JJ Perfoms in Orlando

[4decadedukie]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-magic11b07jul11,0,5552383.story

For those who have not read it, there is an interesting -- and very positive -- article (from the Orlando Sentinel) regarding JJ's encouraging performance this summer.

[OldSchool]

"He has shown me what I wanted to see [on defense]," Van Gundy said Tuesday night. "He's had great effort and great focus. He's working hard at the defense. With that kind of effort, the rest will come."

A key quote, and great news for JJ. Hope to see a lot of minutes from him this year.

[mgtr]

Weel, that was positive news after two games. However, for the rest of the week, he didn't show nearly that much on offense. The key, however, is what the coach thinks, and apparently the coach was happy.

[SilkyJ]

Weel, that was positive news after two games. However, for the rest of the week, he didn't show nearly that much on offense. The key, however, is what the coach thinks, and apparently the coach was happy.

His offense was more than adequate, and besides everyone (including himself and the coaches) said they couldn't careless about what he did on offense, they wanted to see what he could do on defense. Everyone knows he can score.

[HK Dukie]

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Sports/Headlines/sptMAG01071507.htm

Van Gundy seems impressed!

[sportsgirl4]

Van Gundy did seem impressed. I like the quotes where he says that there are no concerns about JJ's offense. They know what they're getting as far as that is concerned. Hopefully he will be sufficiently impressed by the time the season opens to see fit to giving JJ some good minutes. He didn't even play in two of the four Magic games I went to last year. Hopefully that'll change this year.

[dwater]

JJ is definitely going to see a good amount of playing time this year. I think now, w/ his performance in the summer league, he may have just earned the starter spot at the 2. Here's to wishing JJ the best season he could have in his second season as a pro.

[SilkyJ]

I think now, w/ his performance in the summer league, he may have just earned the starter spot at the 2.

*sigh* thats not how it works. He definitely earned himself some more PT, but the competition for the starting 2 spot hasn't even begun. that will begin at training camp in october. You have to understand that he wasn't practicing against his competition for the 2-spot, b/c they weren't at the summer league. The only thing anyone can definitively earn at summer league is a spot on the roster.

[JasonEvans]

*sigh* thats not how it works. He definitely earned himself some more PT, but the competition for the starting 2 spot hasn't even begun. that will begin at training camp in october. You have to understand that he wasn't practicing against his competition for the 2-spot, b/c they weren't at the summer league. The only thing anyone can definitively earn at summer league is a spot on the roster.

I am not even sure you can earn a roster spot in the summer league. Obviously, JJ's roster spot is not in jeopardy, but there are guys who tear it up in summer play who are still not even close to guaranteed of making a final roster.

What folks need to understand is that the competition in summer league play is extremely weak compared to real NBA games. The players are older, stronger, and more mature than college players and they play with NBA rules so it is hard to compare it to college ball but this is still a significant cut below real NBA games.

Summer league is all undrafted players, drafted rookies and some 2nd year players. Heck, most 2nd year players who actually got decent playing time their first year skip it. It is quite rare to see a guy who has been in the league more than a couple years playing summer ball and when you do, it is likely a guy who has not had very much NBA success or a guy coming off an injury and trying to get back into gmae shape again. For example, Shav would not ordinarily be a candidate for summer league play were it not for his injury rehab.

Yeah, it is very nice that JJ and Shel tore it up for the most part in summer league play and I am sure their coaches noticed, but be careful about reading too much into it.

-Jason "the three leading scorers in the Vegas summer league were Marcus Banks, Von Wafer, and Louis Williams-- none of those guys will be starters this season" Evans

[TheGodfather]

*sigh* thats not how it works. He definitely earned himself some more PT, but the competition for the starting 2 spot hasn't even begun. that will begin at training camp in october. You have to understand that he wasn't practicing against his competition for the 2-spot, b/c they weren't at the summer league. The only thing anyone can definitively earn at summer league is a spot on the roster.

Competition began the moment SVG took the job and jumped to another level when Grant Hill decided to play elsewhere. JJ may not have been competing directly against his competition for the 2-spot at the summer league but he did everything right to raise his qualifications in the eyes of the new coach.

Surely, SVG already has ideas on what he thinks each of his players strengths and weaknesses are and is mentally picturing who would start given the players he has now.

The competition is not over if that's what you were getting at. JJ has positioned himself as the early favorite in the race and Keyon Dooling, Keith Bogans, or Trevor Ariza are going to have to step up and impress SVG that much more.


-Jason "the three leading scorers in the Vegas summer league were Marcus Banks, Von Wafer, and Louis Williams-- none of those guys will be starters this season" Evans

Banks is behind Steve Nash, and Von Wafer is behind AI, not a very fair comparison (those jobs were never open). The next two leading scorers were Kevin Durant and Marco Belinelli. What do you think of their chances?