We keep looking for little glimmers of goodness from the typical pile of ugliness that is Summer League basketball.
It's understandable. On the one hand, we've got us fans… who are desperately looking for any sign at all that guys like Gabe Pruitt, Lester Hudson, or Bill Walker have figured something out and will help this team.
"whoa.. he hit that shot from deeper than usual. That's new"
"hey… nice pass. When did he learn that? That can help us!"
On the other hand, we've got 5 guys on the floor trying to impress coaches. And you don't do that by passing ALL the time. These guys are trying to show they've got a quicker first step… a more fluid jumper… a better grasp of the game. So they often try to do a little too much.
So that makes it hard or us to figure out who is really getting what done. But one guy who HAS made an impression on a seasoned observer, Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune (via True Hoop), is JR Giddens.
before electing to attack the basket. He served notice by flipping the
ball off the backboard for an alley-oop dunk in warmups, then drove for
a ferocious slam midway through the opening period.
"You know,
J.R. tells me that he was a shooter in high school and early in
college,” Jones joked. "He's a guy that can really fill out a stat
sheet. Obviously, his energy is terrific and he has a great motor. Part
of that is why he needs to just settle himself down just a little bit.”
Giddens finally got a jumper to fall in the third quarter, then sized
up Powell and buried another. He missed two shots in the final minute
— including a potential game-tying 3-pointer after Coby Karl's
inbounds steal — but it was a successful afternoon all the same.
"I would say that the big thing with him is that once he slows down, I
think he's way better,” Longabardi said. "He's just been so excited
because he wants to play so much, so badly.”
The emergence of Giddens would be HUUUGE for the C's. If he can play that 2/3 position, it would bode well for our future. Of course, Summer League success can be deceiving. But like I said… we're looking or any glimmer of positivity from this week… and that's what this is.
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