Among the under-hyped players in the Orlando Summer League, we like former Texas standout, P.J. Tucker. I’m not his agent. I’m not affiliated with him in any way. I just think he should be in the NBA. He was the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2006 but he has spent the majority of his professional career overseas. He plays extremely hard and he has the body to match that physical style. He is 6’6” 225 lbs and he has been labeled as an “undersized post”. That actually is a bullshit label. If you watch him play—he demonstrates guard skills just as easily as many of the more heralded young players that also do not yet have NBA ready jump shots. The biggest thing with Tucker is that he knows how to play and is capable of making plays. Forget his size. He rebounds better than many Power Forwards, and he moves his feet as well as your average NBA Shooting Guard.
The Player of the Day for day four of the Orlando Summer League was Oklahoma City guard Mustafa Shakur who helped his team keep the Orlando summer entry winless with a 80-78 victory. Shakur scored 21 points (6-10 FG, 7-8 FT) while grabbing five boards, and dishing five assists in 30 minutes.
Our “All Day Four Orlando Summer League Team” (their game efficiency rating). PG: Shakur - OKC 1.068, SG: Donell Taylor - ORL .916, SF: Tucker - CHA .739, PF: Magnum Rolle - IND .833, C: Kosta Koufos - UTA .894. Bench: Guards: Jaycee Carroll - BOS .680, Joe Crawford - ORL .666, Oliver Lafayette - BOS .531. Forwards: Derrick Brown (pictured at right) - CHA .636, Ndudi Ebi - PHI .636, Luke Harangody - BOS .615, Center: Paul Davis - ORL .727
Since it is being over-analyzed I will just say quickly that I believe Miami with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade will be great. The talent pool is deep enough in this day and age to surround those three plus Mario Chalmers with eight guys capable of getting it done.
Now back to what really excites me - which is the actual games being played in the Orlando Summer League. A power outage over here kept us from the DVR and the computer for an agonizing 17 hours. On Friday at 2 am, I just finished watching the final Orlando game of day three (Wednesday). Of interest was Avery Johnson, the Nets new Head Coach accurately stating that Damion James has been their best player so far in Orlando. This despite the Nets having the number three pick overall Derrick Favors on their roster. Favors has shown intermittent flashes of goodness but overall he has struggled.
The Player of the Day for day three was Celtics guard Matt Janning who led his team to a 92-71 beatdown of the Summer Bobcats. The Northeastern product scored 20 points, grabbed eight boards and dished three assists in 25 minutes.
Our “All Day Three Orlando Summer League Team” (their game efficiency rating). PG: Janning - BOS .880, SG: Joe Crawford - ORL .750, SF: Damion James - NJ .735, PF: Josh McRoberts - IND. .774, C: Marreese Speights - PHI .607. Bench: Guards - Othyus Jeffers - UTA .695, Jeremy Pargo - CHA. .650, Ryan Thompson - BOS. .650, Forwards: Luke Harangody - BOS. .600, Paul George - IND. .600, Magnum Rolle (pictured at left) - IND. .600. Center: Byron Mullens - OKC .583.
