Adam Morrison at Summer League.

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 10, 2009 11:18 PM PDT

The Laker's Summer League first game was tonight against the Toronto Raptors.

The "Lakers" won 85 - 84. Not bad for a team whose only actual NBA player was Adam Morrison compared to the Raptors that had Quincy Douby, Roko Ukic, Patrick O'Bryant, and Smush Parker (guy did play with the Lakers for god knows how long *I've tried to erase this from my memories).

Box Score:

Teams 1 2 3 4
T

Lakers 16 15 31 23
85

Raptors 20 20 21 23

84

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2009/games/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1520900003

I also included the stats for players of interest like Adam Morrison and Tonlu. I threw in Ben McCauley because his stats impressed me. He could be a decent backup to Drew. Dude was a rebounding vortex, but also a TO machine. David Monds surprised with a pretty great performance. 17 points in 14 minutes at 70% shooting! Morrison's stats weren't too shabby, Ammo had two blocked shots that I'm digging. And just another nugget, the "Lakers" were perfect from the free throw line. That's something I can live with and something I wish the actual Lakers would do more often.

pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a off def tot ast pf st to bs pts

A.Morrison F 32:47 9-17 1-3 5-5 3 2 5 3 1 0 1 2
24

B. McCauley C 32:02 12-19 0-0 0-0 5 10 15 1 3 0 4 0 24

C.Elonu F 14:20 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 0 1 1 1 0 2

D.Monds F 14:47 7-10 0-0 3-3 1 2 3 0 3 1 0 0 17

	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	pts
A.Morrison	F	32:47	9-17	1-3	5-5	3	2	5	3	1	0	1	2	24
B. McCauley	C	32:02	12-19	0-0	0-0	5	10	15	1	3	0	4	0	24
C.Elonu	F	14:20	0-1	0-0	2-2	0	3	3	0	1	1	1	0	2
D.Monds	F	14:47	7-10	0-0	3-3	1	2	3	0	3	1	0	0	17

Actually, looking at the boxscore, you'd think the Raptors would have won, overall they shot better, had more assists, had less fouls, but I guess the little things like missing a billion free throws (Hye smush parker!), getting outrebounded and turning the ball over was the ending decider. The "Lakers were down by 9 at half time and had a great 3rd quarter to turn things around.

Overall, I'd say it's a good gut-it out win for the "good guys." Especially guys like Ammo who really need this to get themselves back in playing shape. He just might have to work on defending more, I don't know if its because of his knee injury/surgery, he's not moving quick enough.

Here's the recap:

Morrison and McCauley Lead Lakers Past Raptors

LAS VEGAS, July 10 - Adam Morrison and Ben McCauley scored 24 points a piece as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors 85-84 at the 2009 NBA Summer League.

“It was a good win for us, it’s really good to be out on the court playing.” said Lakers Morrison.

A see-saw game that saw 16 lead changes and 12 ties, the game went down to the wire. The teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter, knotting in ties at 66 with just over eight minutes to play, at 75 with just over four minutes to play and at 81 with just under one minute left in regulation.

With the game tied at 14.7 seconds, Los Angeles' Ben McCauley hit a fade-away jumper to give the Lakers an 83-81 edge. Toronto scrambled to foul, with DeMar DeRozen committing his fifth with 7.6 seconds, and Roko Ukic picking one up on Adam Morrison with 4.8 seconds remaining. Morrison hit two clutch free throws coming of the foul to put his team up 85-81. But, the Raptors weren't done - Ukic ran the court and hit a too-little-too-late long-range three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Lakers jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, but Toronto's Quincy Douby snapped the streak and unleashed a 20-8 run that took the team through the end of the quarter. The Raptors led by 4, 20-16, at the end of one.

“It was a good win for us, it’s really good to be out on the court playing.” said Lakers Morrison.

A see-saw game that saw 16 lead changes and 12 ties, the game went down to the wire. The teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter, knotting in ties at 66 with just over eight minutes to play, at 75 with just over four minutes to play and at 81 with just under one minute left in regulation.

With the game tied at 14.7 seconds, Los Angeles' Ben McCauley hit a fade-away jumper to give the Lakers an 83-81 edge. Toronto scrambled to foul, with DeMar DeRozen committing his fifth with 7.6 seconds, and Roko Ukic picking one up on Adam Morrison with 4.8 seconds remaining. Morrison hit two clutch free throws coming of the foul to put his team up 85-81. But, the Raptors weren't done - Ukic ran the court and hit a too-little-too-late long-range three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Lakers jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, but Toronto's Quincy Douby snapped the streak and unleashed a 20-8 run that took the team through the end of the quarter. The Raptors led by 4, 20-16, at the end of one.

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Comments

well...

i seriously think that if adam can get some confidence back in his abilities he will be a pretty decent ball player. and as for the other dude i think the lakers need to bring people from the D league to their camp and offer them cheap contracts. and whats up with sun yue?

by puttsardar98 on Jul 10, 2009 11:28 PM PDT reply actions

Sun Yue is playnig for the Chinese national team this summer.

by Darkemans on Jul 11, 2009 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions

playing. WTB edit button.

by Darkemans on Jul 11, 2009 12:02 AM PDT up reply actions

Mitch told him to play for the summer league but Sun and China insisted he play for the Chinese National Team. This probably means Mitch and the Lakers aren’t picking up his option for next year.

by intuitive on Jul 11, 2009 12:02 AM PDT up reply actions

what an

idiot….he doesnt have a chance at making a team unless he proves himself.

by puttsardar98 on Jul 12, 2009 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a choice

by chrisbeomsuh on Jul 12, 2009 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions

I watched the game, Ammo looked pretty good. Posted in the Credits about him. I guess I’ll just post all the summer league stuff in here from now on.

This is what I posted in the Credits:

Morrison looked good, his jumper was smooth. His defense was a little suspect. He did a pretty good job trying to set up the triangle. Also had a few nice entry passes, passed off to McCauley for the shot to put them up 2, then put the game away with 2 free throws to put the Lakers up by 4.He was always looking for the open teammate, but he isn’t very good in the paint. Missed a few easy lay-ups.

McCauley was the other one that stood out. Besides scoring, he boxed out and was in good position to grab boards. I like his jumper too and is pretty decent in the paint. He has a hook shot he likes to use, but also had some bad passes that resulted in turnovers. Looked better than a lot of the others out there.

The other guys were all kind of quiet, didn’t really make a huge impression on me. While I was watching I was working on some other things so I can’t tell you any specific details about some of the guys. I’ll post the feed (if I can find one) in this post in case anyone wants to watch it tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s game is at 3PM (PST) against Cleveland.

by intuitive on Jul 11, 2009 12:03 AM PDT reply actions

Isn't the NBA charging to be able to watch these games?

by PURPLE AND GOLD FOR LIFE on Jul 11, 2009 8:36 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, but I watch on a different feed.

by intuitive on Jul 11, 2009 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions

i like those different feeds

13 points in 39 seconds. Enough said.

by Duhoh on Jul 11, 2009 7:56 PM PDT up reply actions

a wink wink diff feed?

I should get you involved with a website I moderate.

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 12, 2009 9:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Thank's for the info.

If Ammo can get back to his college form, the lakers might have a hidden diamond in the rough. The lakers seemingly always have a need for a spot up 3 point shooter. Ammo would be a great insurance policy for sasha/walton. not to mention in case of injury.

Keep up the good work Ammo, get your long range shot back, and i guarantee you’ll get off the pine for at least 5 mins.

by robi s on Jul 11, 2009 1:59 AM PDT reply actions

Eerily similar to actual Laker games:

Down at half time, being out shot and overall outplayed, yet still somehow managing the extra details in such a way to pull out a gritty win. I like it.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

by Justin N. on Jul 11, 2009 3:21 AM PDT reply actions

lol that's what I was thinking!!

Lakers 2009 Road to Redemption: TREVOR, DEREK, LAMAR, PAU & KOBE.
Play the game of which Lakers reminds you of: TA - TI, Shannon Brown - Chris Brown, Pau Gasol - Jesus, Machine - Luis Scola/Russell Brand, PJ with mustache and beard - Colonel Sanders.

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 12, 2009 2:24 AM PDT up reply actions

It's funny

I almost went to Vegas this weekend to catch a summer league game or two but I decided against it because the Lakers roster is already so full this year. So obviously there’s hardly any chance these guys are around to start the season (besides Ammo).

But it is good to hear Ammo looked OK. I too hope he can find his shot plus learn some more of the offense and defense.

by lazNirv on Jul 11, 2009 11:36 AM PDT reply actions

Cavs vs Lakers Summer league game is on right now. If anyone wants to watch here’s the link

http://www.atdhe.net/7545/watch-vegas-summer-league-la-lakers-vs-cleveland

by intuitive on Jul 11, 2009 3:07 PM PDT reply actions

+1

I knew you’d end up on atdhe! lol

Their quality sucks though.

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 12, 2009 9:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Not always. Just depends on which stream they put up.

by intuitive on Jul 12, 2009 9:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Still not the best

I know of others.

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 13, 2009 12:57 AM PDT up reply actions

Ammo was kind of quiet. His stroke is so nice. He’d probably be like the next VladRad for our team, if he does actually get minutes next year.
I really like McCauley. He does all the right things and has pretty good court vision for a big man. His passes are on cue for cutters, which is essential especially because the triangle offense focuses on guys moving without the ball. He doesn’t force up shots and looks for the open guy.

There are so many sloppy passes and turnovers in summer league D:

by intuitive on Jul 11, 2009 4:56 PM PDT reply actions

lol summer league is like the glorified college games

yeah, if Ammo can’t get shoot the 3 well and just play within the triangle, have no TOs, he can really help spread the floor.

kinda the great thing about this year was that LO and TA found their 3-point shooting and that really helped us against the Magic (especially considering how many they shot compared to us). I would say almost all the threes we shot were quality threes – either open or within rhythm.

McCauley might get picked up as a backup center … maybe the Lakers can still afford to sign him up as a backup to Drew with DJ, cuz no offense to DJ, but he’s not exactly a great passer and he’s been playing in the triangle now for 2 years …

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 12, 2009 2:24 AM PDT up reply actions

I gotta admit that Lamar actually made some important 3 pointers in the playoffs. But I was so used to him bricking them in the regular season that it always made me cringe when he took them.

by lazNirv on Jul 12, 2009 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions

hahah yea, i definately took several notes to self

never let lamar shoot the 3
never give lamar the ball when the game is on the line with the last shot.

by robi s on Jul 12, 2009 8:55 PM PDT up reply actions

McCauley reminds me of a more refined Josh Powell

by intuitive on Jul 12, 2009 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions

but then again … he is playing in summer league lol

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 12, 2009 11:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Good bye Sasha

If Morrison can shoot consistently that would mean he will replace Sasha. Well, at least he will take his minutes away.

by PURPLE AND GOLD FOR LIFE on Jul 12, 2009 8:30 PM PDT reply actions

hahaha im pretty sure the reason morrison doesnt play is not cuz of his shooting, im pretty sure its cuz he sucks at defense lol, Look at him he is a twig, and he doesnt look like the fastest guy, not a great combo lol.

by robi s on Jul 12, 2009 8:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Sasha isn’t much better than Adam at this point on defense or offense… At least Adam doesn’t pick up bogus fouls like they’re going out of style.

by intuitive on Jul 12, 2009 9:29 PM PDT up reply actions

this is why Morrison was picked #3

against unathletic and untrained scrubs, Adam looks great. I mean, Gonzaga isn’t exactly in a powerhouse conference either. So let’s not forget where he came from. He’s a decent shooter from mid to long range, but he’s never had a great post game, and was never responsible for other team’s best scorer.

And he’ll never take Sasha’s spot, because he doesn’t have the ball handling, passing, or defensive skills that Sasha has, much less foot speed (Sasha can hang with some fast buggers in this league).

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 12, 2009 9:13 PM PDT up reply actions

He’s a decent shooter from mid to long range, but he’s never had a great post game, and was never responsible for other team’s best scorer.

In college he was more than just a “decent” shooter. I’ll give you that his defense was always suspect, but I don’t think it’s a far reach to think that he could take Sasha’s spot. Sasha scored 0 points in the Finals, Adam could have done that too. Sasha doesn’t have very good defensive skills, like him full court pressing all the time.. I mean just … why? That’s not showing a very high basketball IQ.

Adam’s ball handling isn’t all that bad. In summer league he has looked to get the triangle started, throwing the ball into the post and looking for open guys. Sasha doesn’t do that, he looks for his own shot and gets WAY too over eager. He rushes his shot, and because of his decline in minutes this season he tried to jam 20 minutes worth into the time he’s on the court. Taking shots he shouldn’t take, not getting his feet set, trying to do too much, etc. At least Adam knows what he’s capable of and stays within himself.. With Sasha, especially this season, I can’t say that about him.

Sasha needs to use this off season to get mentally stronger..

by intuitive on Jul 12, 2009 9:34 PM PDT up reply actions

not saying sasha is a defensive stopper or anything, but you gotta give him some credit, he does an acceptable job on defense. Sure he could definately do well to stop getting easy fouls, but his fouls are a result of him trying TOOO HARD. I read an article about how he tries to fit 30 mins of gametime energy into the 10 mins he gets, hence all the ful court pressing at random times.

I’ve noticed Sasha does a GREAT job of annoying the crap out of whoever he is defending, I read somewhere that he was voted the most annoying/hated laker. Similar to the way we used to hate VLade Divac on the kings. It’s not like whoever Sasha is guarding goes off for points, Sasha just needs some discipline.

Has anyone watched his Behind the bigs special on FSN? His story is too inspiring for me to hate on him. Sure he sucks, but hes in the NBA, so he can’t be that bad!

by robi s on Jul 12, 2009 9:46 PM PDT up reply actions

not saying sasha is a defensive stopper or anything, but you gotta give him some credit, he does an acceptable job on defense

No, I won’t give him credit because he’s not good on defense. Why give him credit for something he’s not good at? I don’t think picking up quick fouls and putting the team in the penalty quickly is something that he should get credit for.. Nor is his full court pressing. He tries I’ll give him credit for that, but his production this season was lackluster.

I read an article about how he tries to fit 30 mins of gametime energy into the 10 mins he gets, hence all the ful court pressing at random times.

Well I don’t think he deserves a pass for that. The coaching staff told him to stop pressing and he continued to do so. He shouldn’t be trying to fit 30 minutes into 10 minutes.. That just shows me he doesn’t fully understand what’s being asked of him…

I’ve noticed Sasha does a GREAT job of annoying the crap out of whoever he is defending, I read somewhere that he was voted the most annoying/hated laker

Annoying the crap out of the opposing player isn’t something all that great. I’m sure if Morrison was asked to do so, he could do it too. Heck anyone can do that. Talk a little trash and I’m sure the opposing defender would get annoyed.. The thing is Sasha trying to be “pesky” is him full court pressing and picking up dumb fouls by reaching in, excessive body contact, etc. So him being pesky is more detrimental to his game and the team rather than the opposition.

Has anyone watched his Behind the bigs special on FSN? His story is too inspiring for me to hate on him.

No I haven’t watched it, but I’m sure a lot of guys have an “inspiring” story to tell. Whether or not Sasha has an inspiring story it doesn’t change the fact that he isn’t take directions well. He hasn’t shown signs that he’s learning from the coaching staff or mentally strong enough to play HIS game. For the duration of the whole season he continued to try to do too much in too little minutes.

Sure he sucks, but hes in the NBA, so he can’t be that bad!

Smush Parker was in the NBA at one point in time too… And even if he “cant be that bad” for the season he was… well pretty bad.

by intuitive on Jul 12, 2009 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions

No one's "inspiring" story can possibly DJ's.

His story is heartbreaking, scary and traumatic. It’s truly one of those “holy crap” type of stories that you wish wasn’t true, but is.

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 12, 2009 11:52 PM PDT up reply actions

I meant, no one's story can possibly TOP DJ's.

lol fail on the missing word

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 12, 2009 11:53 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeap, DJ’s a nice guy

by intuitive on Jul 13, 2009 1:34 AM PDT up reply actions

then

do you hate Kobe’s defense too? Because unless he sets his mind to it (ie, FOCUSES), he plainly sucks at team defense. Sasha is the same way. He’s decent when he’s focused, but he makes mistakes, like fouls, when unfocused.

The major issue here with Sasha is purely mental. The kid has talent. He just needs to harness it.

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 13, 2009 12:43 AM PDT up reply actions

lol sucks might be harsh term there

i’d say he likes to roam too much … but his team defense doesn’t suck … he just likes roaming and not respecting the player he’s supposed to guard (unless it’s someone elite like LBJ).

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 13, 2009 1:04 AM PDT up reply actions

it's the easiest similarity to point out

because we all focus on Kobe ourselves, so it’s an easy trait on a recognizable player.

But the point was, does Sasha just have no talent at defense, or is he unfocused. I say he’s unfocused. I feel like intuitive believes he’s just horrible (correct me if I’m wrong in that regard).

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 13, 2009 1:14 AM PDT up reply actions

Re: Sasha

Sorry to jump in between your convo and intuitive’s, but imo, I feel like Sasha’s trying too hard to impress the coaches or bother the player and when he does that, he doesn’t play smart and tends to make stupid foul decisions.

This year, it was just sasha’s bad year. Last year, I would have argued that Sasha was defensively decent, the guy did close out for 4th quarters. But this year, he just fell in a black hole. He was a liability defensively and offensively. He just made poor decisions all around.

I’m not sure what happened, but I’m guessing it’s that the limited playing time (losing minutes to TA) and shooting terribly just affected him negatively. So when he was on court, he kept trying to pull himself out of his funk but that led to trying too hard which led to stupid decisions and a downhill spiral.

Hopefully, he’ll bounce back if his bum ankle doesn’t keep him out of preseason.

by PeanutButterSpread on Jul 13, 2009 1:32 AM PDT up reply actions

I think he’s pretty bad. When Kobe puts his mind to defending Kobe can be a lock down defender… The Olympics come to mind. Kobe didn’t have to focus on scoring. Defense was his priority, scoring was an after thought.

Sasha is bad at defense, but I can overlook his horrid defense IF he knew what his limits were. Sasha, all too often, looks to do more than he’s capable of. Sasha isn’t unfocused I’d say quite the contrary actually. Sasha is too focused, almost to a fault. He’s all too aware of what he’s doing, how many minutes he’s getting, etc when instead he should be focusing on doing the little things. With Sasha minutes just matter too much, he’s all too aware of where he’s at. Mentally he’s just all over the place. I don’t think he really understands why he had such a bad year when the explanation is pretty simple. Sasha tried to do more than he was capable of, and tried to fit say 30 minutes of play into the limited minutes he was getting. Didn’t benefit his play or his production, and it definitely didn’t benefit the team.

by intuitive on Jul 13, 2009 1:38 AM PDT up reply actions

don't revisionist this

I know you watched Sasha for a long time. Put aside your dislike for a moment, and think clearly of the times when he’s not upsetting you, but is doing the right thing. I know it’s hard, because I can’t think of a single moment when Vladamir Radmanovic, Smush Parker, or shudder Kwame Brown did anything right. But they did have their moments.

Sasha is very keen on the offensive workings of the triangle. I’ve seen him make brilliant passes in the flow of the triangle for the past 3 years now. He’s almost a good of a passer as Walton, maybe a better passer than Farmar. What you remember mostly however is his horrid shot moments. Most of those rushed shots came at times when Sasha was enjoying his limited time oncourt, so we can infer that this was because he was “rushing 20-30 minutes into 4 minutes”.

And then on the Morrison bit. I can’t find actual shot charts on Morrison, but I’m fairly sure he had no post game. I’ll adjust my statement and say he was a “great” shooter, but on the perimeter, and facing essentially Division II quality talent for 2/3rds of the season. Also, on his passing, I haven’t seen the games, just the box score, but as a comparison, Adam’s best assists per game was his second season, averaging only 2.8 per game. His final season, he actually got worse, dishing out only 1.8 per game (ick).

"The problem actually is that PER is a extra-long, double high wagon load of horse crap." - timbo (7/3/09)

by tandur on Jul 13, 2009 12:56 AM PDT up reply actions

In the triangle “assists” aren’t essential, it’s about making the right play, making the right cut etc.

Even if I put aside all the things Sasha did wrong (which is a lot) I don’t think it changes my stance. That’s my point. When you look at the 2009 season, Sasha did more bad things than he did good. Sasha may have had a “spectacular pass” but that doesn’t mean he’s a terrific passer. When evaluating players, personally I think, you should have to look at their whole body of work instead of the “glimpses” players have shown. When guys focus only on the “glimpses” or the “one outstanding play” that’s when guys get overpaid or over rated. You have to look more so at ALL the things he did this season, and go from there.

When I look at all the things Sasha did this season, I just don’t feel as if he played all that well. He didn’t show that he was a good defender. He didn’t show he was a spectacular passer (even if he did have some great passes it doesn’t mean he’s a great passer), he didn’t show much of anything to lead me to believe that he was any of these things.

by intuitive on Jul 13, 2009 1:46 AM PDT up reply actions

I think we all agree Sasha played terrible this year. And Yea i agree, he sucked on both ends of the floor this year. But like tandur, im definately getting the feeling you (intuitive)are super biased against sasha which is okay, as a fan you’re allowed to have your opinions.

If last year was the only year he played I wouldnt be defending him, but the fact remains that Sasha had a great 08 season, hence his 5 million contract. The Lakers arent idiots, they obviously saw something good in Sasha. I firmly believe if it wasnt for sasha in 08, in the same situation, we would have been embarrased in the playoffs. The guy plays with emotion, perhaps a little too much emotion, but I for one definately think the NBA could use more of it. It gets me pumped, and you can tell the lakers love it when the MACHINE is being the machine.

I definately buy sasha’s argument that its harder to play well in a reduced role, which we can all agree was alot smaller then in 08. He was injured to start 09, and when he came back, his role had already been reduced. Thats probably why he was overzealous on defense this year, since he didnt quite understand his role. The same thing essentially happened to Amare, Shaq came, took over the offense, and then Amares defense went down.

We also gotta remember the HUGE difference in who Sasha was on the court with this year. Instead of fish, kobe, pau, and lo (our 4 best players) passing him the ball, he was getting the ball from farmar, luke, lo, bynum. None of those guys command the double team, nor can they really make their own shot all that well. Theres a big difference between kobe smoothly kicking the ball out to a wide open sasha in the corner, than a frantic farmar passing to sasha after farmer has passed the ball back and forth with luke for the first 19 seconds. I think it would be naive to think that Sasha’s newfound offensive frustrations arent being transferred over to the defensive end. Unfortunatley, Artest is a classic example of this. As we saw during the playoffs, when his offense isnt going he starts complaining, and starts doing stupid sh*t on defense.

by robi s on Jul 13, 2009 4:44 AM PDT up reply actions

When you say he didn’t understand his role, I let him off the hook earlier on in the season…. but it puzzles me that he went the WHOLE regular season without knowing his role. It’s his job as a player to TRY and understand what is being asked of him. Instead it seemed like Sasha used the excuse of not understanding his role as an explanation for his poor performance. Excuses aren’t answers and they don’t fix much of anything hence Sasha’s overall poor performance for the whole regular season and playoffs. It just seems to me like you (and Sasha too) are making excuses for why he didn’t have a great year.. I don’t think Sasha is even comparable to Amar’e’s situation nor is he comparable to the way Artest plays. Sasha is not like either of them.

Maybe we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

by intuitive on Jul 13, 2009 1:38 PM PDT up reply actions

lol fair enough…. and im sure you’re hoping sasha proves you wrong as much as i do : )

by robi s on Jul 13, 2009 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions

he needs to grow up, not a team player all the time

And yes if you ever watched Adam when he came into game he never went away from offensive structure. Brown was also that way but he is just more athletic than most on the bench.

Paul D. Kelley

by so.cal.native1952 on Jul 13, 2009 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions