Wizard's Summer League (Las Vegas) (7/14)

[Ruzious]

I saw this little blurb about 4 players under contract by the Wizards playing on the Summer League squad. Have not seen any rumblings as to who that 4th player is as of yet.

http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=view ... ryid=62008

There will only be four players who are under contract with the Wizards on the roster. According to the Washington Wizards and his agent, Ruoff is not one of those four players. He's still considered a free agent. Twenty-one of the thirty NBA teams will be represented in this summer league; it will begin on July 10th in Las Vegas.

Thanks for clearing that up - about Ruoff not being signed. That would have been startling. The problem with the Summer League stuff for the 4 signed Wiz participating is - there's no way they can win. If they dominate, it's expected; and if they're average, it's a big disappointment. The one of them that I'm interested in is Crit. I want to hear about him getting assists and showing leadership.

[eltacoman]

we added another player to our vegas roster Jimmy Baron
its another guard too .... interesting i wonder why were looking at soo many guards

http://www.turnto10.com/jar/extra_point ... er_leagues

[LyricalRico]

we added another player to our vegas roster Jimmy Baron
its another guard too .... interesting i wonder why were looking at soo many guards

Again, I think this is an idictment of Nick Young and (to a lesser extent IMO) Javaris Crittenton. I think they want to maximize the competition in SL and see how these guys respond. If they can't dominate NBDL level talent, then they have no business on the roster of a team that's trying to win now.

[TheSecretWeapon]

I don't think that a handful of summer league roster signings say anything about anyone on the Wizards roster or even give an indication of what the front office is thinking. It's probably nothing more than which agent returned the phone calls first.

[LyricalRico]

The 2009 Knicks summer league roster features four former lottery picks.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Yaroslav Korolev and Mouhamed Sene will join Jordan Hill on the team.

Also on the team are Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Utah's 2007 first round pick, Morris Almond.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... ery_picks/

Now THAT'S how to build a summer league team. Get everybody else's talented cast-offs and hope the light turns on for one of them.

[Dat2U]

How's your ankle coming along? Will you be able to get out to the clubs?

Thanks for asking. It's healing nicely and there's almost no pain. Just got back from the doctor's yesterday. He's cleared me to go on the trip but I have to stay on crutches until the 13th and then I'll remove the boot I'm currently wearing and switch to a ankle brace just for the trip. I probably won't be able to walk the strip too much but I'ma give the night clubs a go. Nothing is stopping me. Nothing!

[yungal07]

Morris Almond is apparently on the Knicks SL team too. The Jazz didn't even bother reupping him.

[Dat2U]

Hmmn. I think we're missing the true value of this thread. What we should be doing is coming up with questions and complaints for Dat to hector and badger Ernie or whomever when he happens to sit next to them in the stands. Get the inside scoop and real stories. Seems like the muckey mucks kinda let their hair down in this setting, you can get the real scoop there. Dat's got to be brassy enough to do push the issue. What do we really want to know?

You would think so by how I act on this board. Truth is, last year when I spoke to EG, I straight bitched up and told him what a wonderful job he was doing. The only real question I asked him was about addressing the backup SF position and we talked about Dom for a minute.

Something about talking smack to a dude that has a few inches on me and about 80 lbs. EG is huge in person.

Maybe I'll get a little more nerve this time. I did talk to a guy who said he was Nick Young's trainer last year and I told him I didn't think much of Young's all-around game, of course he disagreed vehemently but we had a good convo. The thing I really enoyed is talking to the different scouts from other teams. There are probably more scouts, management & staff in the Arena than there are basic fans. And most of the fans are family of the summer league participants so pretty much anyone you talk to is connected somehow. It's a fan's dream to tell ya the truth. I can't think of a better way to spend a vacation.

[LyricalRico]

^ Just hand him a copy of the "To do list" from your sig. LOL

[clubbing_caveman]

2 weeks to go, and all we have is a center and a fist-full of guards.
I'm going to do some tarot card reading here...maybe EG is thinking that in the next 14 days, we will make a trade for a forward and/or center and have the player play in the summer league.

[KennyGreen]

Morris Almond is apparently on the Knicks SL team too. The Jazz didn't even bother reupping him.

CCJ must be salivating at the thought of Almond being available...

[closg00]

The 2009 Knicks summer league roster features four former lottery picks.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Yaroslav Korolev and Mouhamed Sene will join Jordan Hill on the team.

Also on the team are Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Utah's 2007 first round pick, Morris Almond.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... ery_picks/

Now THAT'S how to build a summer league team. Get everybody else's talented cast-offs and hope the light turns on for one of them.

I very-much like the idea of this approach, in a way, Foye is a cast-off of the Wolves if you've read the comments of their GM re: Foye,and we just got him.

[dlts20]

I just honestly think you guys are so off on NY. I actually think the orginazation loves him and hasnt had one thought about trading him. I bet if you asked them then they would genuinely laugh about it. People on here act like the guy is garbage or something. Come on now. So far he's always had to come off the bench, get up & down minutes, and play with some of the worst PG's in the league in a watered down Wiz half court style offense. You put him on the court with Gil or Foye and he's dynamite. You start him at the 2 and give him consistent run every game, he would be awesome. You let him play on a running team and he will be lights out. You guys are way too harsh on people. His numbers werent half as bad as people make it out to be and his D stats are way better than people want to admit. The only way they would trade NY is for a A class player like Amare. No one else. I genuinely beleive everyone this side of Tapscott loves him.

As for the guards on the SL team, I dont think were looking at other guys as much as were looking at how our own roster will play out. They want our SL roster to look like our normal roster. We have a million guards so the SL can give you a preview on how it will work out

[nate33]

In my blog, I wondered about which direction McGuire should/would go. Bulk up and play inside (like Ben Wallace or Rodman), or work on the corner 3 and emulate Bowen? As CCJ suggested, why not both? I think McGuire might be better served to get stronger and be more of an inside player. In the short term, that's where minutes are more likely to be available this season. Longer term, there's always a market for a guy who can rebound and block shots. Pretty good wing defenders with limited offense are a dime a dozen.

Dennis Rodman had a 16.5% offensive rebound rate?

[standupwiz]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... rdsinsider

Wizards Announce Summer League Invitees
The Washington Wizards just announced their summer league invitees, which will include Dominic McGuire, Nick Young, JaVale McGee and Javaris Crittenton, some other notable undrafted players and a (sort of) familiar face. Andray Blatche said at the end of the season that he wasn't going to play summer league as he prepares to enter his fifth year, and he meant it.

Some of the notable undrafted players are Gonzaga forward Josh Heytvelt, a 6-foot-11 forward/center who was expected to go either in the late first round or early second after averaging 14.9 points and 6.5 rebounds; Alade Aminu, a 6-10 Georgia Tech center who was slated as a late second-round after averaging 11.8 points and eight rebounds as a senior; and Notre Dame swingman Ryan Ayers, son of former Wizards assistant Randy Ayers.

The familiar face is none other than former Wizard James Lang, who was a favorite of the D.C. Sports Bog and provided many hilarious moments during his short stint with the team during the 2006-07 season. Agent Steinz blamed the Wizards' decision to cut Lang as the reason for their terrible collapse at the end of the regular season. Lang averaged 7.0 points and 4.3 rebounds last season for the NBA Developmental League runner-up Utah Flash.

The rest of the team is rounded out by Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron, Kent State's Jon Edwards, Coppin State's Tywain McKie, Tyrese Rice of Boston College, Florida State's Jason Rich, Alex Ruoff of West Virginia, Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's, Kyle Spain of San Diego State and South Carolina's Brandon Wallace.

The Wizards will hold a mini-camp for the summer league invitees from July 10-13. They will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks in Las Vegas from July 14-19.

[sunluvr8484]

Wiz got Aminu and Heytvelt to join their summer league team...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2009/07/wizards_announce_summer_league.html?wprss=wizardsinsider

[fishercob]

Nice, they're taking a second look at Aminu. They must like him. Heytvelt is in and DMac is playing too. Good stuff.

[pancakes3]

pro: heytvelt and aminu are good prospects
con: we can't we sign either one of them unless EG makes a 2 fer 1 deal.

[Dat2U]

I'll be there. The Wizards will be playing July 14th to the 19th.

I'd love to see the Wiz add Gonzaga PF Josh Heytvelt or Georgia Tech PF Alade Aminu, one of them could have a decent shot at making the roster.

Well hot damn! Maybe someone is finally listening to me?

Heytvelt is a real sleeper. He's got a checkered past but he's a decent athlete and very skilled for a big man. If he's got his head on straight and works hard, he could be in the league for a while.

Aminu is a pretty good athlete with a good work ethic and solid frame. He's raw but from what I saw of him he impressed me more than his more highly touted teammate Gani Lawal. He's got decent hands, can finish around the basket and was very active.

Heytvelt was a late 1st rounder on my board. Aminu was a high 2nd rounder.

[Kanyewest]

pro: heytvelt and aminu are good prospects
con: we can't we sign either one of them unless EG makes a 2 fer 1 deal.

The Wizards can sign both of them since they have 15 roster spots, and last I checked 13 were filled. The Wizards can only dress 12 for games.