The Essentials
Summer League Game 1
SummerWizards (0-0) vs. SummerBlazers (0-0)
Thomas and Mack Center
8 p.m.
CSN and NBATV (I'm not sure about the rest of the games, but I'll check)
Pregame links:
- Times: Summer League All About Young Core Gelling
- Portland's Summer League Roster
- Blazers Edge's open thread
- Ridiculous Upside
- Watch the game on the computer
- UPDATE: Wizards Insider says four of the five games are on Comcast
Our first chance to see the Young Guns of the Wizards in the Summer League comes tonight when they take on Portland at 8 p.m. our time. It's our first chance to scrutinize JaVale McGee, Dee Brown and V squared, as well as Jerryd Bayless, of course.
All the key figures on the roster were saying the right things in that Times article. Andray Blatche has apparently "turned into a gym rat," in his own words, which is nice because, um, professional basketball players are supposed to be gym rats. (It'd also be nice if we heard the words "gym rat" coming from someone other than Blatche himself). Good for him, because he's supposed to be beyond the Summer League stage of his career. Hopefully, he'll prove it.
Nick Young talked about being a better defender and learning more about the Princeton offense. I doubt he'll do much to advance his second goal, but as for his first, it's nice to hear. Dominic McGuire has apparently dropped 10 bounds, which should help him defend more effectively than before.
As far as our opponent, the TrailBlazers, despite their seemingly endless supply of young talent, don't look so imposing. Bayless is obviously the headliner, and fellow draft pick Nicholas Batum is on the team as well. There's also Finnish point guard Petteri Koponen, who was drafted last year. Otherwise, the only name that is worth mentioning is J.R. Pinnock, the George Washington standout. Pinnock, as some may remember, was on the Wizards' Summer League team last year.
I honestly think this Wizards team should fare extremely well. With Blatche, Young, McGuire, Brown and Oleksiy Pecherov, the Wizards have five guy who made a significant dent on NBA rosters in the past two years. Throw in McGee and Veremeeko, and that's what looks like a loaded core. It'll be disappointing if they struggle, even though wins and losses don't really matter.
This is an open thread, so celebrate the return of basketball here.