Rocky Mountain Revue, Day 6 (Final Day)

Game #16: Seattle Supersonics vs. Dallas Mavericks

Seattle 83
Dallas 72

Damion Tolman

This game, just as the days other two games, turned out to be quite a good game as both teams played very hard and kept it interesting throughout. It was the reserve players that got the majority of the playing time, though, as the “stars” got a bit of a break after a long week of basketball. On both teams the impact players seemed to be the swing players as it was a fast paced game. Unfortunately for the Mavs, Seattle had a few more players with big performances in this one, as they shot the ball with much confidence, winding up with a final game shooting percentage of 48.3% and making over half of their three pointers. Dallas wasn't so lucky, as they found themselves with only two players really having an easy time getting the ball in the hole, those players being Felipe Lopez and Rawle Marshall. Both teams moved well without the ball, especially coming off picks. Dallas seemed overly cautious when it came to passing the ball, though, as if they were afraid to turn it over. Though they still managed to do just that, as their big men had sloppy hands inside, fumbling the ball on countless occasions. As for Seattle on the other hand, they had no fear in distributing the ball as they finished with eight more assists then Dallas but this also caused them to turn the ball over four more times.

Defensively, neither team seemed to excel much. It was easy to tell that these players were very tired from this week of basketball and that caused them to slack a bit and not lock down on their defenders. This really became a problem in the fourth quarter, as Seattle decided to finally take advantage of the poor Maverick defense and outscored them by ten on the quarter, giving Seattle the go ahead for a 83-72 victory.


Seattle Supersonics:

Robert Swift- Swift performed at a very dismal rate in this game, continuing to be anything but effective for his team. In just seventeen minutes of play he picked up five fouls, all being very bad fouls. Most of them came with him trying to block a shot attempt and over-judging when the ball would be released, and getting tangled up with the shooter, which resulted in free throws. His offensive performance held his team back if anything, shooting only 1-4 as he took a couple of deep shots that he knows that he can't make at a successful rate. Needless to say, Robert was a major disappointment in the RMR this year, lottery pick or not.

Mateen Cleaves- Mateen had another very nice offensive outing tonight. He recognized early who the hot players on his team were and distributed the ball to them very well off screens and into openings under the basket, resulting in a game high seven assists. His shooting was pretty good as well, both forcing his way through the lane and stepping out for the jump shot if he couldn't find anything there. His gutsy moves in the lane got him seven free throw attempts, with him hitting five of them. He shot 4-7 from the field and made his only three point attempt, finishing with fourteen points total. Mateen's defense wasn't spectacular, but he did a fairly decent job at keeping his opponent under control and not letting him distribute the ball very well. Overall I'd have to say Mateen had a very impressive Revue, and apparently I'm not the only one because he was a runner up for the All Revue Team. It wouldn't surprise anyone here if he made the Sonics once again next year, especially with Antonio Daniels leaving now.


Dallas Mavericks

DJ Mbenga- DJ earned himself a starting slot and decent minutes in this game, but did not capitalize on them at all. His defensive presence was missed by his entire team, including himself, not doing much to stop his opponents. The only thing defensively that he really made apparent is that he had a knack for putting players on the line, getting four fouls, most of which were attempting to make the big block. On offense, Mbenga had a bum game as well, missing his only two shots and losing the ball when he would get it down low. DJ had a poor game to cap off the revue, though he still ended up being a runner up for the All Review Team.

Josh Powell- DNP-Coach's Decision. The Mavs agreed with all the praise we’ve been heaping on Powell all month, starting in Vegas, and decided to reward him with a two year contract. He was also named an Honorable mention for the All Revue Team.

Felipe Lopez- Felipe was the clear leader for the Mavs in this game in all aspects as he tried to motivate his teammates at every given opportunity. This guy was just running the floor beautifully, finding himself in the right place at the right time in what seemed like every minute he played. His driving ability in this game was unbelievable, getting to the lane for eighteen free throw attempts, although he managed to make only ten. Lopez took matters into his own hands time after time, using his speed and court vision to set both his teammates and himself up for shot attempts and easy dunks to finish with a total of twenty-two points (6-12 shooting) and four assists. He was very aggressive, diving for loose balls and crashing the boards, while also putting a hand in his opponents shots and passing lanes. He finished with six rebounds and two steals. Unfortunately his aggression cost him five fouls as well as four turnovers. Lopez had a great revue and led his team in scoring. He is a very deserving player to make an NBA roster as his game quite apparently shows.

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Game # 17: San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz

Spurs 75
Jazz 80

Laird Doman

The last day of the RMR did not disappoint, nor did the last game of the review. The main reason this was such a good game was that this was also the best officiated game, there just weren’t that many fouls called. Since the refs were letting them play, the players could get into the game more and show what they have to offer. Both teams took care of the ball, especially considering that this was a summer league game. The Jazz were down by 5 going into the 4th, but Deron Williams along with huge help from Andre Owens made a run at the end and got the victory.

Spurs

Britton Johnsen- Johnsen made the All Revue team even with an average showing in the last game--10 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds on 3-11 shooting. He never could get his game going today because of the tight defense played and double teams the Jazz threw at him. Johnsen started off at PF on Kris but couldn't get anything going inside. They then moved him to SF, but the quickness of Olu Famutimi and CJ Miles kept him from getting any high percentage shots. He is very long and skinny, with good leaping ability, which makes it hard for big guys to find him and box him out on the boards.

Johnsen loves to use the baseline for everything he does. On offense he showed a nice move occasionally of faking the 3 from the corner and then driving the baseline, or sneaking along the baseline past his opponents to get good offensive rebounding position. On Defensive he likes to trap players along the baseline to create turnovers. He didn't have the best game tonight, but still did a nice job of getting his teammates involved.

Andre Barrett - Barrett used his compact size and speed to torment the bigger Deron Williams all night. Had his best game of the review with 14 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds, but had a rough time on defense whether he was on Deron Williams, Andre Owens, or Melvin Scott. No matter who was on him on the other end he scored and passed the ball without much of a problem, though. Barrett knows how to stay low to the ground with everything he does so it’s hard to get the ball a way from him or anticipate where he will be passing. When he is moving without the ball he gets lost by his defender, weaving in and out of the bigs. All in all Barrett had a good Rocky Mountain Revue and will put up a good fight in someone’s training camp most likely.

Melvin Sanders- Sanders just had a great Rocky Mountain Revue and capped it all off with another big game here. 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, on 8-13 shooting was his final line today. He was leading his team on and off the court, doing it with his voice and by example. He showed his scoring ability here in Salt Lake, which is huge for him, even if he doesn't shoot much from outside. He seems to prefer driving to the basket and finishing the fastbreak, and does a great job getting to the line. He played within himself here, not turning the ball over because as he doesn't feel the need to do anything too flashy that is out of his element. If Sanders can get his perimeter shot down pat, he could find a way to stick in the league.


Jazz

Robert Whaley – This was a bad night for the big man, mostly caused by his two quick first quarter fouls that got him out of the game early. He never played long enough after that to make his impact felt on the court, finishing with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 fouls in 19 minutes of play. Whaley’s outside shot is smooth, but he needs to continue to work on his getting his midrange game consistent, especially the higher degree of difficulty shots like the fade away jumper and his intermediary hook shot. Whaley uses his body beautifully on the offensive boards, but had a hard time tonight converting his put-backs. To get minutes with the Jazz next year (he seems to have made the team,) Whaley needs to work on his man to man along with his team defense, along with his game from 5-10 feet out on offense.

CJ Miles- Another oh for from the field night for the high schooler, with zeros across the board everywhere else as well other then a lone rebound in 11 minutes. The bigger and more experienced body of Melvin Sanders took advantage of his slim frame on the defensive end tonight. Miles will have to hit the weights hard next year in the NBDL.

Kris Humphries - This was a pretty good game from Humphries tonight, achieving his averages in this game so far with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 turnovers on 4-13 shooting. The Spurs always had a taller and longer man on Kris, making it tough for him to get his shot up over them, which explains why he shot so poorly from the field. He started to look a little tired in parts of this game and wasn't as aggressive as he usually was. He played better defense then he usually does by blocking 2 shots and getting his hands on a lot of loose balls. Humphries still needs to use his big body a little better and not take as many bad shots out of the context of the offense.

Deron Williams- Williams had probably his best overall game in the Revue vs. the much smaller Andre Barrett, finishing with 15 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals on 6-10 from the field, but also 5 turnovers. He had a few instances where he would drive into the paint and pass it out to a guy that just wasn’t there, or passing it too hard for one of the big guys to hold onto. His outside shot finally arrived tonight and he knocked down two three pointers, one from the left corner and one right down the barrel. He sometimes had his guys running a little too fast and got a little out of control, but the coaches got on him about it and he slowed it down. Williams was still a couple chapters off everybody else on the Jazz, and will definitely need some time to get used to his real teammates before he can be expected to run his offense the way Coach Sloan will want him to. Training camp will be huge for Williams.

Andre Owens- A huge game from Owens tonight, being the main reason the Jazz pulled out the win. Playing a team leading 29 minutes, he logged an impressive 15 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds. Owens took over the game himself in the 4th quarter, driving into the paint for two or opening up for a pass on the wing for the 15 footer repeatedly. He was at his natural position of SG tonight, and did really well playing off of Deron Williams. His biggest problem is that it becomes too much of a one man game when he is out there. Owens will need to do a better job getting his team involved as a 6-4 combo guard along with working on his outside shooting.

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Day 6, July 22nd, Game #15: Atlanta Hawks vs.Charlotte Bobcats

Bobcats 99
Hawks 105

Laird Doman

204 points in a summer league game, are you kidding me? This was the most action packed, high scoring, one man show event you will probably ever see in any summer league game this year. Salim Stoudamire had 39 points in only 25 minutes, while getting to the line 19 times, most of which were in the 4th quarter. There were also big performances like 25 points from Sean May, and 22 from Josh Childress. With the best single best game at the Rocky Mountain Revue, it was only fitting that there was a great 4th quarter as well, with the Bobcats outscoring the Hawks 36 to 31. This game couldn't have been any better, unless maybe it went into overtime.


Hawks

Josh Childress – A very impressive last game from Childress after going downhill over the last few games. He had some problems scoring after his 20 point first game, but was more aggressive getting his points time around, finishing with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 9-9 from the line, and 6-10 from the field. He was doing it from all over the court this time from inside and out. He started off hitting a 3 right off the bat that forced the defense to play him a little tighter than they usually would. Because they were on him so tight, he took advantage of them and drove right past them and got to the hoop and either finished, got to the line, or both. It also wasn't a one man show for Josh like it was his first game; he did a very nice job of getting his team involved in the game as well.

Boris Diaw- Mr. Consistent (in the summer league) finally had a bad game, but luckily for the Hawks it didn't really matter. Diaw finished with only 4 points, 1 assist, 6 fouls, and 4 turnovers. He usually played PG, but had the task of dealing with Felton on either end, which forced the Hawks to move him to SF where he really struggled. Diaw looked tired and out of focus and and it was obvious that playing 6 games in 7 nights was getting to him, especially since he was of the only players to play in all the games.

Marvin Williams – Williams had his first good game and looked like he would have been the story of this game early on, but unfortunately for him his teammate Salim Stoudamire choose to also have his breakout game the same night. Marvin had 10 points, and 8 rebounds and was playing a lot harder then he usually was in the previous games. He played three different positions, SG, SF and PF. He had a hard time keeping up with Matt Carroll when playing SG, was just dominated down low by Sean May at pf, but played very well at SF. He did his best when being matched up against Alan Anderson, but still didn't play that great on defense with Anderson also having his best game of the revue. Marvin had a really hard time staying out of foul trouble, picking up most of his fouls playing defense with his hands, not his feet. His favorite shot has been a 15 foot jumper from either side, but other than that has really struggled from wherever he shot unless it was around the paint. Williams needs to exploit his tremendous athletic ability better, because here in Salt Lake City he barely used it at all other than finishing fast break dunks.

Salim Stoudamire - Came out like a man possessed and might have showed some of the best shooting the Rocky Mountain Revue has ever seen. Salim finished with 39 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound on 11-19 shooting and 16-19 from the field in only 25 minutes of playing time. With all those points and his reputation as a sharp shooter, you would have thought he must have had 4 or 5 three pointers, but he actually only had 1. Today he showed off all of his scoring ability, not just his fantastic outside shooting. This was the first game that he really was playing PG, but it was more of a one on one game than a team game when he was on the floor. Many times he would bring the ball up and never pass off even once, just come off a couple high screens from his big men before pulling up for a 15-20 foot jumper. Felton had no chance at guarding his shot since Salim would just elevate every time to get it off right over the top of him. This game single-handedly pushed him into the All Rocky Mountain Revue team. He should have had his 40 points, but missed his last two foul shots with only a few seconds left on the clock.

Josh Smith- Yet another Hawks player to have his very best game today, finishing with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks in 35 minutes. He was really using his athleticism tonight on Sean May, but still wasn't strong enough to keep May from backing him down on the block on the other end. He was scoring at will on whoever was guarding him, either Sean May or Bernard Robinson, whomever it was Josh would just drive past them and get to the rim as if it was nothing. He didn't make any shots from outside, but didn’t need to as he just couldn't miss from inside. If there was a soft shot by any one of the Bobcats, he would just elevate and swat it down. He had a very nice game today and played like he should have been playing all along.


Bobcats

Matt Carroll- An average game for Carroll by his standards here, he was a little winded from the very beginning and was exploited a bit by the athletic SGs of Atlanta. He still managed to find a way to get his 19 points, though, on 5-13 shooting from the field. He needed to use his outside shot more often instead of trying to get to the basket with the type of defenders that were on him now. That’s fine, as he shoots the three pointer very well, tonight going 2-4, but only seeming to use it when there is a guy on him loosely. When he is wide open he likes to try and drive instead of take the 3.

Sean May –Another fantastic game that pushed him over the edge and led him to be named the Rocky Mountain Revue MVP. May finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists on 9-19 shooting. He really was taking it to his man tonight and for big parts of the game him and Raymond Felton were just playing a two man game leaving Carroll and the rest of the guys to just watch the show. He ran a lot of pick and rolls with Felton, and also would kick it back out to Ray after he got down deep on the block. He just pushed whoever was on him out of the way and got underneath the basket, never really dunking it, but just shooting his lay-ups with a lot of English on them. He struggled to keep up on defense if the player he is guarding has any speed to him, but showed a lot of polish over the past week here.

Raymond Felton- With all the other big names guys having great games, it was only fitting that Felton joined them. He finished with 16 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, but only 4-17 shooting. There wasn’t much defense played by either him or Stoudamire, which in turn gave the crowed a great showing of offensive ability. He was picking apart the defense with his partner May, usually with the pick and roll. At the start of the game he started off slowly, but when Salim came in the game just went up another notch. He never tried to slow the ball down tonight, always pushing the tempo to keep things moving. Felton will have to work a little harder to expand his perimeter shooting to NBA three point range. He also showed some problems guarding bigger and stronger PG’s at times here at the Revue.

Alan Anderson- Anderson had his best game of the revue here as well, finishing with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal. His shot was finally falling and that shot his confidence through the roof. He didn't play very good defense, but neither did anyone tonight so it wasn't much of an issue. Anderson must have been feeling some pressure and therefore felt the need to show off his perimeter shot every time he got a look here in Salt Lake, meaning he took quite a few bad ones over the past week. Today he was money, though, going 7-10 from the field.