[King Glorious]

7/16

Toronto
Whatever I said about DeRozan before, read it again here. Another game, another 20. Shot pretty well (8-13) and I am just about convinced that he'll make the all-rookie first team. Douby was about the same as he's been. Had trouble with his shot but scored 17 and had seven assists.

Milwaukee
Jodie Meeks was the story. He was a lot more aggressive than he has been and his teammates looked for him more. Shot 12-23 (4-8 on 3s) and scored 29. Watching him, a lot of teams are going to regret skipping over him. If they could redraft now, he'd be top 10. I really think Redd is going to be shipped out by the deadline. Jennings was decent here. Didn't shoot so great from distance but was not too bad overall. Scored only 13 but had seven more assists and ran the offense well and continues to be a pest on defense when he wants to be. Joe Alexander played well again with 19 and eight boards. He's much better than he was last year in the summer league and maybe the confidence gained here can carry over and he can do something during the season. He's got the talent.

Houston
Say what you guys want about what Bodinger can't do but the boy can play in this league. Inconsistent shot? He was 7-9 here and 3-3 on 3s for 25 points. In his last two games, that's 14-17 (5-5) and his final numbers from the league are 32-47 (68%) and 8-11 (73%) on threes for 17.8 points a game. It's like I said, he will get a lot better looks here than he got in college because he's not a focus of the defense and he CAN shoot the ball. Granted, this is not the real NBA but it is a big step up from college and he's stepped his game up to meet the challenge. He's been one of the top players here. I don't know what Joey Dorsey is but one thing he's not is garbage. He's a good example of a guy that knows his limitations. He knows he's not going to be an offensive star so he works hard in the areas that will earn him a living in the league. He tied the league record with 20 boards and for the tournament, averaged 14.8 boards and 9.8 points. He's not going to be anyone's starter but he'll contribute because he's a strong rebounder and solid defender.

New Orleans
Marcus Thornton had a decent game. He scored 21 but fell too in love with the long shot. Take out is 1-6 on 3s and he shot 5-8 from the field. Needs to follow the lead of Meeks and DeRozan and stay with what you are strong with and not try to do too much. Darren Collison couldn't keep up the pace he had been setting but wasn't too bad. Scored 14 and played good defense here. He missed all three of his 3s and has missed all four so far here. He's going to have to be able to hit those. Julian Wright looked horrible. So much for taking a step forward. Shot horrible and that took him out of his whole game. Didn't score well and didn't give anything on the glass.

Golden State
Anthony Randolph and Cartier Martin didn't play. Stephen Curry did but didn't do much. He's really fallen off in the last couple. Only shot 4-10 (actually good for him) and scored nine. Looked like he was gunshy out there. I say he's got to keep shooting. That's what got him here and the only way to start making them is to keep taking them. Just looked like he was scared to shoot cause he was scared to miss.

Oklahoma City
James Harden didn't play. Shaun Livingston is still struggling with his shot. Was only 2-9 from the field and just doesn't look like he's comfortable. Pretty decent at running the offense but he's just a shadow of what he used to be. BJ Mullens again looked like an amatuer. Had every opportunity but only shot 2-8 and had five points and one rebound.

San Antonio
Dejuan Blair had another solid game. Didn't hit the boards as hard but what it looked like was the team ran more offense for him and that's where his focus was. Scored 20 on 8-11 shots and seemed pretty comfortable in that role but I think he's going to earn his keep on the boards and on defense and I want to see more of that in the next couple of games. Jack McClinton probably won't make the team. He has yet to make a shot in three games and is giving them absolutely nothing on the court.

Dallas
After looking so good a couple of games ago, Rodrigue Beaubois has really come back to earth. Shot horribly (2-14, 0-6 on 3s) and only scored four and had one assists. It wasn't just that he missed shots but a lot of them were bad shots and he didn't make good decisions when he could have hit an open man, he instead was shooting. Ahmad Nivins didn't do much (5 and 6) and was kinda muscled around a little. He looked bored and was much better at the start of the tournament than he's been in the last two.

Cleveland
I was thinking that Danny Green would have a good shot at making this rotation. Now, I'm not so sure. He's just not doing much. What it looks like is in the first game, he took people by surprise but since they figured out he was a go-to player for offense on this team, he's been shut down. Only shot 2-6 (missed all three 3s) and scored four. Maybe when he gets to play with James in camp, it will open up the floor a little for him and he'll be able to get better shots and hit them. Not impressive here though.

LA Clippers
Blake Griffin had an odd game. He completely dominated the first half but was almost a ghost in the second. Overall though, he again showed all the skills that will make him a very good NBA player. He runs the court so well and is extremely athletic. Seems to make a lot of the right decisions and is patient. I remember thinking when I was watching Jordan Hill that he has ability but needs to slow down a little. Griffin doesn't have that problem. He takes it as it comes to him and doesn't force it. Love him.

Memphis
As good as Griffin looked is as bad as Thabeet has looked. If Thabeet was an undrafted free agent, it might not be so bad. But as the second pick, you want more. Griffin made him look like a grade schooler. He had seven with three boards and zero blocks although he did alter a couple. We already knew he was going to take some time to produce on offense but if he's going to give you this little on defense, that's a big problem. Marcus Williams didn't shoot too well but got to the line at will. The defenders just couldn't stop him. He scored 22 but 16 came from the line (20 attempts). Darrell Arthur was decent. Only scored 10 but I liked his work on the boards (eight) and on defense. He played better defense on Griffin than Thabeet did. Jeff Adrien didn't play.