Welcome Toumani Camara

WeekapaugGroove · Post #81 » by **WeekapaugGroove** » Sun Jul 9, 2023 7:52 pm

bigfoot wrote:Clearly better than the other G-leaguers out there. Let's hope he turns into one of those special second rounders that we never seem to get. Suns are due, haven't kept a real decent one since Ceballos, Dumas, and Hornacek (90,91,86).

They really are due. Id say Dragic was a hit even though his first time here was a bit of a rollercoaster. But yeah the McD era they never hit even one late first or 2nd rounder.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

alldayeveryday · Post #82 » by **alldayeveryday** » Sun Jul 9, 2023 8:27 pm

The only thing I ask Camara to do this season is understand the defensive side of things as much as he can. When to crowd a player and not allow them to shoot or playback and protect against a drive. Anything else he provides is just a cherry on top. Post-KD trade, I noticed we continued to get burned on this action because I felt Mikal did an excellent job hiding this.

Post #83 » by **lilfishi22** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 12:23 am

Was very impressed with Camara in particular. At no point on his way to 20pts did he dominate the ball. Just high IQ plays all around. The dude was cutting, he put himself in the right spots at the right time, finished on plays and just in general not making mistakes. I get it, he's a late 2nd round pick with a lower ceiling because of his age but a high IQ wing who also rebounds, plays defense, plays hard and makes the right plays, that's exactly what you're after.

Mulhollanddrive · Post #84 » by **Mulhollanddrive** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:23 am

I'm not too hyped on Camara.

Not a proven shooter and yet to see him tested on defense, he won't be getting easy cuts and drives at nba level, undersized PF, don't see that one elite trait typical players need.

Post #85 » by **lilfishi22** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:33 am

Mulhollanddrive wrote:I'm not too hyped on Camara.

Not a proven shooter and yet to see him tested on defense, he won't be getting easy cuts and drives at nba level, undersized PF, don't see that one elite trait typical players need.

Guys who don't get easy cuts are those who get defended tight which Camara won't be. And there are just guys who have a knack of getting into the paint and somehow creating 2nd chances despite being smaller or less athletic than others like Okogie. I think Camara has that knack. I'm not convinced of his ability to attack close outs at the NBA level but that's fine because I'm not expecting him to have that one day one anyway. As for being undersized at the 4, I'm not too worried either because he's almost certainly going to be playing against 3rd stringers or at best, bench PF's majority of the time.

He doesn't have an elite skill set yet but I think his maturity and not needing the ball to be productive will be what get him court time. What will get him real rotation minutes is if he can shoot at the NBA level. The positive is that he's going to get many wide-open opportunities if get gets to play in line up featuring one of the Big 3.

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #86 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:33 pm

Bogyo wrote:
sunsbg wrote:The video editor who's now coaching the SL team didn't lie. Nice debut for Camara.

Watch on YouTube

If he keeps this up he could be an OK 3rd string PF pretty much right away (around allstar break when he learns the ropes).

When I looked at his college highlights, my first impression was that he's not an NBA-level player. I take it back!

The things that really stood out were his great hands and good quickness. But he showed good versatility, instincts, poise, use of fundamentals. Loved his catches on the roll, his cutting, and his ability to step out and take guys off the dribble. Just an extremely encouraging game for Toumani.

Hopeful that are FO has found a diamond in the rough! As Bigfoot said, it's been a while. Ishbia will have earned major props for this one if Camara finds his way into the rotation this season or next!

Post #87 » by **bwgood77** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:07 pm

sunskerr wrote:Always nice when your players do well in SL. When was the last time we saw that? 2013 when we made the finals? The Morris Twins and PJ Tucker lead one was a lot of fun and helped kind of lay a jumping point for our season. The Twins played 24 and 22 mpg, and PJ got 30 mpg in the following 2013-14 regular season.

Jalen Smith - first team summer league...led summer league in rebounding. Though I don't think he shot that well.

Tyler Ulis did well too...stole and inbounds and hit a 3 for a win in the tourney I think.

sunsbum · Post #88 » by **sunsbum** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:31 pm

Camara seems to have a really great touch around the paint. Also seems to be really in control of his body and knows what his limitations are. I’m excited to see if he can follow up with another solid performance.

enigmatics · Post #89 » by **enigmatics** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 10:54 pm

He's cookin' again today!

Saberestar · Post #90 » by **Saberestar** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:20 pm

enigmatics wrote:He's cookin' again today!

Can we call him Belgian Army Knife? He does it all. All-around Forward.

Read on Twitter

WeekapaugGroove · Post #91 » by **WeekapaugGroove** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:22 pm

bwgood77 wrote:
sunskerr wrote:Always nice when your players do well in SL. When was the last time we saw that? 2013 when we made the finals? The Morris Twins and PJ Tucker lead one was a lot of fun and helped kind of lay a jumping point for our season. The Twins played 24 and 22 mpg, and PJ got 30 mpg in the following 2013-14 regular season.

Jalen Smith - first team summer league...led summer league in rebounding. Though I don't think he shot that well.

Tyler Ulis did well too...stole and inbounds and hit a 3 for a win in the tourney I think.

Ulis is a great example of the kind of guy who can fool you in summer league. He was actually a really good basketball player who just wasn't physically big enough for the league. But put him in a setting like this and the physical limitations aren't as big of a deal and he can look good.

The two guys I remember being like oof that's not good were Josh Jackson and Kendall Marshall. Jackson looked wild and just kind of bad. Marshall looked unathletic and worse than the dudes who had no shot at the league.

Who knows on Camara but if you're 6'8 long and play hard and smart you have a chance to make it.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Post #92 » by **TASTIC** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:42 am

He plays like Oubre

Moochthemonkey · Post #93 » by **Moochthemonkey** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 4:45 am

WeekapaugGroove wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
sunskerr wrote:Always nice when your players do well in SL. When was the last time we saw that? 2013 when we made the finals? The Morris Twins and PJ Tucker lead one was a lot of fun and helped kind of lay a jumping point for our season. The Twins played 24 and 22 mpg, and PJ got 30 mpg in the following 2013-14 regular season.

Jalen Smith - first team summer league...led summer league in rebounding. Though I don't think he shot that well.

Tyler Ulis did well too...stole and inbounds and hit a 3 for a win in the tourney I think.
Ulis is a great example of the kind of guy who can fool you in summer league. He was actually a really good basketball player who just wasn't physically big enough for the league. But put him in a setting like this and the physical limitations aren't as big of a deal and he can look good.

The two guys I remember being like oof that's not good were Josh Jackson and Kendall Marshall. Jackson looked wild and just kind of bad. Marshall looked unathletic and worse than the dudes who had no shot at the league.

Who knows on Camara but if you're 6'8 long and play hard and smart you have a chance to make it.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Alan Williams was also on the 2nd and 1st team in his two summer league years.

Another player that was underwhelming was Dragan Bender. Three summer leagues, no real improvement. FG and 3P% in the 30s and 20s respectively. He was coming into the league raw and was given more than enough patience to develop but simply wasn't good.

Jdiddy701 · Post #94 » by **Jdiddy701** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 6:27 am

I can’t help but think of Ben Simmons as I’m watching Camara play. I definitely don’t mean this as an insult. Ben is much a better passer and ball handler but they have some similarities around the paint and same form. I would love for Camara to get some time with our star players. He doesn’t force anything, always seems to be at the right place at the right time. He is a willing passer, too.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Saberestar · Post #95 » by **Saberestar** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 6:40 am

TASTIC wrote:He plays like Oubre

He has a similar shooting release and both are lefty, but other than that I don't see similarities in their games.

Ryu · Post #96 » by **Ryu** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 9:46 am

ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:
Bogyo wrote:
sunsbg wrote:The video editor who's now coaching the SL team didn't lie. Nice debut for Camara.

Watch on YouTube

If he keeps this up he could be an OK 3rd string PF pretty much right away (around allstar break when he learns the ropes).

When I looked at his college highlights, my first impression was that he's not an NBA-level player. I take it back!

The things that really stood out were his great hands and good quickness. But he showed good versatility, instincts, poise, use of fundamentals. Loved his catches on the roll, his cutting, and his ability to step out and take guys off the dribble. Just an extremely encouraging game for Toumani.

Hopeful that are FO has found a diamond in the rough! As Bigfoot said, it's been a while. Ishbia will have earned major props for this one if Camara finds his way into the rotation this season or next!

I am curious if Isiah Thomas told something to Ishbia about the draft since JJ isnt interested in scouting. Zeke actually was good in finding good players in the second round while in NY (he drafted Ariza and David Lee).

darmani · Post #97 » by **darmani** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 6:18 pm

TASTIC wrote:He plays like Oubre

Toumani Papi!

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #98 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 7:02 pm

I didn't get to watch much of the Heat game, but the statline obvi wasn't that impressive. Struggled at the line and had 6 turnovers. 11/3/3 with 2 steals.

From the highlights, it seemed like he was getting displaced pretty often by bigger players, though he always fought back.

Looks to me like he's probably a little light for his NBA position (PF). I expect he'll be hitting the weight room pretty hard over the next year or so.

King4Day · Post #99 » by **King4Day** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 7:25 pm

Article about 5 2nd round picks who are showing flashes in summer league.
Funny that Bates is in there too. Not that it was a huge debate but I know a lot of Suns fans wanted him.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/leonard-miller-jalen-pickett-andre-jackson-summer-league-stats

Saberestar · Post #100 » by **Saberestar** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 7:37 pm

King4Day wrote:Article about 5 2nd round picks who are showing flashes in summer league.
Funny that Bates is in there too. Not that it was a huge debate but I know a lot of Suns fans wanted him.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/leonard-miller-jalen-pickett-andre-jackson-summer-league-stats

Some interesting astats:

He performed well at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine and his lane agility (10.7 seconds) ranked in the 92nd percentile among all participants since 2000, via Stadium Speak.

Camara recorded 38 dunks last season, per Bart Torvik, which ranked fifth-best among all collegiate players drafted. The forward also shot 72.0 percent at the rim, which was third-best among collegiate players drafted as well.

When he played at Dayton, he also showed a willingness to do the little things. For example, he averaged 0.15 off-ball screens per offensive chance. That ranked third-most among all drafted players, via Stats Perform.