Monday, July 6, 2015

2015 NBA Summer League: Aaron Gordon shines again, Stanley Johnson outplays Justise Winslow, and T.J. McConnell makes his debut in day three of Summer League action

Aaron Gordon had another great performance, Stanley Johnson outplayed Justise Winslow, and T.J. McConnell debuts for the Sixers in day three of Summer League action

After having a 22 and 18 game on Saturday, Aaron Gordon followed it up with another spectacular performance in the Orlando Summer League. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, three three assists, and 3 steals. While his stat-line is obviously impressive, what grabbed my attention the most was his jump shot.

His jumper looks completely revamped and is a lot smoother as result. He used to have a slight hitch on his release, but it's not even noticeable now. He went 1-2 from behind the arc, and hit numerous mid-range jumpers. He looked comfortable shooting off the dribble, and was effective in doing so as well. HE EVEN HIT A FADEAWAY AFTER SIZING UP HIS DEFENDER. If he's going to shoot like this when the regular season rolls around, he's going to have a breakout season.

Later in the day, Stanley Johnson outplayed Justise Winslow. Winslow scored 15 points, and Johnson scored 14, but Stanley did it while taking just five shots (he made four of them), where as Winslow went 5-15 from the field. Stanley also had seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. He hit two of his three three-point attempts.

When Stanley was selected 8th overall, two picks ahead of Winslow, many criticized the Pistons for picking the wrong small forward. And even though it's still way too early to evaluate the pick, so far it looks like Detroit made the right decision. Check out this head-to-head comparison between Stanley and Winslow through two Summer League games:

In other former Wildcat news, the Utah Summer League started today, which means it was time for T.J. McConnell to make his debut with the Philadelphia 76ers.

T.J. had a very good all-around game. He had six points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. He played about 30 minutes, and had the highest +/- on the team with a +13. In usual T.J. fashion, he made a few hustle plays and played solid perimeter defense.

One reason why T.J. went undrafted was because many believed that he doesn't have the lateral quickness to get by his defender, or stay with the guy he's guarding. Granted he was playing against rookies, second-year players, and D-League caliber players today, but he certainly didn't look overmatched out there.

One area that he'll definitely need to improve is his jumpshot. He missed three wide-open threes in this one, and he has to be able to hit those to be an effective offensive player in the NBA. He doesn't have to be a 40% shooter, but he has to at least be respectable from out there, like he was in college. Otherwise, teams will start to sag off of him and prevent him from getting into the paint.

That being said, I believe he'll make this point guard-starved Sixers team.



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