Summer League Discussion

[GuardianAngel25]

This is seriously a joke. People can't just say it how it is with Buddy? Again nobody and especially not me is doubting his potential or how he will play this year. Playing ok defense and making some nice passes somehow makes up for everything? Only thing he did above average was rebound. It's not like he looked great passing the ball he just did better than expected and showed is all he has the ability to do this. Basically showed he can play in a system while having the ability to create for others but that definitely does not mean he looked like Harden out there creating for others. It's ok to say Buddy played bad. I'm the most optimistic person here and his SL performance does not change a thing on how I feel about his future. Still he played bad and saying he showed us he can pass the ball and give amazing effort does not make up for his overall SL performance.

[GuardianAngel25]

Gentry might well say something like this, but he won't be the first person in Hield's ear.... you can bet your home that Buddy has already had this same conversation with himself....and I'm one of the believers that Hield is better suited for the big team (and the show) than he is for the Summer League....

I think he is better suited for the NBA as well and most here believe the same. Still this kid is not guaranteed success and is going to have to work his butt off for it. It's like some are just acting like a bad SL means he's going to be great because Curry and AD played average. I think the kid is going to be a star and win ROTY but it's possible his game doesn't translate. I don't understand what is so wrong with stating the truth about how he played. I guarantee you if you asked Buddy how he played he would say absolutely terrible. I don't think him or any coach with the Pels when not in front of a camera will just say oh he had great effort and made some nice passes so he looked very good since we all know he could score in college.

[redrum]

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/7/18/12...ights-pelicans
Even Buddy knows he needs to work

[Mythrol]

The issue is saying Hield "sucked" in summer league. He didn't suck overall. His shooting sucked, yes. Everything else about his game definitely didn't "suck".

To try and define a player as "sucking" based purely on one phase of his game is dumb. You could say, "His shooting sucked". What you cannot say is that his overall play in summer league "sucked".

He average 5.4 rebounds a game, 3.8 assists per game, and shot 90% from the Ft line. All while only playing with one person who showed potential for an NBA roster. He was 1st on the team in assists, 3rd on the team in rebounds. He drew the 2nd most fouls on the team and shot it at a higher % than anyone else. 3rd most steals on the team.

He absolutely has stuff to work on. But the only thing that he "sucked" at was shooting. Overall he was the 2nd best player on our team.

[GuardianAngel25]

Lol! So if Buddy did this in the NBA for the whole season we would say he didn't suck? You have to be kidding me. This isn't about who was on the team who what he ranked on the team. It's about his performance. Please just tell me what you would call his season if this is how he performed? It would be a bad season plain and simple. So I guess shooting 32% from the field and 22% from 3 point with 2.8 apg isn't bad because he shot 90% from FT and hustled lol. Hey Jimmer averaged 95% from the FT line with us bring him back! I love how you can only point out the good things he did and using those as a positive while completely dismissing how terrible he was shooting like it doesn't matter. Again this isn't about him being double teamed or the sole focus of the other team. This isn't about him being a star, winning ROTY, or anything else about his future. This isn't about where his stats ranked on our terrible team who "sucked". It's about his performance and it was not good. If we can properly evaluate how everyone else on the team played which was bad outside of Diallo then we can properly criticize Hield. He was simply not good! The things he wasn't bad at he did average or a little above average at best. Outside of rebounding and a FT % nothing was really good. If you need to make your case by saying he hustled, rebounded well, shot a good FT%, and got fouled a lot when it takes 10 fouls before you foul out lol... I'll leave it at that.

[DaPelFromHell]

What am I supposed to say about his performance? I can't say he was good cause then I'd be lying. Buddy was below average. Does that sound better? He had one good game and one good second half of another game. If he didn't play bad, then why did he get so pissed off about his performance? He said that this stretch of games were the worst he has ever shot.

Summer league doesn’t reveal anything new about the players on the floor, but it can amplify existing concerns. I only have two real concerns with Buddy. IMO a concern I have with Buddy, is his ability to create shots against NBA defenses. And in those games, absolutely nothing came easy for Buddy and that was against defenses that won't even come close in comparison to the real thing. Another concern I have is his height and really low release point on his shot. I think he will get a lot of shots blocked, but at least he has a really quick release to help combat that concern.

Now I give him props for his rebounding, play making, and driving the basketball. He did look good somewhat in those areas, but wasn't totally consistent IMO. He's young and it will take some time for him to comfortable in the league. I'm just pointing out my opinions of his game from what we got to witness thus far. I think he will get better hopefully at everything except his height & low release point cause he can't help that. I just want to temper expectations for him, so we are not ready to call him a bust after a couple of bad games when the real sit hits the fan per se!! lol

[GuardianAngel25]

One thing you need to stop is this height stuff. You feel comfortable Reke can play all 3 positions at PG/SG/SF right? Well Reke is .25" taller than Buddy and that's without shoes on. James Harden is just .25" taller as well and is the best scoring SG in the league. Both of those measurements are without shoes so you can't throw in how much his shoes add even though all 3 of them have the same 1.25" added to their height in shoes with Buddy being 6'5 and Reke/Harden being 6'5.25" tall. If you wanna say his release point then that's fine but this height you keep repeating is so false. I can agree with the other points you made and most stuff you post. I just don't know where you have come up with this false statement.

[billfromfinance]

Firstly, the last 3 posts all feel like one single post. odd.

this isn't about him being double teamed or the sole focus of the other team. This isn't about him being a star, winning ROTY, or anything else about his future. This isn't about where his stats ranked on our terrible team who "sucked". It's about his performance and it was not good.

So we should judge his performance, but completely ignore the factors influencing it?

[GuardianAngel25]

Firstly, the last 3 posts all feel like one single post. odd.



So we should judge his performance, but completely ignore the factors influencing it?

How does a team playing him tough on defense make it ok to play bad? So when guys are double teamed in the NBA we should just ignore how they played and evaluate them differently. As I have said there were likely multiple reasons on why he played bad with some even being not getting proper warm up time. That still doesn't take away from the fact that he played bad. So yes we should judge his performance like you do with everyone else. Do we excuse a bad performance from Lebron or Curry because they were getting trapped or doubled? No we don't. I don't understand what is so wrong about saying he played bad lol. This is crazy.

[billfromfinance]

How does a team playing him tough on defense make it ok to play bad? So when guys are double teamed in the NBA we should just ignore how they played and evaluate them differently. As I have said there were likely multiple reasons on why he played bad with some even being not getting proper warm up time. That still doesn't take away from the fact that he played bad. So yes we should judge his performance like you do with everyone else. Do we excuse a bad performance from Lebron or Curry because they were getting trapped or doubled? No we don't. I don't understand what is so wrong about saying he played bad lol. This is crazy.

as Mythrol stated, there is a difference between saying someone shot poorly, and someone flat out sucked. context is important. and there isn't anything "wrong" with saying he played bad, but it seems the majority of people disagree with that judgment.

[DaFranchise80]

Oh crap another Harrison Barnes thread....Oh wait.

[DaFranchise80]

Buddy will be fine. He's just getting acclimated to the NBA game. What I love about him is that he recognizes his play in SL wasn't up to his standard and is willing to work hard to clean up his mistakes. He will be our JJ Redick and that's not a bad role to be in.

[GuardianAngel25]

as Mythrol stated, there is a difference between saying someone shot poorly, and someone flat out sucked. context is important. and there isn't anything "wrong" with saying he played bad, but it seems the majority of people disagree with that judgment.

Ok so we're acting like he did something else great? One of the main things in he NBA is scoring. We drafted Buddy to be a scorer. He didn't consistently create for others like he was CP3 out there, he didn't play defense like Tony Allen, and did everything else average at best. Sure he showed us he can pass and do some other things but that's all he did was prove he was capable of doing other things. That does not mean he did stuff at some very good level because he proved to us he could do what we all hoped. Scoring is the most important thing in basketball. So when you do that very badly and don't have much else to really offset it then yes that is playing bad. I said he sucked once with that being all y'all can say to try and make a point like it was much better than suck? Lol he played bad plain and simple. You're counter to that was are we going to judge his performance but ignore what influenced that? Lol what does that even mean? That we should just judge his performance differently because of being guarded a little tougher and not having the best teammates? That still doesn't change that he played badly. Ok sure those other things influenced his performance but how did he perform? Not very well. I don't see how anyone can honestly say in the sport of basketball shooting 32% from the field and 22% from 3 point while averaging 3.8 apg and 2.8 TOs is in anyway not bad. Because he showed he can create for others at times while being an above average rebounder means he didn't play badly? lol ok... If Buddy had shot 40% from the field and 3 while averaging 20 ppg but Murray had the same #s as Buddy had these same people would be sitting here ripping the hell out of Murray and how Buddy is going to be a super star. For the record I'm not a Murray fan. I'm as big a fan of Buddy as anybody but somehow it will be twisted that I don't like Buddy and I'm rooting for Murray since saying he played bad is not allowed. If Buddy plays the same way posting these #s for the season are we going to say he didn't play bad because he shot 90% from FT and rebounded well? By the way plenty of people have stated he did not play well during the games and after. Just because a few are going against that for the moment does not mean it is what majority believe.. Anyways I give up. Lol Buddy played great! I'll go put the sugar down and take off my Pelicans colored glasses. Must have been away from reality for to long.

[GuardianAngel25]

The problem with our team appears to be . . .they suck.

Hey now that is not true. Some guys shot well from the FT line and hustled!

Wait. Why are people praising Murray again? Because he scored 29 points on 25 shots? Because he sure didn't give them anything else.

I think the biggest difference and what makes this impossible to judge is Murray has other shooters around him. He also has an NBA PG in Mudiay.

Buddy on the other hand has Diallo (who is still very raw and needs to add weight) and some bags of chips. I can pick out plays here and there for a handful of guys but it's been really tough to watch.

Lol perfect example of being hypocritical right here. I'm sure you will come up with some crazy excuse because you will never be wrong. Can't praise Murray for having 29 points but Buddy can be praised for shooting 90% from the FT line and grabbing 5 rebounds? Lol give me a break. Oh and by the way he played with Mudiay for his 1st game only. He had 2 games where he scored 29 points and 1 with 20 points. All 3 of those games were played without Mudiay. The only shooter Murray played with who shot over 25% from 3 was Jimmer at 36%. Hield had a few guys who shot better with Drew shooting 50%.

Again everybody I'm not a Murray fan but a Buddy fan. Just funny seeing false statements to make excuses for somebody while trying to shoot someone else's game down. Hypocritical much?

[Lelicans]

He needs to clean up his handle. Possibly go to the Steph Curry school of ball handling training.

[PELICANSFAN]

Do we excuse a bad performance from Lebron or Curry because they were getting trapped or doubled? No we don't. I don't understand what is so wrong about saying he played bad lol. This is crazy.

It is his first SL as a rookie. He has work to do for sure. However, we certainly can not hold him to the same standard as two of the top superstars in the NBA.

[Eman5805]

I will say this. Summer League still never actually matters in the grand scheme...

However, NEXT season, if Hield has a similar performance. You can slam him with justification. And I might join. Particularly if he had a very poor rookie season.

[Mythrol]

Hey now that is not true. Some guys shot well from the FT line and hustled!



Lol perfect example of being hypocritical right here. I'm sure you will come up with some crazy excuse because you will never be wrong. Can't praise Murray for having 29 points but Buddy can be praised for shooting 90% from the FT line and grabbing 5 rebounds? Lol give me a break. Oh and by the way he played with Mudiay for his 1st game only. He had 2 games where he scored 29 points and 1 with 20 points. All 3 of those games were played without Mudiay. The only shooter Murray played with who shot over 25% from 3 was Jimmer at 36%. Hield had a few guys who shot better with Drew shooting 50%.

Again everybody I'm not a Murray fan but a Buddy fan. Just funny seeing false statements to make excuses for somebody while trying to shoot someone else's game down. Hypocritical much?

29 points.....on 25 shots. How many rebounds did he have? How many assists? How was his defense?

This isn't rocket science. Cut it out.

Rounding up a couple comments made while in the middle of our 2nd game is meaningless. Where are my evaluations of players after the entire summer league? They aren't here because I haven't made them. The only hypocrite is the person that believes only shooting matters and that's the only thing a player should be evaluated on.

[HornetGuru]

Lol when did I say Valentine was amazing? I said it was pretty awesome what he did. He made 2 clutch shots to tie and win the game on buzzer beaters. I pointed out he didn't play good going 2-9 with 5 points. What he did was pretty awesome not his performance. He was bad as well. Buddy's floater was great, his 4 3point makes in a row was great, but his overall performance was flat out bad.

His overall performance or his overall scoring was bad?

[Lelicans]

Surely in SL you just need to see flashes of brilliance from 1st year rookies to be confident going forwards. We definitely saw flashes of brilliance from Buddy. No big cause for concern IMO.

[frankatank109]

Jesus it's Summer League, calm the heck down. If Summer League actually meant anything at all, Marco Bellinelli would be the biggest superstar in the league.