Summer League Pels Thread

[Speakthetruth]

Here is the summer league roster:
Trey Alexander, guard
Tytan Anderon, forward
Will Baker, center
Keion Brooks Jr., forward
Hunter Dickinson, center
Jeremiah Fears, guard
AJ Hoggard, guard
Chase Huner, guard
Yves Missi, center
Micah Peavy, forward
Derik Queen, forward/center
Lester Qui?ones, guard
Antonio Reeves, guard
Christian Shumate, forward
Trey Townsend, forward

Here is the Pelicans' schedule:
Thursday, July 10 – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Saturday, July 12 – vs. Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Tuesday, July 15 – vs. Portland Trail Blazers at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Wednesday, July 16 – vs. Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 p.m. on NBA TV
Game #5 will take place on July 18th, 19th or 20th

[JJackisangry]

What a pass by Queen there

[Lee2000]

Unable to watch game. Would appreciate updates.

[Speakthetruth]

Queen has taken 1 shot



Pels down 8 at half

[Speakthetruth]

I wonder how many times the team will play a Zion,Queen, Missi front court in season

[JJackisangry]

Reeves and Missi looked the best Pelicans by far. Peeve look solid. I thought Fears and Queen struggled massively, but both put up decent stat lines which is a good sign. I think they will have to adjust to the intensity big time, but to be fair a Chris Finch coached team will be a wakeup call for most rookies. We cannot match their intensity.

[Speakthetruth]

Reeves is fighting for an NBA contract

[bradael]

Fears has looked good overall.

Queen was horrible in the first half. Got blocked early by Beringer and then seemed like that affected him the rest of the first half. Made some good passes for assists but played awkwardly and had some weird turnovers where he basically just lost the ball by having the chair pulled on him a couple times.

Finally turned it around in the second half. Made a decent play to get a layup for his first bucket. Ball bounced back into his hands and he held onto it too long and got called for a delay of game tech. Just a complete mental lapse. But after that point he played fairly well and finished with a double double. 13/10/3 assists with those 7 turnovers. 1 for 1 from 3.

Not great defensively but I don't think it was horrific. But clearly if he's not getting the ball, or if he's struggling on the offensive end, then he might look unplayable because he's not an all defensive team type of player. Develop the 3 point shot a bit to mitigate that for games he might struggle getting his shot off depending on the matchup.

Peavy was pretty good overall. Probably will get the most playing time early. But he's also 24 so it's more expected that he'd be better immediately. He doesn't need the ball in his hands like Fears or Queen to be effective, so it will be easier to insert him into a lineup early in the season with Trey, Poole, and Zion.

Missi was pretty good overall as well. Double double (13/14) with only 1 foul. Needs to improve his free throw shooting though. Had a great block on Beringer at the rim that unfortunately was called for a foul on Peavy for grabbing his jersey.

[markid]

I liked it

[bradael]

[bradael]

From the Pelicans youtube channel:

[Freyfamilyreuni]

Not great defensively but I don't think it was horrific. But clearly if he's not getting the ball, or if he's struggling on the offensive end, then he might look unplayable because he's not an all defensive team type of player.

I don’t know, I thought his defense looked horrific. Especially his defense around the basket. He has no burst either offensively or defensively around the basket and looked like the least athletic player out there.

I think he’ll be able to score some in the NBA, just because his offensive game is a bit wonky and probably hard to defend. But the problem is I don’t think Willie’s going to want to play him at all, because he’s so bad defensively.

Hopefully some of yesterday’s performance can be chalked up to a lack of conditioning (but of course that’s its own concern especially considering his teammate). But if he ends up being a bust, then Dumars needs to be run out of town.

[Darkhorse985]

I don?t know, I thought his defense looked horrific. Especially his defense around the basket. He has no burst either offensively or defensively around the basket and looked like the least athletic player out there.

I think he?ll be able to score some in the NBA, just because his offensive game is a bit wonky and probably hard to defend. But the problem is I don?t think Willie?s going to want to play him at all, because he?s so bad defensively.

Hopefully some of yesterday?s performance can be chalked up to a lack of conditioning (but of course that?s its own concern especially considering his teammate). But if he ends up being a bust, then Dumars needs to be run out of town.

Dumars is here for at least the length of his contract. Gayle and trust do not like wasting money and are loyal to ?friends.? Queen showed enough flashes to understand why dumars and weaver liked him. He isn?t a NBA center right now. He is a second team PF. He needs lots of time in the weight room and at least 20 minutes of play time a game as does Fears. Both prospects are boom or bust players. The problem is they won?t contribute to winning this year, and Willie is playing to win. It?s just bad management all the way around. The guy I would love to see develop Queen and Fears as the next head coach is Mike Malone. Lots of parallels to to Jokic/Murray with those 2 players

[JJackisangry]

Queen will need to up his intensity tenfold. He is clearly very skilled for a rookie. On both ends, he will need to be coached out of the lacksadasium bug. If you can get him to work, there is a very good player in there. That will be the issue with him. Fears started great, but after the initial start his lack of refined decision making and ball security really showed how much he needs to work. He will need to be a much better decision maker at the next level.

[Blattman]

On one hand, playing Queen at the 4 is the best way to make him look bad on D. Chasing more mobile players isn't talent optimization. On the other hand if it's done in the idea on working on his ability to switch on PNR D, I think it's good for his development, since it will incentivize him to work on his conditioning.

[bradael]

I don’t know, I thought his defense looked horrific. Especially his defense around the basket. He has no burst either offensively or defensively around the basket and looked like the least athletic player out there.

I think he’ll be able to score some in the NBA, just because his offensive game is a bit wonky and probably hard to defend. But the problem is I don’t think Willie’s going to want to play him at all, because he’s so bad defensively.

Hopefully some of yesterday’s performance can be chalked up to a lack of conditioning (but of course that’s its own concern especially considering his teammate). But if he ends up being a bust, then Dumars needs to be run out of town.

I should clarify that I don't think his defense looked horrific when he tried. But there were definitely a handful of plays that he just stood there, or walked back, etc. It was a knock on him in college. He's acknowledged it in the post game interview Thursday. We'll see if there's any improvement in how his effort appears on Saturday. Maybe if he's more involved with the offense early, he'll be more focused on defense. Some players are just like that for some reason.

I don't think either he or Fears get a lot of playing time this year barring injuries regardless who the coach is, and I say this as someone who pre-draft thought Fears could be seen as the 2nd best player in this draft five years from now. Both need the ball in their hands to be at their best. I'd rather the ball be in the hands of Zion, Trey, or Poole right now for sure. Micah Peavy probably gets more playing time than either of them this year (again, barring injuries to key players), because of his experience, defense, and how he doesn't need the ball in his hands to be successful. Could be similar to how Trey didn't play much as a rookie but Herb Jones got significant playing time immediately.