ssmokinjoe

You'd be more excited if the competition was better? Wow, i wouldn't haved guessed it!

Like i said it's OBVIOUS that these guys are not the true NBA level competition that Diogu will face in the regular season. We ALL know that. It's too easy to just keep saying that. You can name names and tell me the strengths and weaknesses of every man on every roster in every summer league and it all just boils down to what we ALL know and that's that the competition is sub-par. But still, getting 37 and 12 is a positive IMO. It's not mind-blowing and the world won't stop because of it, but like i said again, if you can't look past the fact that the competition is sub-par then you WILL NOT be able to find anything positive in these games.

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FanOfAll8472

I can't find positives in these games? Are you kidding me? I love the SL games and I'm always waiting for people like Jonathan Watters, Jonathan G. (DE), sheefo, HoopsWorld, et al., to write reports. It's awesome how many times Diogu got to the FT line. I was actually quite excited by Diogu's statline, which is why I wrote "Nice to see...". Do I see a positive that Diogu averaged 18 and 8 throughout the entire SL? Yes. I was impressed by Lawrence Roberts when he scored some 37 pts and grabbed about 16 boards or so against the Lakers. I love reading about how players do. Nice try with the baseless accusations.

They're not in the same SL, but other SL's do have some "true NBA level" bigs: Chris Kaman, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson (and Perkins if he can ever get off the bench, his defense is already light years ahead of Big Al's), Andrew Bogut, David Harrison, Sean May, Wayne Simien, very likely Jason Maxiell, etc.

What is too easy, is to get very excited at one performance without even noting the competition. I can tear up a bunch of kids my height who are just learning the game of basketball.

If Diogu was very raw and putting up 37 and 12 against a bunch of NBDLer's, I would be more excited? Why? Because a SL is most helpful for the players still learning or modifying different aspects of their game. Diogu has very little potential, but a very high floor. I and the others who watched him at ASU already know what he can do.

ssmokinjoe

That was the original statement that i reacted to. It's a generic observation that i've seen over and over again that can easily be taken as a backhanded compliment giving nothing more than neutral credit to a good performance. Maybe i took it the wrong way.

Nice to see you point out all those positives... now.

But did you forget that Diogu is a rookie that hasnt played an NBA game yet and that most of the competition out there are also rookies or guys trying to make the cut or NBA guys trying to work on aspects of their game? Wouldnt you say then that that puts Diogu in a league of his peers and not just a guy tearing up on high school kids just learning the game of basketball? Why are you comparing it that way? The negative view would be that they're not good enough for him. The positive view is that he's better than them. We probably look at it differently i guess.

Actually the difference obviously is that i'm a big Warriors fan and i'm hoping for good things out of Diogu. Big numbers from him even in SL is positive to me. But if he really is just playing a bunch of highschoolers just learning the game then F it. He should have scored 80. What a scrub.

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hirschmanz

those 6 turnovers and 6 fouls worry me a bit.

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Bogut... the thunder from down under
Code Redd....

FanOfAll8472

I'm a bit more cautious and subtle. It's not exactly my personality to post "Daaayum!!" or a bunch of dancing bananas (nothing against those). That's just not something I do.

What was the point of posting "37 pts and 12 boards!" or "11-13 from the FT line!", especially when they were posted above me? Weren't you just on my case for posting the "obvious"?

No, in fact that was the point of my first post. Those guys are probably on the same level as Radenovic and Haryasz/Little. Diogu dominated the Pac-10. Some of those Pac-10 bigs will find themselves on a SL team a couple years and some of them won't even play some 25+ minutes on the SL team.

It was an analogy. I wouldn't stand a chance in the NBA, but I play fine at the park. The kids in my analogy wouldn't stand a chance at the park, but they would practicing with those still learning the game at the local high school. In the analogy, the gap in skill level is similar. Diogu is going to the NBA and can stay competitive but these Phoenix bigs aren't going to the NBA (AFAIK at least).

I'm a basketball fan first and foremost, but the Warriors are towards the top of my favorite teams. I like Diogu as a player and I'm also hoping he succeeds. I've seen Portland fans get excited about Qyntel Woods drop 30 in the SL only to stink it up when it really counts. LeBron James never dominated the SL like Lonny Baxter just did. Big numbers in the SL make me excited, but I take those numbers with a grain of salt. When Diogu drops 37 and 12 on a healthy Duncan, I'll post those dancing bananas for you .

bruindre

FanOfAll8472 & ssmokinjoe,

can you guys kiss and make up already?