http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7014816?print=true

Summer league hoops cures TV blues
Peter Schrager / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 hour ago

Face it. There's absolutely nothing on TV these days.
Reality shows with tennis stars courting cougars, hour-long variety shows with amateur celebrity impersonators, baseless arguments on which popular athletes of today are more "now" than other popular athletes of today, endless Sunday night chatter about Medellin — it's enough to make you yearn for another season of that Freddie Prinze Jr. and Brian Austin Green buddy sitcom.

That is, of course, unless you've gone the NBA TV route. I caught the bug about a week ago. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. To be certain, my remote control hasn't been touched since last Friday.

Yes, NBA TV's become the sports fan's summer television viewing equivalent to what "Mad About You", "Friends", and "Seinfeld" were to Thursday nights in the 90s: Must-watch TV.

With 22 teams (including the Chinese national team) playing in the Vegas Summer League — now officially backed by the NBA for the first time — and most games being aired on the league's cable TV network, there's suddenly something worth watching on the tube.

The best part? It's always on.

Or at least it seems that way. Guided by a stable of announcers including fantasy hoops guru Rick Kamla and Nets radio voice Tim Kapishaw, the summer league games have been running on loop, starting at roughly 3 p.m. ET each day, and wrapping up about seven hours later. Of course, if you're more of an Orlando Pepsi Pro League guy, well you can watch all those games, too. Sure, they're online, and yes, the announcing crew sounds a bit college radio-ish at times, but the games are accessible, nonetheless.

Lottery picks, international prospects, grizzled old vets looking for one last chance at the bigs, journeymen who still haven't gotten that big break — it can all be found in these summer league games. GMs, coaches, and NBA stars chilling in the stands, top NBA journalists scribbling down notes, former ballers manning the sidelines as coaches — it's like a recreational league for the best players in the world. Or, a recreational league for the minor league of the best players in the world. Something along those lines.

The rec league comparison isn't just convenient. It's legit. Players get 10 fouls, there are no locker rooms, guys show up to the gym dressed in their game clothes. And the uniforms? The jerseys are those reversible mesh ones, the ones they give out in PAL, Church and JCC leagues across the country on the first day of practice. Four dollars at Modell's; free if you know the guy running the thing.

In the past, summer league heroics were like urban myths, Paul Bunyan-esque tales. Ostertag schooling Duncan? There's no footage of that out there; just hyperbole. That Nate Robinson dunk that sent the Internet ablaze two summers ago? Nobody saw it live. It was on some guy's two-bit Web site, hyperlinked and half-functional. Gerald Green's ridiculous highlight reel from a few years back? YouTube made that puppy famous; not those who watched the slams when they happened.

But now? Now, it's all access. And call me crazy, but it may very well be better than the NBA regular season. At the very least, more entertaining.

Blasphemy? Not quite.

For the guys playing in both summer leagues — outside of the first round picks, of course — roster spots in the fall are not guaranteed. For these players, there's no luxury, no opportunity to loaf. This isn't about getting some run in and improving skills, it's pretty much the only time they'll have the chance to play in front of a stage with so much NBA personnel in attendance. Every post entry pass, every box out, every defensive shift, every charge taken matters. Scouts are watching.

And so am I.

What's impressed me thus far? What's been a disappointment?

Here are the short lists:


What I've liked

The Detroit Pistons backcourt of Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. Wow. When I met Stuckey the day before the draft in a Times Square hotel, I discovered a humble, confident young man. That calmness certainly carries over to the basketball court. Stuckey slices to the hoop with ease and runs the point guard spot like a seasoned veteran. In Monday night's game with Memphis, Stuckey drove to the elbow, attracted three men, and ended up scoring and drawing a foul in what felt like a flash. He'd finish with 27 that day. The constant Dwyane Wade comparisons may be a bit much, but he certainly has game. Afflalo's been the perfect complement. The UCLA All-American has averaged 15.3 points over three games and played the superb defense he became known for at UCLA. Yes, Billups and Hamilton will be the starting backcourt in Detroit next year. But with these two coming off the bench, the Pistons starting guard combo can actually come out of the game.

Marco Belinelli. The 18th pick in June's draft, Belinelli's been quite arguably the best player down in Vegas. He's simply been lighting it up. After his much-publicized 37-point debut against New Orleans over the weekend, Belinelli put together 23- and 15-point efforts as follow-ups. All smiles, too. This guy's going to be a joy to watch in that Warriors offense next year. And though noted hoops blogger Henry Abbott assures me Marco's girlfriend is not in Vegas for the summer league games, I have no doubt she'll be as big a star as any player's second half in the league once she starts showing up to games next season. And yes, that includes you, Mrs. Parker. Warriors tickets could be even harder to get a hold of this year than they were during last season's playoff run. Because of Baron, Stephen and the first year of Beli-nellie Ball? No. Because with both Marco's lady and Jessica Alba in the same building, it's going to be absurd.

Jose Juan Barrea. Two years ago, I went through a big CAA college basketball phase. George Mason, Hofstra, UNC-Wilmington, Iona — I got hooked on the high level of competition and would watch these teams religiously. The conference's best player that year? Hard not to go with Northeastern point guard Jose Juan Barrea. Roughly 30 months later, Barrea's on the court in the Vegas summer league, doing the same thing he did all those random nights on ESPN 7 — running the show. The Mavericks' starting point guard in these games, Barrea's hit every clutch shot (over Greg Oden vs. Portland on Sunday), every big free throw, and made guys like Mo Ager and Pops Mensah-Bonsu look like stars. If Barrea was maybe three inches taller, he'd be a starting point guard in this league. For now? He's a summer league superstar. Here's to hoping he gets some real burn for Dallas in the regular season.

Ron Artest and his younger brother, Daniel. Okay, to be honest, this has nothing to do with anything on the court, but what these two have been up to off of it. And no, it's nothing bad. In fact, it's good ... or at least bizarre. But that's what we've come to expect, and what we've grown to love out of the Artest family name. Let's start with Ron Ron. After being the subject of many trade rumors, Artest, who at no point has ever really given off the impression that he's in love with the city of Sacramento, came out and told the media he wanted to retire as a King. I don't think anybody else has ever said that. Not Wayman Tisdale, Lionel Simmons, Duane Causwell, not even Pete Chilcutt. But Ron wants to apparently end his career in purple and silver. Bold statement. He's also shown up to the majority of the Kings games, offering advice to the younger players, and at one point, clutching a green stuffed animal. It wasn't his, but still worth noting. As for Artest's younger brother Daniel, well, he's been all the rage in Vegas. Suiting up for the Kings summer league team, the younger Artest has been a constant source of media juice in Sin City this past week. Daniel, who I should probably mention weighs 300 pounds, spoke with the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog columnist Dan Steinberg on Tuesday. Having yet to enter one of these games at the time of their discussion, Daniel explained to Steinberg, "They want me to be a guard, but I like playing like Barkley. I'm fast enough to be a guard. Whenever I get the opportunity to play, you're gonna see how I play. I can jump and everything. I can hit the NBA three. I've been working on my whole game. We've been doing this for months. A lot of running, shooting drills. We'll shoot like 600 shots a day, every day, then we'll come back at nighttime and shoot up another two or three hundred more. I push (Ron) and he pushes me."
Steinberg notes, "Then Daniel told me that he can take Ron one-on-one, and urged me to ask Ron for confirmation. Which I did. He dodged the question, but was effusive in his praise of his brother."

Reality show, anyone?



The Knicks. Too soon to get giddy about the Knicks? I'm sorry. I probably should have learned my lesson from last year, when watching the Knicks summer league games on MSG kept me indoors and made me sound like a madman through most the month of July. It led me to predicting a New York playoff berth prior to the past season. Crazy talk, I know. And trust me, I got your e-mails.
Well, here we go again. The Knicks look great. Renaldo Balkman's one of the best players on the court, Demetrius Nichols apparently doesn't miss from outside and Nate Robinson leads the summer league in assists. Yes, that Nate Robinson. Randolph Morris has been solid, first-round pick Wilson Chandler's played well, and veterans David Lee and Fred Jones have been behind the bench offering support. Hard not to like what's going on in New York. Or what's going on in Vegas with New York. Steve Francis is gone, Steph's meeting with Mayor Bloomberg, Jamal Crawford's healthy, and Zebo Randolph is apparently all jazzed up for the Big Apple. Knicks fans, it's OK to enjoy this. Of course, that's been the norm for New York in recent years — excitement in July, depression by December.



What else? J.J. Redick playing like the sniper he was at Duke, Marcus Williams looking like Jason Kidd, the Denver Nuggets' team of traveling wilburrys (Lamond Murray, an O'Bannon not named Ed or Charles, and Jelani McCoy), George Karl's son Coby, Phoenix rookies Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry, Jason Maxiel blocking every shot that comes within a 4 mile radius of his hand, Terry Porter's coaching, Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry blazing by everyone, Pierre Pierce fighting for a second chance.

What's not to like?

Greg Oden, his tonsils, and his need to attend cable TV award shows. OK, I understand Oden's legitimately sick. And yes, I know for a guy like him, these are just glorified pickup games. But if you're too ill to go full speed and participate on the basketball court, why are you able to go to pre-ESPY parties in Los Angeles? Just throwing that out there. And please, can someone else in the media take him to task for this? I hate being the Debbie Downer on this topic. I'm the last guy to kill a 20-year-old kid for partying and enjoying some good old fashioned celebrity spotlight. I'm all about having a good time and I also understand the marketing game and all that goes into breaking into those circles. It's an ABC/Disney event, Oden's the future of the NBA, the games are on ABC — I get it. But Oden could have missed the ESPYs. It wouldn't have been the end of the world. And trust me, I think the show would certainly be just fine without him. Still not good by any means, but not any worse. From a basketball standpoint, maybe Oden could have skipped the parties the day after saying he was too sick to play. I don't know. Call me crazy.

Rajon Rondo. Just not all that impressed. Rondo's supposed to be the Celtics point guard of the future, plays under a former All-Star point guard in Doc Rivers, and was a lottery pick. He should be far better than his 1 assist, 7 turnover performance earlier this week. I fear Rondo hasn't improved one bit since last year's summer league. Not a good sign for Celtics fans.

Nick Young going nuts after every dunk. Enough.

Nick Young shooting every time he touches the ball. See Louis Williams as well.

The media's holier than thou preaching on Kevin Durant. No articles frustrated me more this week than the ones written by media types telling no one in particular to "relax" and to not look too far into Durant's slow start. I haven't heard one person honestly say they're worried about Durant being a star in this league. And yet, on Monday morning, there were roughly 30 articles floating around the Internet on all the major sites telling readers to calm down, that it's "just been one game". Umm ... okay. Who honestly thought that after two sub-par summer league performances, Kevin Durant was in trouble? Of course, that doesn't mean I don't think he could use a few afternoons in the weight room.
The Vegas Summer League runs until July 15; the Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando goes until the 13th. Get into both while you can.

C'mon.

It's not like there's anything else on TV.

Yes, we're all as pleased as we can be about our SL play.

Would have loved either JJ Reddick last year, or Belinelli this. Still waiting for sniper.

Posted by tomverve:

Posted by Panos:

Still waiting for sniper.

I hope so, man. I hope so!

Damn, kiid, you post here too? Do you have a day job?

Nichols is the story line to watch. How does he make the 15 man roster, and even if he does, how does he get any playing time?

Play him at the two and bench Robinson? N8s been looking good in SL too.

Play him at the three and cut JJslim? I don't think Zeke does that and despite skipping the mini-camp (a cardinal sin in these parts) word is he is working hard on his game.

Reality is neither Nichols or Chandler are going to be part of the story next year. But were patient fans here in New York, right?

Right?

Posted by RemBee76:

Damn, kiid, you post here too? Do you have a day job?

Nichols is the story line to watch. How does he make the 15 man roster, and even if he does, how does he get any playing time?

Play him at the two and bench Robinson? N8s been looking good in SL too.

Play him at the three and cut JJslim? I don't think Zeke does that and despite skipping the mini-camp (a cardinal sin in these parts) word is he is working hard on his game.

Reality is neither Nichols or Chandler are going to be part of the story next year. But were patient fans here in New York, right?

Right?

Hopefully we consolidate talent through trades. Balk and Collins weren't supposed to get tick either last year and they got some burn. We shall see.