Summer camp vs. Washington

[Ryan Lee <rlee_at_channing@yahoo.com>]

Saw the summer camp at UMass Boston earlier tonight
and I gotta give credit to the Celtics, they put on a
good show.  This year has been one of the more
exciting years in the Shaw Summer League.  The C's are
playing pretty well with these rookies.  So here is my
take on the notable players (By the way, the C's
rocked the Wizards from the opening tip, forgot the
score but the C's kept a 10 point lead the entire
game):

Milt Palacio: was inconsistent throughout the game.  
He may have a more chiseled body but he's still not a
good playmaker and he still can't hit the open 3.  It
seemed he was penetrating without purpose and he just
wasn't finding the open players.  Also he turned the
ball over like crazy.  Everytime he went to the hole
he was getting the ball stripped or knocked away.  If
his rumored 7 million dollar contract is true, then
it's a big waste of money.   

Blount: Looks like he did put on some muscle.  His
shooting is still suspect but his aggression has shot
way up.  He had a mean scowl the entire game and even
screamed a few times when he blocked people. 
Defensively he looked like Mutumbo against these
scrubs.  He was altering and blocking shots left and
right and even got a few rebounds in traffic.

Khalid El-Amin: was probably the MVP of the night. 
The coaching staff gave him more playing time and he
made the best of every minute.  He must have led the
team in scoring and assists which was amazing given
his height and dumpy frame.  He was driving in at will
and hitting contested layups over the big men and he
was hitting people for assists.  He even stuck a few
outside jumpers.  I was extremely impressed by his
effort today.  His defense is a little soft because of
his size but if he keeps playing the like this
offensively, Milt better watch out for his job. 
Khalid was the real deal tonight.

Joe Johnson: I call this guy Paul Pierce with some
smarts.  He can score at will if he wants to but he is
brainy enough to defer to his teammates when they are
open.  He won't try to carry the team like Pierce does
or dribble into 3 defenders.  This guy has got the
complete package.  

Kedrick Brown: athletic is an understatement.  In the
warmups before the game this guy did a windmill dunk
reminiscent of Dominique.  It was amazing.  His elbow
was above rim when he jumped.  During the game in the
opening minute, Kedrick jumped what seemed like 4 feet
in the air to get a rebound.  It was so impressive
that the crowd was ooohing and aahhing just on a
rebound.  Then on a steal by Jeff Sheppard on Milt at
the half court, Kedrick blocked Sheppard's layup from
20 feet away.  It was sick.  I could have sworn his
hand was near the top of the backboard.  The only
knock I have on Kedrick is that his shooting range is
suspect.  He missed alot of his outside shots (mostly
3's) but if he can develop some range on his jumper,
he could be another Vince.  

Moiso: stunk it up offensively.  I don't think he even
scored.  It was weird because last year at the Shaws
league, Moiso was lighting up inside with his jump
hook.  This year he was chucking up bricks galore. 
Defensively he was all right but the refs gave him no
love. He had a lot of blocks that were called fouls.  

Forte: didn't get too much playing time but he had a
few sweet shots.  He hit this crazy fade away jumper
near the free throw line with a hand his face.  He did
get a lot of steals though.  I think if he was given
more minutes, he might show more.

Kwame Brown: this kid needs to go to college.  He has
so much more developing he needs to do.  He has a
decent outside jumper but no inside game.  Every time
he took it inside he got blocked or severely bothered.
 

On a side note Wayne Turner really has improved.  He
played on the Kicks squad alongside Rick Brunson and
he made Rick look like crap.  Turner crossed Kiwane
Garris over repeatly and took him to school.  His
crossover was almost, dare I say, Iverson like.  He's
that quick.  Even his jumper didn't look as ugly as it
used to.  I was shocked whenever he hit a jumper
because he used to have such awful form.  It was
almost as if he was sidearming his shot back then. 
But the IBL definitely shaped up Turner.  He almost
looks like a legitamite NBA point guard.

Peter Vecsey was in house tonight, although that
wasn't a shock.  The shock was his son who was a ball
boy at half time.  This kid has got basketball written
all over him at such an early age.  He must have been
12 at most and he was already palming a ball and
literally doing the entire Nike dribbling commercial. 
I was impressed that someone so young could do that
much.  

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