CJ Summer League

Forum Forum Lehigh Sports Lehigh In The Pros CJ Summer League

This topic contains 9 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by RichH RichH 10 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #10673

    toddcudd
    Participant

    Spot to talk about CJ’s Blazers summer league experience.

    #10674

    toddcudd
    Participant

    Don’t know who else is watching NBAtv, but I’m concerned about what I’m seeing. They are asking CJ to play the 1, and IMO, it’s not going well. Shooting % is awful. He’s not a 1, he’s a 2. If they don’t make an adjustment, I’m worried about the future outlook. It feels like they’re trying to give him “his chance”, but it’s not in his natural role. Honestly, if he were not a lottery pick, I’d be worried about him making the team. Short of a MAJOR adjustment, I think CJ is looking at some DL time.

    #10675

    TMH
    Participant

    Overall…he did well. Still has things to work on though.

    He doesn’t seem to be shooting well until deep into the games. He is doing a great job at getting good looks. Just not hitting them. It will come.
    Still rebounds well for a guard..averaged 4/game
    Summer League is not a passing league so I’m not sure how well CJ is acclimating as a PG but is definitely shoot first/pass later as of now.
    One thing is evident though, the Trailblazers played much better when he is on the floor. Second game in a row his =/- well above the rest of the team. End of 1 tonight, they are up 5, CJ sits for 6 minutes and the Sun goes on a 33-8 run…ouch.

    #10678

    TMH
    Participant

    toddcudd,
    I watched 3 of the 5 games. Don’t jump :-)

    Although CJs shooting % was low (about 37%), it was not from a lack of getting good looks. He was 2nd in the summer league in scoring and one of only a handful of rookies in the Top 25.He averaged over 4 rbs per/ g and nearly 4 assists. He is well ahead of all the other rookies.
    Is he where he wants to be…no. His low shooting % is not from a lack of good looks. He is simply missing shots early in games.Remember, he hasn’t played live since early January.
    Portland already has a great PG. Lilliard isn’t playing summer league. CJ is there fore the only option at the #1. He will be asked to spell Dame and play along side him as a 2. He will be fine. Portland has big plans for him.

    #10679

    kbrissy
    Participant

    He’ll be just fine. That was their 5th game in 6 nights and he is leading the SL in minutes so far, fatigue may be a factor. Also his first 5v5 games since January.

    Don’t read too deeply into summer league shooting percentages. I remember when Kevin Durant shot a poor percentage in Summer League, and he seems to be doing OK now. Most important thing is he has proven he can find space to get his shot off, can handle the ball full time, and play defense against NBA guys.

    A lot of the issues you might see will be alleviated playing alongside better teammates (like the rookie of the year from last season, Damian Lillard). Problem with this setting is a lot of these guys won’t be playing many minutes this fall; a lot of them won’t be on rosters at all.

    Got to watch in person vs. the Suns while in Vegas last Saturday (his best shooting performance.) Definitely stronger physically than he was at Lehigh. CJ’s really their only PG getting a lot of run, so they don’t have many ball handlers to take some pressure away. All of the NBA people with whom I spoke (including Lillard) are impressed. Looking forward to tomorrow!

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by  kbrissy.
    #10681

    TMH
    Participant

    Thanks for the input kbrissy,
    Just an update after the late games.
    CJ McCollum is #1 now in the summer league in scoring
    He is also tied for #18 in Assists and appears to be one of the best rebounding guards in the league.
    He’s doing just fine. His stroke will come.

    #10683

    kbrissy
    Participant

    http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/07/cj_mccollum.html

    nice article here that pretty much summarizes what we talked about here. overall, very positive signs but a few things he’ll have to work on (and will work on.)

    #10714

    toddcudd
    Participant

    Alright,I’m over my freakout now :-) Thanks for talking me down guys! I’m just so eager to see CJ succeed at the next level, and it felt like the Blazers weren’t doing it right! I don’t think I ever watched summer league games before, so I had no basis for comparison. Looking back on it now, I know you guys are right about reading too much into it. Most trips, it didn’t look like they even got into an offense.
    I also understand that they needed to see CJ do a lot of different stuff. I’m just eager to see him get the opportunity to shoot in rhythm more often. The 3 to send the last game into OT was the stuff. Looked smooth, confident – and then the swagger!
    Agree with kbrissy too – he did show that he could get his shot off, even without offense creating options. If he does get some minutes along side Lillard, he should get a lot more in-rhythm looks, too.

    #10716

    TMH
    Participant

    toddcudd,
    If it makes you feel even a bit better……

    http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/?ls=nbahpfull4

    #10717
    RichH
    RichH
    Participant

    Watched lots of summer league for the 1st time. Hard to gauge but from a layman’s point of view , CJ seemed to adapt very well . He will score rest of his game will come. I can only see an upside to his career.

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