Summer League 2015

[CardsFan88]

Booker, wow. Looked great in many ways that young guys and even some veterans don't.

Kid has a future.

Driving, shooting, rebounding, making timely passes. Looks like he has a high basketball IQ. He makes a few mistakes here or there, but he looked very poised. Looked like a veteran NBA player on many plays tonight... but he's just 18.

Hopefully he can do this from time to time against full fledged NBA players this season.

 

[95pro]

Dammit I'm here in Vegas but haven't been able to get to the games.

 

[Phrazbit]

Is Mike James the same guy who bounced around the league as a backup PG for hire several years ago?

I was curious about that same thing, but this is a new Mike James.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I DVR'd this game and I am glad I did. Booker's game looks so smooth.

 

[95pro]

Mike who?.....Mike James....

 

[Catlover]

I DVR'd this game and I am glad I did. Booker's game looks so smooth.

He's not 18, no way. Or maybe he's just not human. I didn't know much about him but I'm now officially a Booker fan.

 

[slinslin]

Mike who?.....Mike James....

He looked pretty good in most of the games.

Very athletic, slashes and dunks, rebounds, defends.. He seemed to force plays sometimes and falls for the heat check but overall he looked like the typical 3rd string PG to me.

 

[hcsilla]

Even if he is just a borderline NBA player, value/potential wise Mike James makes more sense than Ronnie Price.

 

[JS22]

Even if he is just a borderline NBA player, value/potential wise Mike James makes more sense than Ronnie Price.

I think Price is here to provide another hard working veteran presence. Might even get some minutes here and there. That's fine. But James looks like he might earn a roster spot. Maybe even battle it out for the 3rd PG spot.

 

[CardsFan88]

Mike James looks like the guy who should be our 3rd PG. He looks like he can run an offense well.

I've been very impressed with his play. Looked better then some NBA starters last night, and has been doing similarly well all summer league... he's a big reason as to why we're in this summer league championship game.

Makes great decisions, can take over offensively if need be, and is a good ballhandler with some electric dribbling. I don't know, but that seems like an awfully large list of talents for a 3rd string PG.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

So the Suns are playing in the Summer League Championship game tonight...Win or lose, who's going to be at the parade and rally?

 

[Mainstreet]

Ronnie Price has a guaranteed contract with the Suns for $1.5 million. How this effects the Suns keeping Mike James on the 15 man roster I'm not quite sure. The Suns have Bledsoe, Knight and Price who can play PG. I like James a lot and it would be nice to keep him.

 

[Mainstreet]

I watched the second half, liked Booker, didn't like Harrellson. He looks shorter than your average 6' 10" NBA player (whatever actual height that may be), he doesn't move well, and he's not a banger. Whiffed on an elementary box-out under the basket, and he had plenty of time to see it coming, so I think that's just bad instincts. Bonner is a good comparison, except Bonner looks more fluid to me.

But yeah, Booker was encouraging.

Is Mike James the same guy who bounced around the league as a backup PG for hire several years ago?

The Suns were a better team with Harrellson in the lineup. When the Suns took him out they missed his inside presence. He is not a real attractive choice for a big man but he fills the lane and can hit the 3 point shot. He had 19 points and 9 rebounds against the Pelicans. I'd rather have him that a player like Earl Barron. If the Suns cannot find a better big man, he is not a bad choice for a 14th or 15th man on the roster.

 

[CardsFan88]

The Suns were a better team with Harrellson in the lineup. When the Suns took him out they missed his inside presence. He is not a real attractive choice for a big man but he fills the lane and can hit the 3 point shot. He had 19 points and 9 rebounds against the Pelicans. I'd rather have him that a player like Earl Barron. If the Suns cannot find a better big man, he is not a bad choice for a 14th or 15th man on the roster.

I agree.

Basically my thought was...him or Alec Brown. Alec Brown has seemed mentally slow and is missing shots badly. At this point in time Harrellson looks far superior imo.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I agree.

Basically my thought was...him or Alec Brown. Alec Brown has seemed mentally slow and is missing shots badly. At this point in time Harrellson looks far superior imo.

Alec Brown has shown nothing at this point. Harrelson is a much better choice. By the way, Josh's wiki is an interesting read. Tough home, ended up living with his AAU coach. Didn't even play basketball until HS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Harrellson

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Well the Spurs draft pick, #30 overall in 2014, Kyle (Whodat?) Anderson was named MVP of the summer league. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13287636/kyle-anderson-san-antonio-spurs-named-summer-league-mvp
Sheesh!

 

[slinslin]

He is not that good

It's a joke he won over Warren to be honest , he is shooting 10% less.

 

[Errntknght]

I think Mike James has as least won himself a spot in training camp with his performance in the 4th Q against the Pels. Mickey McConnell, another PG on the SL team has quietly done well, too. He has made 11 of 15 FGs, 5 of 6 from 3, 16 assists and only 4 TOs. That kind of efficiency is hard to find. I hope they bring him to training camp - if the team is looking for 3pt shooting at the PG spot, he may be a better choice than James.

I have to disagree with Elindholm about Harrellson. He gets up and down the floor well and generally moves just fine. He's a solid rebounder - 5.8 in 18.7 minutes a game is 11.4 per 36 which is about double Markeiffs rate. He boxed out fairly well - he has to since he can't jump. Also tapped some balls out, ala Len. Some good little things, too - 1.3 steals/game, 2.2 assists/game and even some blocks. We have no big that gets anything like 4 assists/36. Believe it or not, he puts the ball on the floor, too. And, of course, he's a threat from behind the arc. I'll be very disappointed if the don't bring him to training camp.

 

[JCSunsfan]

He is not that good

It's a joke he won over Warren to be honest , he is shooting 10% less.

It is interesting the people pay so little attention to shooting percentages.

 

[95pro]

Got tickets to the game. Getting munchies. Headed to the court now.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Had to lose to the Spurs...again. When your owned.. your owned!

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Let's call a spade a spade - that game was horrible, with quite a bit of terrible officiating. Then the Suns played the worst team possible after the first quarter. I am not sure what the plan was, other than "let's play no one who has a chance to win". That was ugly. The guards stunk. Passes at the feet, sloppy passes, turnovers - it is not a wonder that these guys don't play in the NBA.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

I watched a few minutes of the 2nd quarter. Ugly over officiated basketball, and the Suns with very stagnant offense.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns didn't get much from their bench throughout the summer league games which likely contributed to the loss. IMO, the starters had tired legs from playing so many games in a row. However, the same cannot be said of Mike James who had a point to make.


http://www.nba.com/games/20150720/PHXSAS/gameinfo.html

 

[95pro]

Mike James has hops as well all know. He has no court vision. There were moments where he could have hit someone for the open shot. He controlled the game in a negative way tonight. Sometimes he just puts his head down and gets too deep into the paint where he can't make a pass due to him being surrounded by trees.

Very bad officiating. Just overall terrible. Nothing else to say.

I'm not sure why we ran three guards there for a moment. We developed a huge deficient there, I think it was in the third. There was James, McConnel, McNeal all in there with Warren being the biggest guy.

McNeal, McC, and Harrelson aren't nba material even as a third stringer.

Was cool. Got to see Thomas, Steve smith, the starters. Mayweather was in attendance sitting by Danny Green. PJ Tucker was there too. A lot of fun for $20/person plus fees.