Summer League Preview / Review

[Karma]

Thursday, July 7 Cavaliers vs. Hornets 3 p.m. PST​

Key Players

Martynas Andriuskevicius / Maciej Lampe​

The two talented Europeans are looking for solid appearances in their first game. Lampe is a 3 year veteran looking to crack the Hornets rotation this season, whilst Andriuskevicius is hoping to secure a place in Cleveland opening night roster.

Matt Freije / Jackson Vroman​

Cavalier's trialist Freije is trying to resurect his career after a poor start in Miami and New Orleans, whilst former 2nd round pick Vroman is looking to continue his steady start to his career with the young Hornets.

Kelenna Azubuike / Eddie Robinson​

Azuabuike has a minimal chance of sticking with the Cavalier's, but if his athletic game out performs NBA veteran Eddie Robinson, he may find an oppotunity if the Cavalier's make roster changes.

Luke Jackson / JR Smith​

Luke Jackson heads into his unofficial rookie season after injuries destroyed last season. Luke is looking to regain lost confidense against the very impressive Smith. This matchup should be a great shootout.

John Gilchrist / Chris Paul​

This matchup should provide ample entertainment with Gilchrist sporting a chip on his shoulder after being overlooked in the draft up against gun rookie Chris Paul. Paul is looking to walk straight into a starting jersey, whilst Gilchrist has a great oppotunity to earn roster spot on the Cavalier's who are lacking depth at the point.

Key Bench Players​

John Lucas III / Blake Stepp / James Thomas​

These three players hold a slim hope of making the Cavalier's roster. The diminutive Lucas hopes to out perform Gilchrist to move up the pecking order, as does Stepp who has a solid all round game. The Cavalier's at this moment have just two front court players which gives former Portland player Thomas a glimmer of sticking.

Prediction : I believe the Hornets have the stronger roster with the experience factor getting them over the Cavaliers.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

My gosh - their backcourt is talented - almost starting NBA talent. Eddie Robinson has shown flashes of being a stud, with his size and speed. Smith is as athletic as can be. Paul may win a starting role. They may give us issues tonight. Can't wait to see the box score - I wonder who is out there covering them (media)?

 

[Glen Infante]

Our summer league team doesn't look very strong. To win this game we would need a big effort from our SL stars Luke Jackson and John Gilchrist.

I think JR Smith and Eddie Robinson is going to steam roll through this Cavalier team. We will see.

 

[TheAdmin]

My gosh - their backcourt is talented - almost starting NBA talent. Eddie Robinson has shown flashes of being a stud, with his size and speed. Smith is as athletic as can be. Paul may win a starting role. They may give us issues tonight. Can't wait to see the box score - I wonder who is out there covering them (media)?

Come to the Cavs chat tonight, Brian Windhorst will be reporting from the game!

- Ben

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Yea Ben, I'm planning on it. Thanks for your work in putting this together. I figured BW would be out there. What is that...4:30 Vegas time? Will the game have been played yet - I thought it was a 6:30 (Vegas time) start time....unless those times posted before were all Eastern Time, and not local time...

Oops...nevermind:

Thursday, July 7 Cavaliers vs. Hornets 3 p.m. PST

 

[King]

Im so excited to see how Luke does. I think he either comes out with a bad game because hes a bit rusty or he comes out with a monster game, nailing 3-4 threes.

 

[TheAdmin]

Yea Ben, I'm planning on it. Thanks for your work in putting this together. I figured BW would be out there. What is that...4:30 Vegas time? Will the game have been played yet - I thought it was a 6:30 (Vegas time) start time....unless those times posted before were all Eastern Time, and not local time...

Oops...nevermind:

Thursday, July 7 Cavaliers vs. Hornets 3 p.m. PST

I know I'm beating this in the ground, but how freakin cool is it that we will be getting live courtside game coverage?

 

[Slim Sheedy]

i looked on my digital cable browser and it doesnt even have this game listed or any summer league games..

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

I believe we have 2 games televised - and they are recorded - I believe the first one is on the 16th???

 

[West Remy]

Game 1

Boxscore: Cleveland 76, New Orleans 73

Game Recap

Stepp steps up for Cavs, despite Paul's brilliant performance

Dennis Rogers
drogers@vegassummerleague.com

July 7, 2005

The Cleveland Cavaliers held on in the final seconds to beat the New Orleans Hornets, 76-73, Thursday afternoon. Hornets rookie Chris Paul missed a game tying running lay-up with six seconds left and former Hornet Matt Freijie made one of two free throws to seal the win for the Cavs.

Paul was very impressive in his first NBA action, scoring a game-high 21 points (8-13 FG), pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists in 34 minutes. Paul had the highlight of the game when he crossed over John Lucas III, drove the lane and got the basket and a foul as he kissed a runner off the glass.

Blake Stepp displayed his great shooting touch, leading the Cavs with 16 points (6-9 FG). Freijie had 13 points (5-9 FG) in the win. Cleveland finished the game 45 percent (31-69 FG) and out-rebounded the Hornets 40-38.

J.R. Smith had 15 points (5-12 FG) in the losing effort for the Hornets. Maciej Lampe grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in addition to scoring 12 points (5-10 FG). Former Charlotte Hornet Eddie Robinson had 12 points (6-10 FG) and six rebounds.

Paul had 14 points (5-6 FG) in the first half as he dazzled the crowd with his speed and ball handling ability. Smith put in nine points (4-9 FG) in the half. New Orleans shot 52 percent (16-31 FG) for the half.

Stepp led he Cavs in scoring for the first half, scoring eight points(3-3 FG). The Cavs shot 55 percent (17-31 FG) at the break.

The Hornets take on the Washington Wizards tomorrow night at 8 p.m., while the Cavaliers battle the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at 8 p.m.

I heard the Cavs ran most of their plays through Luke but he shot terrible. He did have some assists, thus he partially redeemed himself. I'm shocked Cleveland won this game because on paper, it appeared the Hornets had the superior squad.

Word is Mini Z didn't play due to back spasms and Gilchrist didn't play due to missing a team meeting (but he'll be around next game and still have a chance to make the team).

 

[d3]

Damn, Chris Paul really reminds me of Billups, my friend watched the game and he told me Paul looked really solid out there, sheesh -- the Hornets may accually win 30 + games this season -- or so.

Luke is a terrfic player , I'v watched him in collage, kids got game. Too bad his shots didn't sink tonight, 1-12FG ( Or somewhere along there ) , He had some very nice passes -- I think he is very able to avarage 5-6 Assists per game, once he settles down and gets his machanics working again, he hasn't player competitive basketball in almost 8 months now.

Were 1-0 Clevelanders! Lets win against the Warriors now and improve to a 2-0 record.

I really hope Marty plays, -- Like somoene said above, he suffered some back pains -- Most likley related to his workouts, nothing too serious I hope.

 

[PIP]

I THINK when they talk about the 2004 nba draft- the top two players will be andre igoudala and J.R SMITH..

J.R. reminds me alot of kobe bryant-- i seen him drop 29 and i believe 33 in the two games i watched besides his games against the cavs..

the kid can play, and he has that swagger already.. him and paul will be a highlight waiting to happen this season..

 

[King]

Im dissapointed with Luke's performance. Thats a terrible percentage. But Windhorst said it looked more like he was just rusty, which is to be expected considering how long its been since hes played. Besides the %, the rest of his stats look good.

Blake Stepp and Freije's stats were impressive. Both have a chance to make a team. And it looks like theyre both good long range shooters.

Im really surprised about Gilchrist not showing up. You'd think he'd be a bit more determined to work hard and prove the doubters wrong. Gil better have a good reason for missing a meeting. He must not want to get into the league that bad if hes missing meetings for no good reason.

Hopefully Marty gets better soon. I wanna see how far along he really is.

 

[West Remy]

Im dissapointed with Luke's performance. Thats a terrible percentage. But Windhorst said it looked more like he was just rusty, which is to be expected considering how long its been since hes played. Besides the %, the rest of his stats look good.

I wonder if Luke Jackson is 100%. He's still recovering and hasn't finished rehabing his back, correct? If Luke is 75 or 80% out there and rusty to boot, he's doing good just being out there and running up and down the court. His passing was on point, which one person on another forum said he could see Luke being an efficient passer on the team. Time will tell. Summer leagues are funny because some guys can drop 30 point games here, only to proceed to do nothing in the league. The opposite holds true as well, with guys doing so-so in these leagues but doing well in the real league.

 

[Karma]

A few day ago they stated that Luke was still only 75-80%, and was missing his explosion. This may have effected the lift in his legs for his jumpers. As long as we see steady progress through the summer I am not concerned. Hopefully Marty isn't another injury plagued Lithuanian. Can't help but be pissed off about Gilchrist. He has a golden oppotunity to here to make something happen. Time will tell. Freije could stick I guess for a big forward who can shoot from range.