By FRED KERBER
ORLANDO — Yeah, Summer League basketball is for those with cast iron stomachs.
Oh, there are the studs â like Michael Beasley who shot every chance he could but showed more skill than some entire teams here. And there are the draft picks â like the three in the Nets fold, Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson and Chris Douglas-Roberts, that you want to see.
But too often, there are guys from places like Wheeling Institute of Dry Cleaning or some Eastern European places that they used to break into on the old âMission: Impossibleâ shows (How many times did they show up in a white panel truck, speaking perfect English insisting Comrade President wanted the air conditioning fixed and were admitted?)
But still, the first day here Monday had a buzz. It was the largest summer league crowd â 352 credentials for media and team officials and scouts issued â for Orlando except for LeBronâs debut that drew some 15,000, forcing a move to the downtown arena for the game.
The attraction here was No. 1 pick Derrick Rose and the Bulls, coached by Chicago head coach Vinny Del Negro who was getting real on-the-job training (this was his first head coaching game anywhere), against No. 2 pick Michael Beasley and the Miami Heat.
More on them later â if you canât wait or live in a refrigerator, Beasley was terrific, Rose was awful. But first, the Nets.
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The three picks â and remember, this is after one week of summer training camp and ONE game against guys who largely will be very familiar with D league cities â looked good. Do Brook Lopez (No. 10), Ryan Anderson (21) and Chris Douglas Roberts (40) insure playoffs? No. Do they answer all the Nets needs? No. Address, yes, answer, no. Theyâre not great, theyâre not stiffs. Theyâre interesting.
Yet there was an energy about them. Toss in Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll, a nice shooter but just 6-2, and the Nets had four double-figure scorers.
But again, itâs summer league. Hereâs each guyâs assessment of himself.
âI’m pretty tough on myself. The team really did well and that’s all I’m worried about. I wouldn’t say âsatisfiedâ but I’ll accept what I did. And I’m looking to build on it,â said Lopez who was decidedly better in the second half than the first, scoring eight of his 10 points after halftime â but he failed to get a single rebound.
Douglas-Roberts thinks he played with that âchipâ that insists a lot of teams messed up on draft night, allowing him to fall to the second round.
âDon’t you see me playing with that chip on my shoulder? Definitely,â said CD-R, when asked if he thinks he showed teams what they missed after he scored 15 points.
Anderson was beating himself up a bit, asking coaches about areas he felt he âmessed upâ while the team walked to the lockerroom after an 86-74 wipeout of Orlando.
âJust my offense, the spacing. I’m not really used to the NBA spacing yet, especially in our offense,â Anderson said. âIt’s just different. You’ve got to be spaced and I’m just used to following the ball. It’s just a little bit different.â
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We interrupt the summer league for a free agency report: Team president Rod Thorn said nothing is doing. âNot a thing,â he said.
Sounds like the Nets are waiting to see what Bostjan Nachbar and Nenad Krstic can fetch on the open market (and they can match Krstic). All the usual suspects remain on their radar: Roger Mason, Quinton Ross, etc.
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So who is Jaycee Carroll?
âWe like Jaycee. We like his game. We were trying to get a late second to draft him,â Frank insisted. âWe fought very hard to get him on our team and we feel very strongly that he’s got a bright future.â
If he can score 22 every night like he did Mondayâ¦
âI’m trying to show them that I’m a tough player, that I’m going to hustle every play and get some loose balls. I’m going to build to be part of a team and have a role. I’m trying to show I’m a smart player and I can listen and do what they want,â said Carroll (7-of-13 floor, 8-of-9 line).
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Sean Williams started. Sean Williams allegedly played in the first half. Became more of a noticeable defensive presence â one block, a couple alterations and a goaltend â after halftime. And Frank likes having a couple legit shot-blockers in Williams and Lopez.
âHe was a presence around the rim,â Frank said of Lopez, who blocked three shots. âHe and Sean so you have two potential shot blockers out there.â
And the Nets did some nice things defensively: Orlando shot .323 (21-of-65), including .300 on threes (6-of-20).
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Frank on Lopez for Tuesday â when Nets face Beasley and Heat: âObviously, as a 7-foot center he’s going to have to come with the mentality (Tuesday) that âI’m going to dominate the glass.â Heâs going to have to rebound the ball.â
Frank on the difference in halves in Lopez:
âWhen you have summer league games, there are so many different combinations. It’s not like we’re just throwing the ball to Brook. We’re playing a team game. But I thought when he had opportunities, he was very assertive. In summer league, Miami is going to play to Beasley. We’re not just going to play to one guy. The ball is going to move.â
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Maurice Ager said his groin injury acted up. He started, played 22 minutes, committed five fouls, shot 1-of-4. Did not distinguish himself.
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Courtney Lee of Western Kentucky, Orlandoâs first round pick, hit his first three shots, went 2-of-8 after. Said he was a little too excited. âI just had to figure a way to calm myself down.â
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And elsewhere in Orlando, there is a rat infestation problem in one of the suburbs (according to the late local news). Theyâre trying poison and traps. No comment yet from Mickey and Minnie.
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Okay, the marquee event. Beasley looked like he was trying to be World B. Beasley: in the first quarter, just over eight minutes, eight shots. For the game, 21 shots in 22:48.
âIf I would have known it was that many I would have stopped shooting,â Beasley said.
Doubtful. Beasley finished with 28 points as Heat walloped the Bulls, 94-70.
“His basketball IQ is very high. He’s very gifted. The game comes to him very easy,” Heat assistant Keith Askins, who served as the head coach, said of the 6-9, 235-pound Beasley. “Our offensive package was very limited. If they had someone big on him, we ran high pick and rolls. If they had someone small, we put him on the block. And against the bigs, he could step off.”
Beasley, despite the shot frequency, was terrific. Everyone thought so. Except Beasley.
âIâd give myself a C. I only had nine rebounds, only two assists, two turnovers and missed 12 shots,â Beasley said.
And Beasleyâs first shot was rejected by Tyrus Thomas.
âI caught a flat. I went to the rack and when I went to jump and then it was like, `Aww.’ I tried to keep going with it, but that kid can jump, man.â
Beasley outplayed pros Thomas and Joakim Noah.
“He probably said, ‘Who is Tyrus Thomas?'” Askins offered. “He’s used to being the best player on the court. And I would say tonight, he was the best player on the court.â
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Rose summed up his effort: âHorrible.â
The prosecution rests, your honor.
âI was tense with the new players because I don’t know how they play yet,â said Rose (3-of-8, 5 turnovers). âIn the first half I was running more plays instead of reacting.â
Rose was handled most effectively by Mario Chalmers, who try to re-enact Kansas over Memphis.
âI thought I did a pretty good job on him, but it wasn’t me against Rose. It was the Heat against the Bulls and the Heat came out better,â Chalmers said.
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Joakim Noah was supposed to do a clinic for kids at a New York City school. It was canceled in the wake of Noahâs arrest for marijuana possession and an open alcohol container in Gainesville over Memorial Day Weekend.
âThey felt like it wasn’t good for the image of the school,â Noah explained.
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Russell Westbrook was terrific in the first half, struggled in the second half but still impressed in the first game as his Oklahoma City entry lost to Indiana, 95-78.
Westbrook finished with 18 points five assists and four rebounds. The former UCLA guard who was picked fourth looks like a guy who can get to any spot on the floor. He’s quick, super aggressive and he’ll get to the line. He had his hands full though with NBDL player Earl Calloway who played a terrific all-around game.
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Two Orlando Magic employees Galante (public relations) and Dante (radio) announcing the games on the team’s website get love-hate reactions. We happen to like them. Quick sampling from yesterday:
Q: “So what do you know about (Chicago’s) Marcel Jones?”
A: “Not much.”
Then they were trying to come up with a nickname for the new Oklahoma City team, late of Seattle. The winner in their view: “Kevin Durant and Everybody Else Who Plays for Oklahoma City.”
And a couple more: “Derrick Rose has been here for eight minutes and he already knows enough not to pass to Aaron Graves.”
“Thanks for checking us out at orlandomagic.com. We promise to provide no extra insight.”
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And while the Nets were looking at their future here, halfway across the country Richard Jefferson was talking about moving on. Yup, he was ticked when he first got traded.
âIt wasn’t about the city. It was about that feeling of rejection by the team that traded for you on draft day seven years ago. But when that happened, I didn’t want to go to New Jersey either,” Jefferson said at his introductory press conference in Milwaukee. âI think Michael Redd and I can complement each other a little bit more because he’s one of the best outside shooters I’ve ever seen, and I’m more of a slasher inside.”