RE: Banks not Lebron is the story....

["Wright, Cecil" <Cecil.Wright@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ryan,

What can you tell us about Hunter's game?

Cecil  

-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Lee [mailto:rlee_at_channing@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: July 15, 2003 2:32 AM
To: Celtics@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Banks not Lebron is the story....


Was just at the Celtics Summer League at UMass Boston and the house was rockin.  I felt like I was at a Ruckers Park game with the whole crowd ooooing and aaahing at every move. It was especially loud when Marcus Banks had forced Lebron into a baseline airball and took it to Lebron on several drives in the beginning.  Yeah Lebron did have 25 points but the surprising thing that the box scores don't tell you is that most of them were not on Banks.  Banks from the opening tip absolutely shut down Lebron's penetration and forced him to be a jump shooter whenever he was on him.   I don't know what game the Lebrainwashed media was watching but Banks contained Lebron.  Sure Lebron got a few put backs and couple of jumpers on Banks but he had to work to get them.  All I can say is Banks is the real deal on defense.  Great lateral quickness and very strong for his size to be able to take contact from Lebron on the drive.  I think Banks might even be able to keep up with Kidd on defe!
 nse. 
 Offensively he's got great penetration skills and can finish in traffic as evidenced by a couple of layups right over Boozer and Lebron.  The only thing lacking is jumper from beyond 15 feet. 
The other surprise besides Banks' talent is that Kedrick looked sluggish defensively.  Or maybe he just can't stop Lebron.  At one point Lebron scored a quick 6 points on Kedrick on 3 consecutive possessions and just left poor Key in the dust.  I;ve never seen Kedrick get burned so badly off the dribble.  Kedrick contributed on the glass and scored some (including a sick alley oop two handed dunk from Bremer) but it definitely wasn't one of his more dominating summer league performances.  
Lebron scored the rest of his points on Bremer but it's not like that's a surprise.  He just overpowered and shot over Bremer.  It's not like JR is a slouch on D but since Banks is around Bremer's size, it just goes to show you how impressive Banks' defense was on Lebron.      
Overall I'd say Banks was everything he was hyped up to be - a great defender with some slashing skills.   Lebron didn't disappoint either with his slick passing and obliteration of Kedrick.  Even the high schooler Kendrick showed some good stuff.  He got a few boards and putbacks but his most astounding  play was his full court pass to JR for a layup.  It was really a heads up play where Perkins after getting the defensive rebound realized that Dajuan Wagner was sleeping on defense and accurately hit a streaking Bremer with a full court pass for the open layup.  Based off his play today it's quite possible that the C's could keep Kendrick.  

Can't wait till the start of the season.
 
Ryan
 
PS Bruno Sundov is the biggest stiff on the planet.  Besides missing a bunch of 3s, he was scored on by practically everyone else on the Cavs.  He can't finish in the post, his 3s weren't falling, people half his size score on him, and Boozer was killing him on the boards.  What purpose does this guy serve if he can't even do well in the summer league?  Heck even Brian Scalabrine in the previous game before the Celts was dominating for New Jersey.
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