Payton had 1 bad game and then settled in and really looked like a stud. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
God Hates Otis Smith 153 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Great job, Henny..... Sam Gidaro (Philly) What did you think of Nerlens in OPSL? Kevin Pelton (6:02 PM) Nothing he did surprised me. I’ve believed all along that, ACL injury or no, he was the best prospect in the 2013 Draft. And for the record, next to a good shooter like Vucevic he would have been perfect ! Time to see what the Austrailian wonder boy looks like tonight....Whom by the way most everyone on here was touting as the next Penny and probably the most talented guy in the draft. As one poster earlier said....We did all that tanking to get Aaron Gordon. you honestly can't be mad we took oladipo over noel, you really can't be that dumb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
