Da_O
Abe Vigoda lives!
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ScooterHD is a really good poster on the ESPN boards. Well he is in Las Vegas right now watching the games and has been writing good recaps and scouting of the games. I'll just post them here because I feel they're worth a look.
1st game
First Impressions
Jeff Pendergraph is a little bit more muscular than I imagined. I had seem in twice down in Corvallis and he was a bean pole. he has filled out a bit. he still needs to hit the weights, but its more promising that he can fill the role of an active banger at the backup PF position. he is also extremely cut.
Cunningham is even more tone if thats possible, although a bit skinnier than i thought. at the combine, he had one of the lowest body fat percentages and you can see why. he put up an impressive 18 reps at the combine, so i was expecting to see a broader chest and some thicker arms. but hes obviously strong.
just looking at both of these guys, you can really tell that they were drafted for very different purposes. it's not just a situation where we took 2 PFs and hope that one of them develops. Cunningham is much smaller and quicker and is more suited towards defending perimeter orientated bigs or small forwards. Pendergraph is taller and bulkier and more suited towards defending the post. he is a more traditional 4. these guys are already good friends. they worked out together for several teams and really challenged each other to outperform Hansbrough in the workout for the Blazers. they came into the stadium talking and laughing. they didn't seem to nervous, or at least weren't showing it.
Bayless on the other hand has headphones on. this is business and he is focusing. Bayless actually looks lighter and more cut than he was last year. he was already in great shape but this guy has probably been working out every day. he was quoted earlier as saying that he didnt take a vacation after the season because he didnt deserve one. the kid is only 20 and if i snuck a beer to him he would probably dump it out and down another protein shake. when warmups started he loosed up a bit and starting really talking to the other players and coaches. i could be too optimistic about Jerryd's plan to become more of a leader and a true PG, but i dont remember him doing that last year.
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First Half Notes
Bayless gets an early TO off a tough pass in transition to Pendergraph. the pass actually got through but Pendergraph wasnt expecting it. would have been on the highlight reels if Jeff could have finished it with a dunk. alot of his other passes, even basic ones in the half court, are quick one handers.
Bayless is barking out for guys to talk to him on defense. hes aggressive on the ball and cant see screens. forces DeRozan to misdribble and TO. Roko cant get by him without a screen. very aggressive early. had 3 extremely quick fouls. luckily you get 10 in the summer league, but he was taken out about half way through the first and then to team and the lead fell apart.
Bayless looking to pass back to the screener. hes dropping some nice bounce passes in pick and roll situations. the Raptors are trying to hedge him, which means the screeners defender is drifting way off his man. but they arent able to contain Bayless and he is getting the ball back to the screener or is splitting it. he looks unstoppable here in the pick and roll/pop.
Bayless splits the screen and throws up a floating lop to Pendergraph for a dunk. a very nice pass. looked just like a lob shot and caught the defense off guard. Pendergraph ends up getting fouled and making the and one.
next time Bayless drives down the middle he hits a 12 foot floater. when he shot the crowd gasped because they were expecting another lob pass. so was the defense, in fact they almost goaltended the shot.
through the first half we are scoring at a much higher rate when Bayless initiates the offense. so far he is creating shots for others. when he hands the ball up we end up playing one on one and taking bad perimeter shots.
Cunningham dives to the floor about 3 minutes into the game. not many guys do that here. also chased down a loose ball into the corner for a rebound. Cunningham beats his man down the floor for an easy layup. Cunningham just bulls someone over going after a loose ball. hes making an impact right away. very high energy level.
Cunningham is really pressing Davis out on the perimeter. if you are not a big threat off the dribble Cunningham is going to be in your face. right before the half, Cunningham forces a terrible pass by Ibekwe at the top of the key. he is really extending his defensive pressure. even standing at half court while the Raptors are inbounding the ball. looks like he might try to trap the PG if the PG brings the ball up to quickly.
Pendergraph is in all the right spots early but is just having a little bit of trouble with his touch. missing some box outs defensively as well. maybe too used to playing in zone.
Pendergraph is having a little trouble with the size of O'Bryant. hes got 3 or 4 inches on him and is heavier too.
Pentway gets a nice dunk on a 2 on 1 for the Raptors, but what you probably didnt see on TV was Cunnigham running full speed the full length of the court to get back and almost disrupt the lob pass. a few minutes later in the second quarter, Cunningham does get back and does break up a lob.
Cunninghams mid range jumper looks very nice. hes got good form and has a suprisingly quick release. he doesnt hesitate either. hes got confidence in that shot.
end of half situation where we get the last shot. all eyes on Bayless. Ukic defending. wow. Bayless gets a finger roll after going around 3 guys.
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Second Half Notes
looks like playing in that 4 guard offense at Villanova really helped Cunningham learn how to set picks. also is very quick to run to inbound the ball. he knows his duties and he doesnt mess around. when the Raptors make a bucket he grabs the ball and goes. this is one of the more up temo and higher scoring SL games so far.
Cunningham comes from nowehere to steal a rebound out of Obryants hands and make the layup. all in a quick motion. he doesnt waste much time. hes surpsingly smooth.
Bayless forces a turnover on Ukic. Roko went to shoot the ball, Bayless was going to block him and Ukic threw it out of bounds trying to make a mid air pass.
Bayless looks very calm and confident. not worried at all about ball pressure and is just running around guys. if you just watch him it looks like he is just going half speed yet he is flying by defenders.
Bayless had made 3 half court passes so far and hasnt connected on any of them. they've been close but the guys arent looking and either ended up not catching them and having them go off their hands or simply watching the ball fly by them. dumb turnovers. im not sure if thats Jerryds fault or if his teammates need to get their heads up. at least the passes were on target. maybe we clean things up after some game experience.
Paul Davis finally hedges Bayless but Jerryd just continues to run into him and gets the foul call. he's still good at drawing fouls.
Bayless finally loses his handle. Ukic takes off for what should have been an easy layup but Cunningham gets back and forces a miss. no surprise there. Cunningham would probably take off after a cheetah if it stole his sandwich. he doesnt care if he can get there or not, if theres some kind of transition he is running.
another turnover for Bayless in transition. threw a quick pass to his left but Gardner wasnt expecting it and couldnt grab it. would have been an easy layup. i put that one completely on Gardner. its a fast break, the point guard has the ball, you are on the wing, so why arent you ready for the pass?
Cunningham has a bit of an akward motion on his free throws. he kind of pauses half way up and shoots from his chest. could probably work on that and boost his percentages a bit. he has a good midrange game, so he should be able to translate that to the stripe with some coaching. he made 5 of 6 today, but was under 70% in college.
Bayless gets Gardner and then Moss wide open looks on consecutive possessions. but they both miss rather badly.
with under 5 seconds on the shot clock, Bayless is able to get his man in the air and then to jump into him for the foul. he didnt have anything else going for him. he might have got bailed out by the refs a bit, but at least it was a high IQ play.
Bayless gets Gardner another wide open three after making a nice pass to the corner from under the hoop. Gardner misses again. at least he caught it this time.
Bayless drops a nice pass in to Pendergraph for the dunk after collapsing the defense. another and one situation as guys try to recover from the havoc that Bayless creates. and Pendergraph made him self available and was ready for the ball.
Bayless gets blocked twice by OBryant. we are down 10 and he is forcing the issue and trying to score late in the fourth. the offense is getting really ugly right now. lots of turnovers and charges. definitely falling apart late. a little too panicked. thats where playing 2 games before this one is helping the Raptors. we really lost it in the fourth quarter.
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Additional Notes
Nate is here along with all most of the Blazer entourage including Blazer scouts. i dont see KP or Penn though. someone keeps saying that Bayless is 'too quick.' everyone is loving what Cunningham is doing. especially the way he pressures the ball. Nate has said 'get em' a couple of times. they are all watching him run the floor, especially back on the defensive end in transition. one time Nate even yelled out like he was coaching on the floor, "Back! Back! Back!." but it was in a good way, like he was encouraging Cunninghams hustle. they think Jeff is playing in the paint too much on the defensive end and is letting people shoot over him too easy. Prunty is on it too. Taggert has hit three 18-20 footers on three attempts over Jeff and Prunty yelled for him to 'step up' on the third attempt. never got the chance to learn from such clear direction.
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Notable Statistics
Bayless 22 points, 7 assists, 6 turnovers, 4 boards
Cunningham 21 points, 9 board, 4 offensive boards
Pendergraph 12 points, 9 boards
To me the numbers make Bayless look worse than he actually played. 3 of the turnovers were from dropped passes. he lost his handle twice. not including Bayless, the team shot 13 three pointers. most were open looks and im willing to bet that half of them came off passes from Bayless. we made 2 of those 13. 7 assists is good, but he could of had more if guys could hit from outside.
Cunningham had a good all around game. i like his midrange game but if he could just work on a pumpfake and drive to the hoop he would be much more efficient. got to love his energy though. his stats really show how involved he was. he took as many shots as Bayless and was all over the place defensively and on the offensive glass. summerleague suits him well. he is used to getting up and down with guards.
Pendergraph really just kind of stumbled into a near double double. i wasnt too impressed with his rebounding. 9 boards is solid, but when you are playing 26 minutes at center thats almost expected. he was out of position though. and you get whats expected from him offensively. hes not the go to guy, hes just supposed to set screens and get in position to receive some passes in the paint from Bayless. and this is summer league and hes a big. we only ran one play for him in the post and he actually made a really nice move but just missed the hook shot. every other point came from putbacks. defensively he didnt look to comfortable stepping outside. remember he played zone in college and would is used to just standing under the hoop.
1st game
First Impressions
Jeff Pendergraph is a little bit more muscular than I imagined. I had seem in twice down in Corvallis and he was a bean pole. he has filled out a bit. he still needs to hit the weights, but its more promising that he can fill the role of an active banger at the backup PF position. he is also extremely cut.
Cunningham is even more tone if thats possible, although a bit skinnier than i thought. at the combine, he had one of the lowest body fat percentages and you can see why. he put up an impressive 18 reps at the combine, so i was expecting to see a broader chest and some thicker arms. but hes obviously strong.
just looking at both of these guys, you can really tell that they were drafted for very different purposes. it's not just a situation where we took 2 PFs and hope that one of them develops. Cunningham is much smaller and quicker and is more suited towards defending perimeter orientated bigs or small forwards. Pendergraph is taller and bulkier and more suited towards defending the post. he is a more traditional 4. these guys are already good friends. they worked out together for several teams and really challenged each other to outperform Hansbrough in the workout for the Blazers. they came into the stadium talking and laughing. they didn't seem to nervous, or at least weren't showing it.
Bayless on the other hand has headphones on. this is business and he is focusing. Bayless actually looks lighter and more cut than he was last year. he was already in great shape but this guy has probably been working out every day. he was quoted earlier as saying that he didnt take a vacation after the season because he didnt deserve one. the kid is only 20 and if i snuck a beer to him he would probably dump it out and down another protein shake. when warmups started he loosed up a bit and starting really talking to the other players and coaches. i could be too optimistic about Jerryd's plan to become more of a leader and a true PG, but i dont remember him doing that last year.
--------------------
First Half Notes
Bayless gets an early TO off a tough pass in transition to Pendergraph. the pass actually got through but Pendergraph wasnt expecting it. would have been on the highlight reels if Jeff could have finished it with a dunk. alot of his other passes, even basic ones in the half court, are quick one handers.
Bayless is barking out for guys to talk to him on defense. hes aggressive on the ball and cant see screens. forces DeRozan to misdribble and TO. Roko cant get by him without a screen. very aggressive early. had 3 extremely quick fouls. luckily you get 10 in the summer league, but he was taken out about half way through the first and then to team and the lead fell apart.
Bayless looking to pass back to the screener. hes dropping some nice bounce passes in pick and roll situations. the Raptors are trying to hedge him, which means the screeners defender is drifting way off his man. but they arent able to contain Bayless and he is getting the ball back to the screener or is splitting it. he looks unstoppable here in the pick and roll/pop.
Bayless splits the screen and throws up a floating lop to Pendergraph for a dunk. a very nice pass. looked just like a lob shot and caught the defense off guard. Pendergraph ends up getting fouled and making the and one.
next time Bayless drives down the middle he hits a 12 foot floater. when he shot the crowd gasped because they were expecting another lob pass. so was the defense, in fact they almost goaltended the shot.
through the first half we are scoring at a much higher rate when Bayless initiates the offense. so far he is creating shots for others. when he hands the ball up we end up playing one on one and taking bad perimeter shots.
Cunningham dives to the floor about 3 minutes into the game. not many guys do that here. also chased down a loose ball into the corner for a rebound. Cunningham beats his man down the floor for an easy layup. Cunningham just bulls someone over going after a loose ball. hes making an impact right away. very high energy level.
Cunningham is really pressing Davis out on the perimeter. if you are not a big threat off the dribble Cunningham is going to be in your face. right before the half, Cunningham forces a terrible pass by Ibekwe at the top of the key. he is really extending his defensive pressure. even standing at half court while the Raptors are inbounding the ball. looks like he might try to trap the PG if the PG brings the ball up to quickly.
Pendergraph is in all the right spots early but is just having a little bit of trouble with his touch. missing some box outs defensively as well. maybe too used to playing in zone.
Pendergraph is having a little trouble with the size of O'Bryant. hes got 3 or 4 inches on him and is heavier too.
Pentway gets a nice dunk on a 2 on 1 for the Raptors, but what you probably didnt see on TV was Cunnigham running full speed the full length of the court to get back and almost disrupt the lob pass. a few minutes later in the second quarter, Cunningham does get back and does break up a lob.
Cunninghams mid range jumper looks very nice. hes got good form and has a suprisingly quick release. he doesnt hesitate either. hes got confidence in that shot.
end of half situation where we get the last shot. all eyes on Bayless. Ukic defending. wow. Bayless gets a finger roll after going around 3 guys.
--------------------
Second Half Notes
looks like playing in that 4 guard offense at Villanova really helped Cunningham learn how to set picks. also is very quick to run to inbound the ball. he knows his duties and he doesnt mess around. when the Raptors make a bucket he grabs the ball and goes. this is one of the more up temo and higher scoring SL games so far.
Cunningham comes from nowehere to steal a rebound out of Obryants hands and make the layup. all in a quick motion. he doesnt waste much time. hes surpsingly smooth.
Bayless forces a turnover on Ukic. Roko went to shoot the ball, Bayless was going to block him and Ukic threw it out of bounds trying to make a mid air pass.
Bayless looks very calm and confident. not worried at all about ball pressure and is just running around guys. if you just watch him it looks like he is just going half speed yet he is flying by defenders.
Bayless had made 3 half court passes so far and hasnt connected on any of them. they've been close but the guys arent looking and either ended up not catching them and having them go off their hands or simply watching the ball fly by them. dumb turnovers. im not sure if thats Jerryds fault or if his teammates need to get their heads up. at least the passes were on target. maybe we clean things up after some game experience.
Paul Davis finally hedges Bayless but Jerryd just continues to run into him and gets the foul call. he's still good at drawing fouls.
Bayless finally loses his handle. Ukic takes off for what should have been an easy layup but Cunningham gets back and forces a miss. no surprise there. Cunningham would probably take off after a cheetah if it stole his sandwich. he doesnt care if he can get there or not, if theres some kind of transition he is running.
another turnover for Bayless in transition. threw a quick pass to his left but Gardner wasnt expecting it and couldnt grab it. would have been an easy layup. i put that one completely on Gardner. its a fast break, the point guard has the ball, you are on the wing, so why arent you ready for the pass?
Cunningham has a bit of an akward motion on his free throws. he kind of pauses half way up and shoots from his chest. could probably work on that and boost his percentages a bit. he has a good midrange game, so he should be able to translate that to the stripe with some coaching. he made 5 of 6 today, but was under 70% in college.
Bayless gets Gardner and then Moss wide open looks on consecutive possessions. but they both miss rather badly.
with under 5 seconds on the shot clock, Bayless is able to get his man in the air and then to jump into him for the foul. he didnt have anything else going for him. he might have got bailed out by the refs a bit, but at least it was a high IQ play.
Bayless gets Gardner another wide open three after making a nice pass to the corner from under the hoop. Gardner misses again. at least he caught it this time.
Bayless drops a nice pass in to Pendergraph for the dunk after collapsing the defense. another and one situation as guys try to recover from the havoc that Bayless creates. and Pendergraph made him self available and was ready for the ball.
Bayless gets blocked twice by OBryant. we are down 10 and he is forcing the issue and trying to score late in the fourth. the offense is getting really ugly right now. lots of turnovers and charges. definitely falling apart late. a little too panicked. thats where playing 2 games before this one is helping the Raptors. we really lost it in the fourth quarter.
--------------------
Additional Notes
Nate is here along with all most of the Blazer entourage including Blazer scouts. i dont see KP or Penn though. someone keeps saying that Bayless is 'too quick.' everyone is loving what Cunningham is doing. especially the way he pressures the ball. Nate has said 'get em' a couple of times. they are all watching him run the floor, especially back on the defensive end in transition. one time Nate even yelled out like he was coaching on the floor, "Back! Back! Back!." but it was in a good way, like he was encouraging Cunninghams hustle. they think Jeff is playing in the paint too much on the defensive end and is letting people shoot over him too easy. Prunty is on it too. Taggert has hit three 18-20 footers on three attempts over Jeff and Prunty yelled for him to 'step up' on the third attempt. never got the chance to learn from such clear direction.
--------------------
Notable Statistics
Bayless 22 points, 7 assists, 6 turnovers, 4 boards
Cunningham 21 points, 9 board, 4 offensive boards
Pendergraph 12 points, 9 boards
To me the numbers make Bayless look worse than he actually played. 3 of the turnovers were from dropped passes. he lost his handle twice. not including Bayless, the team shot 13 three pointers. most were open looks and im willing to bet that half of them came off passes from Bayless. we made 2 of those 13. 7 assists is good, but he could of had more if guys could hit from outside.
Cunningham had a good all around game. i like his midrange game but if he could just work on a pumpfake and drive to the hoop he would be much more efficient. got to love his energy though. his stats really show how involved he was. he took as many shots as Bayless and was all over the place defensively and on the offensive glass. summerleague suits him well. he is used to getting up and down with guards.
Pendergraph really just kind of stumbled into a near double double. i wasnt too impressed with his rebounding. 9 boards is solid, but when you are playing 26 minutes at center thats almost expected. he was out of position though. and you get whats expected from him offensively. hes not the go to guy, hes just supposed to set screens and get in position to receive some passes in the paint from Bayless. and this is summer league and hes a big. we only ran one play for him in the post and he actually made a really nice move but just missed the hook shot. every other point came from putbacks. defensively he didnt look to comfortable stepping outside. remember he played zone in college and would is used to just standing under the hoop.
