Summer League Las Vegas 2016, July 8th -18th
- Thread starter andjel
- Start date
The official roster is still not released but a few players were at our minicamp.
James Ham @James_Ham
Jarrod Uthoff, Duje Dukan, Ricky Ledo, Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Cousins, Georgios Papagiannis, Arturas Gudaitis are all on the court for Sac.
James Ham @James_Ham 1 Std.Vor 1 Stunde
Luka Mitrovic, Elgin Cook, Josh Hagins, Retin Obasohan, Dom Woodson, Derrick Jones, Adam Woodbury were also in attendance.
Cousins / Haggins / Obasohan
Richardson / Ledo
Mitrovic / Cook / Jones
Wcs / Skal / Uthoff / Dukan
Papagiannis / Guidaitis
James Ham @James_Ham
Jarrod Uthoff, Duje Dukan, Ricky Ledo, Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Cousins, Georgios Papagiannis, Arturas Gudaitis are all on the court for Sac.
James Ham @James_Ham 1 Std.Vor 1 Stunde
Luka Mitrovic, Elgin Cook, Josh Hagins, Retin Obasohan, Dom Woodson, Derrick Jones, Adam Woodbury were also in attendance.
Cousins / Haggins / Obasohan
Richardson / Ledo
Mitrovic / Cook / Jones
Wcs / Skal / Uthoff / Dukan
Papagiannis / Guidaitis
http://www.nba.com/kings/blog/building-tough-defensive-minded-unit
http://www.csnbayarea.com/kings/you...rger-minicamp?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo&yptr=yahoo
Willie Cauley-Stein
Skal Labissiere
Isaiah Cousins
Arturas Gudaitis
Luka Mitrovic
Jarrod Uthoff
Elgin Cook
Josh Hagins
Retin Obasohan
Derrick Jones
Adam Woodbury
Ricky Ledo
Dom Woodson
Both Malachi Richardson and Georgios Papagiannis are expected to be added. Duje Dukan, who was waived earlier Monday, is still a possibility to join the roster as well.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/kings/you...rger-minicamp?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo&yptr=yahoo
Willie Cauley-Stein
Skal Labissiere
Isaiah Cousins
Arturas Gudaitis
Luka Mitrovic
Jarrod Uthoff
Elgin Cook
Josh Hagins
Retin Obasohan
Derrick Jones
Adam Woodbury
Ricky Ledo
Dom Woodson
Both Malachi Richardson and Georgios Papagiannis are expected to be added. Duje Dukan, who was waived earlier Monday, is still a possibility to join the roster as well.
NBA.com shows that all games will be televised either by ESPN or NBAtv.
http://www.nba.com/2016/news/06/21/summer-league-schedule-official-release/index.html
http://www.nba.com/2016/news/06/21/summer-league-schedule-official-release/index.html
Been watching some more Skal footage and excited to see him after he's had a few months to work on his conditioning and strength in prep for the draft. The tool set for him to be a damn good player is all there; the range, the glimpses of outstanding footwork, the athletic ability and rim protection possibilities. Other college ball watcher can correct me on this, but I felt like a majority of his problems came from him being to weak to finish off his offensive moves or hang in the post against bigger college bigs and a lack of focus/awareness on both ends of the court. Both of which you can correct under NBA conditioning/coaching if you put the time in.
But if you squint hard enough, it's easy to see why he was the projected the #1 pick before the college season started. I'm not saying it's a good one, or likely at all, but he legitimately has Anthony Davis as his ceiling. The floor is also Anthony Randolph 2.0, but that's certainly a worthwhile risk at pick 28
But if you squint hard enough, it's easy to see why he was the projected the #1 pick before the college season started. I'm not saying it's a good one, or likely at all, but he legitimately has Anthony Davis as his ceiling. The floor is also Anthony Randolph 2.0, but that's certainly a worthwhile risk at pick 28
Yeah, Skal would be a bad #8 pick due to many concerns, but at #28? It was almost a must, since he has a good starter potential, much higher than almost everyone still available at that point.
Skal is a bit small in both hips and chest, so he's going to be limited in terms of strength his whole career, but he might just be skilled enough to overcome that.
Skal is a bit small in both hips and chest, so he's going to be limited in terms of strength his whole career, but he might just be skilled enough to overcome that.
I think Skal, for all his foibles at UK, is the more skilled player right now. He's probably always going to be the better ball handler and passer, most likely the better jump shooter. Skal has a couple of inches on Chriss as well.
Chriss is going to be the far stronger, more athletic player. He'll be able to crash the boards harder (note: he did NOT crash the boards at UW for some reason) and will probably be much better at getting to the hole in traffic. But skill wise he will probably always be a step behind.
Chriss is going to be the far stronger, more athletic player. He'll be able to crash the boards harder (note: he did NOT crash the boards at UW for some reason) and will probably be much better at getting to the hole in traffic. But skill wise he will probably always be a step behind.
Capt hit on most of the points, but the other big difference is that Skal just looked lost and/or disinterested so often in his one year in Kentucky. Chriss is a project but you didn't question his passion for the game like many did with Labissiere.
The hope with both guys is that they become stretch 4's who can also protect the basket. With Skal, he'll be likely be more of a finesse/skilled player but the hope with Chriss is that he can be an Amare Stoudamire/Antonio McDyess type player too in that he can be explosive in attacking the basket with his length and athleticism.
Both guys have a ways to go. For Skal, it's really going to be about drive and improving his body.
I don't think it's a stretch to say he can become a Channing Frye type player who also blocks shots. Can he become more? Sure. Could he be a complete bust? Sure. It's going to depend on what's between his ears.
The hope with both guys is that they become stretch 4's who can also protect the basket. With Skal, he'll be likely be more of a finesse/skilled player but the hope with Chriss is that he can be an Amare Stoudamire/Antonio McDyess type player too in that he can be explosive in attacking the basket with his length and athleticism.
Both guys have a ways to go. For Skal, it's really going to be about drive and improving his body.
I don't think it's a stretch to say he can become a Channing Frye type player who also blocks shots. Can he become more? Sure. Could he be a complete bust? Sure. It's going to depend on what's between his ears.
So "foibles" wasn't a strong enough word for you? 
The standard excuse seems to be that Cal insisted on playing him as a back to the basket center when he is definitively a face-up forward. I think we have to kind of hope that was a major part of the issue.
For what it's worth, after seeing about five UK games over the first two months of the season, I had completely written Skal off in disgust. My notes were full of brutally vicious comments about how badly he was going to bust. Then starting in maybe February I started to see this spark. He started looking like an actual basketball player and he was showing a bit of what he could do. I still would have hated him in the lottery but at #28 I have to admit he probably was worth taking the chance (though I will also admit to HATING the pick when we made it.)
The standard excuse seems to be that Cal insisted on playing him as a back to the basket center when he is definitively a face-up forward. I think we have to kind of hope that was a major part of the issue.
For what it's worth, after seeing about five UK games over the first two months of the season, I had completely written Skal off in disgust. My notes were full of brutally vicious comments about how badly he was going to bust. Then starting in maybe February I started to see this spark. He started looking like an actual basketball player and he was showing a bit of what he could do. I still would have hated him in the lottery but at #28 I have to admit he probably was worth taking the chance (though I will also admit to HATING the pick when we made it.)
The other thing we need to decipher is if his "lost/disinterested" is him actually taking plays off, or just a lack of organized basketball experience and awareness. IIRC, Embiid had similar lapses, but because he was so physically dominant over everyone, that got pushed under the rug as a major issue.
Like Capt I didn't like the pick as I wanted Murray with this pick initially, but looking into Skal more, the upside we can get with him is fantastic value. If he does end up hitting, he's a guy who profiles well with our future bigs.
Like Capt I didn't like the pick as I wanted Murray with this pick initially, but looking into Skal more, the upside we can get with him is fantastic value. If he does end up hitting, he's a guy who profiles well with our future bigs.
Last edited:
So "foibles" wasn't a strong enough word for you?
The standard excuse seems to be that Cal insisted on playing him as a back to the basket center when he is definitively a face-up forward. I think we have to kind of hope that was a major part of the issue.
For what it's worth, after seeing about five UK games over the first two months of the season, I had completely written Skal off in disgust. My notes were full of brutally vicious comments about how badly he was going to bust. Then starting in maybe February I started to see this spark. He started looking like an actual basketball player and he was showing a bit of what he could do. I still would have hated him in the lottery but at #28 I have to admit he probably was worth taking the chance (though I will also admit to HATING the pick when we made it.)
The standard excuse seems to be that Cal insisted on playing him as a back to the basket center when he is definitively a face-up forward. I think we have to kind of hope that was a major part of the issue.
For what it's worth, after seeing about five UK games over the first two months of the season, I had completely written Skal off in disgust. My notes were full of brutally vicious comments about how badly he was going to bust. Then starting in maybe February I started to see this spark. He started looking like an actual basketball player and he was showing a bit of what he could do. I still would have hated him in the lottery but at #28 I have to admit he probably was worth taking the chance (though I will also admit to HATING the pick when we made it.)
And Richardson and Labissiere were literally two of my least favorite prospects in the whole draft.
Skal spent most of the season looking like he had either no idea how to play basketball or that he had no desire to. And Malachi showed no explosiveness and was a horribly inefficient scorer who showed bad decision making with all the poor shots he took.
I was actually least upset by the Skal pick. At #28
I was okay with that gamble. He'll likely take Moreland's place as the 15th man, spend most of his time in Reno and at worst be a cheap end of the bench player. But he still has the potential to be more.
Richardson bothered me a lot as there were a number of guys I liked more that went just before and especially just after this pick. But after thinking (rationalizing?) about it for a while, if his size and length eventually make him a good defender and Joerger can get him to be a catch-and-shoot guy (where he's much better) rather than a worse shooting Nick Young then he could be a good/useful player.
With Big George it's wait and see and he's the player I want to watch most in SL. And if Koufos can be dealt for a similar talent that better fits a need (read: point guard) then I understand the move.
We'll see.
Skal reminds me a little bit of Drummond. Not in game. But in people being a bit foolish writing a hugely talented big man off because he had a single bad college season. You see a talented 7 footer, you should be looking for excuses to take him, not not take him.
Now Skal concerns me more than Drummond did -- with Drummond people were ignoring he played for a terrible big man system, while Skal bombed at the same Big Man U that gave us our current starting frontcourt. And he bombed in a very soft way, which is always alarming. But that said, he's another highly mobile 7 footer to go with WCS, another major shotblocking threat, and you can watch shooting drills with him just splashing in shot after shot after shot like a bigger Durant. Just so so easy.
Last time we made a pick like that was when Whiteside slid into the 2nd round for us the year we drafted Cuz. Let's hope it doesn't take Skal 5 years and 3 continents to figure it out as well.
Now Skal concerns me more than Drummond did -- with Drummond people were ignoring he played for a terrible big man system, while Skal bombed at the same Big Man U that gave us our current starting frontcourt. And he bombed in a very soft way, which is always alarming. But that said, he's another highly mobile 7 footer to go with WCS, another major shotblocking threat, and you can watch shooting drills with him just splashing in shot after shot after shot like a bigger Durant. Just so so easy.
Last time we made a pick like that was when Whiteside slid into the 2nd round for us the year we drafted Cuz. Let's hope it doesn't take Skal 5 years and 3 continents to figure it out as well.
The difference is that with Drummond he always looked like he could play. The issue was more that he'd seemingly take plays off and didn't always jump off the screen the way you'd expect a hulking 7 footer with his athleticism to. It led to concerns that he was lazy and didn't play hard or want to work on his game. But I don't think many people thought he'd bust. Just that there was a good chance that he became just another serviceable big man when he had the talent to be much more. With Labissiere he looked like he didn't even belong on the court at times. Later in the season it looked like the light was starting to come on for him but the damage had been done at that point.
Last time we made a pick like that was when Whiteside slid into the 2nd round for us the year we drafted Cuz. Let's hope it doesn't take Skal 5 years and 3 continents to figure it out as well.[/quote]
Whiteside played at a significantly lower level of competition but he put up considerably better stats than Skal. Per 40 he averaged just over 20 points, 13.5 rebounds and a ridiculous 8.4 blocks. And he did it without fouling, an impressive thing for a defensive big. He was a natural shotblocker and defensive anchor. But he also just seemed like a space cadet. He showed up for combine testing in flip flops, didn't show any interest in improving his game but thought he was comparable to Olajuwon. He wasn't just immature - he was naive to an extreme. I loved that the Kings drafted him. His physical tools were fantastic. He just needed to grow up and learn to focus on his craft. That's apparently what took 5 years and numerous leagues for him to get.
But I understand where you're coming from. Skal looked much better than Thon Maker who inexplicably went 10th. If he'd been able to play overseas for a season like Mudiay or Jennings then Labissiere might have gone top 10 based on his HS tape and his physical tools. He's a risk worth taking.
Last time we made a pick like that was when Whiteside slid into the 2nd round for us the year we drafted Cuz. Let's hope it doesn't take Skal 5 years and 3 continents to figure it out as well.[/quote]
Whiteside played at a significantly lower level of competition but he put up considerably better stats than Skal. Per 40 he averaged just over 20 points, 13.5 rebounds and a ridiculous 8.4 blocks. And he did it without fouling, an impressive thing for a defensive big. He was a natural shotblocker and defensive anchor. But he also just seemed like a space cadet. He showed up for combine testing in flip flops, didn't show any interest in improving his game but thought he was comparable to Olajuwon. He wasn't just immature - he was naive to an extreme. I loved that the Kings drafted him. His physical tools were fantastic. He just needed to grow up and learn to focus on his craft. That's apparently what took 5 years and numerous leagues for him to get.
But I understand where you're coming from. Skal looked much better than Thon Maker who inexplicably went 10th. If he'd been able to play overseas for a season like Mudiay or Jennings then Labissiere might have gone top 10 based on his HS tape and his physical tools. He's a risk worth taking.
A group of us will be attending Summer League for the 4th straight year. Most of us will be at Friday's and Sunday's game with some at Monday's.
If you are attending during those games feel free to sit and cheer loudly with us in support of our Kings.
Keep in mind the general seats are first come, first serve so plan accordingly.
If you are attending during those games feel free to sit and cheer loudly with us in support of our Kings.
Keep in mind the general seats are first come, first serve so plan accordingly.
