Brunson/Clarkson-Kolek
Mikal/Hart-McCullar
OG-Dadiet/Diawara
Mitch/Towns-Hukporti

Looks like Beauchamp had another strong game. Saw him drive and dish twice for dunks. Kolek looks like he is getting his shot going from the boxscore. Guess it’s the recap again.

Edit: Forgot the second drive and dish was a replay of the first because the feed was screwy. Still appears that he had a great game.

martin wrote:

Thanks.

Its SL but Beauchamp looks like a rotation player. Looking at the box score again, Kolek was 0-6 from 3, but his footwork inside the paint looks like its improving. Baba had some nice takes to the rim as well.

VDesai wrote:Kolek showed off what looked like a bag at the end of the game

Dime bag?

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Knicks summer league: Watching Tyler Kolek, Pacôme Dadiet and more
James L. Edwards III

Your quick fix of Knicks basketball has come and gone, with New York about to finish up summer league play in Las Vegas on Saturday.

It’s been a lackluster viewing experience, as the Knicks, who Vegas handed the lowest odds to win the championship, with a 1-3 record (to their credit, they did fight and come back from a halftime double-digit deficit in their game against Indiana). Summer league standings mean nothing, though. Tell me the last five summer league champions. I’ll wait …

Also, if we’re being honest, individual performances don’t tend to mean too much at the annual event. However, it’s officially the dog days of summer and there’s nothing else to talk about. So, let’s overanalyze!

Here is what I liked and didn’t like from the five Knicks players I targeted going into summer league.

Tyler Kolek

What I liked: Glimpses of off-the-dribble shooting.

Kolek, like many of his teammates during the Knicks’ time in Las Vegas, couldn’t buy a bucket. Kolek converted on just 5-of-24 shots from the field and went 0 for 11 from 3 in New York’s first two games combined. However, in New York’s lone win against Brooklyn, he had one of the better moments in the game, as the second-year guard scored 23 points through the first two quarters.

What stood out to me most during that performance was watching Kolek make 3s off the dribbles. That’s just not something he showed much of in his limited playing time as a rookie, and something I questioned him doing successfully coming out of Marquette. He also had a nasty behind-the-back crossover late in the final game against Indiana.

While it wasn’t consistent, to see Kolek get his shot off the dribble here and there was a good sight to see, despite his overall shooting numbers in Las Vegas being disappointing.

What I didn’t like: The high turnovers.

In defense of Kolek, I have to imagine it’s easy to have some jitters when you’re a second-round pick who didn’t play much as a rookie and your newly-hired head coach is sitting a few feet away, taking notes. Kolek wasn’t playing with any shooters, and anyone who was a real threat to a defense off the ball. That’s a tough environment for any point guard, let alone a young one.

With that said, Kolek had nine turnovers through his first two games and several were due to passing behind his teammate or just being sloppy with the ball. I thought he’d go into summer league and, at the very least, be able to control the game and do point-guard things successfully. That didn’t really happen outside of the win against Brooklyn. I’m not too concerned about the turnovers going forward, but Kolek did struggle in a lot of areas in Las Vegas.

Again, no sweeping conclusions need to be made about his future based on four summer league games, but Kolek needs to at least make sure he’s taking care of the ball while his jump shot and defense are still a work in progress. It’s easier for him to do that playing alongside the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and others.

Pacôme Dadiet

What I liked: Finished at the rim in different ways.

Unlike Kolek, who played in the first four of New York’s summer league games, Dadiet’s experience was cut short due to a left foot sprain suffered late in Game 2. Dadiet was wearing a walking boot after the injury.

In the Game 1 loss to Detroit, the 19-year-old wing finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, many of which came in the open floor. Summer league head coach Jordan Brink talked about wanting to get Dadiet the ball in transition and allowing him to have opportunities downhill. In those instances, Dadiet finished both through contact and with finesse. He looked comfortable in the open court and was able to find success in these instances.

Brink said he and the organization want to see Dadiet grow off the ball, becoming more of a cutter and more assertive in transition. We saw some flashes of that, but not a large enough sample size to dissect how he is progressing there.

What I didn’t like: Poor 3-point shooting.

For Dadiet to become a rotation player for the Knicks, he has to be able to knock down the 3-ball. He’s got a good shooting stroke that just hasn’t translated at the NBA or G League level yet. In Las Vegas, Dadiet was 2 for 8 from distance and, in Game 2, struggled to get a shot to fall from anywhere on the floor. I think we’ll see Dadiet’s shooting show improvement in the upcoming G League season, assuming he spends some time down there. The mechanics of his shot look good. He’s just got to start making his takes more consistently.

Ariel Hukporti

What I liked: How he responded to a poor first game.

Hukporti was nearly invisible in New York’s loss to Detroit. I went in wanting to see him make his presence felt in each game he played, and Hukporti did not do that out of the gate. Five rebounds are far too few for him in that setting. Also, I don’t think he made anyone think twice about attacking the cup.

In Game 2, that changed. Hukporti grabbed 13 rebounds and had three blocks, including two very early in the game. That was more of what I wanted to see.

What I didn’t like: Decisions in the pick-and-roll.

This is nitpicking, but I thought when Hukporti, who only played in three of the four games, received the ball after rolling, he was a little too slow to make decisions or hesitated to find the open man. Being able to pass as a big man is a great tool to have in today’s game, and I watched summer league thinking he still has a way to go in that department.

Kevin McCullar

What I liked: Aggressiveness.

McCullar, too, got injured and only played in two games, but he made sure to cram four games’ worth of stuff into the limited time he had in Las Vegas. McCullar’s trip was highlighted by a 30-point performance in Game 2 in which he shot 10-of-15 from the field. He was getting to the basket in both the half court, with the ball and without it, and in transition. He had no issue finishing over or around defenders. McCullar was just 5-of-14 from the floor in the first game, and while it was a bumpy ride at times, I like that he was getting after it.

He also fouled a lot, which I actually kind of liked. Players get 10 fouls in summer league and McCullar used a lot of them up to try and change the tone for New York when both Detroit and Boston were scoring at will throughout those contests — he also just fouled a lot.

What I didn’t like: The 3-point shooting.

McCullar might have done enough to earn himself another two-way spot with the Knicks (not that summer league was the end-all-be-all), but it’s hard to see how he comes close to cracking the rotation without any signs he can become a competent 3-point shooter sooner rather than later. McCullar struggled with the deep ball in college, last year in the G League and only made two of his 10 3s in two games in Las Vegas this week. He just won’t have the ball in his hands enough with the Knicks to get by without being able to make open 3s.

I do think McCullar earned himself a further evaluation with the organization as he prepares to finish up his first healthy summer in quite some time.

Mohamed Diawara

What I liked: The physical tools.

The second-round pick has a lot of work to do, but his size and motor popped in his three games at summer league. Also, in talking to him after the second game, I walked away impressed by how he sees and talks about the game. Self-aware players tend to figure something out eventually, assuming they have the talent to match the brains.

Diawara has long arms and used his frame to get past some defenders off the dribble, despite being a bit stiff when putting the ball on the ground. I thought he made some good decisions here and there while mapping the floor. He wasn’t afraid to rebound. He competed on every possession. Diawara pushed the ball in transition and even Brink used him to initiate the offense, which I thought was a nice wrinkle.

Is Diawara worth a two-way spot this year? I could go either way. Given his physical tools, it might be worth keeping him around the organization as opposed to sending him back overseas. Allowing Diawara to work on his skills in an NBA environment and be able to have trial and error against fringe NBA players might be good for his development. Also, I’m a firm believer in giving a two-way spot to a teenager over a 24-or-25-year-old player who has been around the block a little bit.

What I didn’t like: His skills are very raw.

I don’t think it’s fair to say “I didn’t like” this about Diawara, but I’ve got a theme to this column and I’m sticking to it. Being active is a skill. Competing is a skill. I don’t want to slight him and say he doesn’t have skills. I’m just not sure he has a traditional basketball skill — dribble, pass or shoot — that he can hang his hat on right now as the rest of his game develops. I’m somewhat intrigued by Diawara because of the athleticism and the fact he appears to be willing to work and ask questions. I’m just not sure if the best chance for him to reach his potential is in the G League or back overseas.

Either way, Diawara has a ways to go from a skills perspective if he’s ever to become a name worth remembering in New York.

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:

Thanks.

Its SL but Beauchamp looks like a rotation player. Looking at the box score again, Kolek was 0-6 from 3, but his footwork inside the paint looks like its improving. Baba had some nice takes to the rim as well.

He is playing for his NBA career and has talent, but he doesn't shoot the ball consistently enough or defend high enough to carve out a role on the wing. If you are a reserve wing and not an elite scorer and don't have a high level skill when it comes to shooting or defense, there isn't a role to llay in a rotation. I still think he could develop in time, but I don't see him as a player that makes this roster. Will he be willing to stay on a 2-way and work on his 3 and D skillset or playmaking?

I actually thought Dink Pate looked really good in the 4th. He is another guy that will take time, but he played with a good motor and has raw athleticism. Knocked down some 3s. He is still really young. Guy should have gotten a couple years in college. He is the perfect guy to put on a 2-way. Hr probably wont't get much NBA time, but he could really come up the curve by the end of the season.

Rookie wrote:

martin wrote:

VDesai wrote:Kolek showed off what looked like a bag at the end of the game

Dime bag?

Poop bag?

Not impressed with so called bag.

Kolek was drafted for teh Thibian way. He might be a good NBA player one day but maybe not for Brown and the timeline that is win now. If it works out that way its not that knicks blew it, its that this is the pararmeter and the context of the moment.

This was Obi Toppin who migth have fit great with Mike Browns knicks vs. What Thibs wanted a few years ago. Last year Thibs was given Kat and Mikal and wanted it sped up. Perhaps OBI would have been a better fit? But when it was decided to cut bait with him than pay him, this was the moment.

As for Kolek, he does push the ball in transition well. Sort of "Caitlen Clark" Like.
As for his shooting, can anyone say he is doing something different now then in the regular season? We have some Kolek experts here so I ask.

As I said weeks ago, I can see him sticking or getting waived/traded. He might have a better chance with another club now.
Shit happens.

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