MKG Better Show Out Tonight, Or He's Gonna Be Shown Up

[Proudiddy]

On the opening night of the Vegas SL, Beal dropped 22 points tonight and made some highlight defensive plays and Harrison Barnes dropped 23 on 8/13 shooting and 4/4 on 3ptrs.

Also, Barnes teammate with the Warriors, Draymond Green had 9 and 9.

And not to mention, he's facing up against Thomas Robinson tonight...

All of these guys are players that everyone on this board liked at one time or another. I wasn't a MKG guy, but I'm hoping for the best... I just really don't want us to look like idiots again with our pick. Anyway, here we go...

[Proudiddy]

Opening minute or two, I'm loving it.

I knew he was a huge athlete, I was just concerned about his offense and didn't want a Gerald Wallace redux. Well, he scored the first point of the night on a FT after an aggressive drive and followed that up with clapping his hands loudly while trapping on the inbound and loudly talking sh*t as he did it. It was hilarious.

[Proudiddy]

Through 10 minutes, MKG is already in double figures scoring. He's dominating the game and to top it off, he throws brings it across half-court on the fast break and throws an alley to Jeff Taylor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we won this off-season. MKG and Taylor are players and Dunlap has already made an impact on our 2nd year guys. You can see it.

[Scrapper1]

MKG showing OUT. 10 points in 8 mins 4-4 shooting. Bobcats up 23-12

[batingaw]

I am impressed so far.

[batingaw]

But a bit disappointed that they are on the bench already. :(

[Bleeding blue in 62]

This is exactly what I expected from Gilly out of the box. Being aggressive to the basket and getting to the line. When I said this before I was told that it would be turnover city. The dude is fearless going to the basket. Also, Taylor is going to be big for the Bobcats. This is going to be a fun year for us Bobcat fans.

[ohara831]

We got a good one in MKG. And JT is going to be fine himself. We did well this draft.

[Proudiddy]

We got a good one in MKG. And JT is going to be fine himself. We did well this draft.

Indeed, I felt Taylor was a steal but I was scared about the "can't shoot" label on MKG. It doesn't matter, HE IS A BEAST.

[Proudiddy]

Jeff Taylor is draining threes and may have even caused an 8-second violation with his defense a few minutes ago. And MKG just added to his totals by stealing the ball and then dunking with two-hands all over one of the Kings' big men. AWESOME.

[Scrapper1]

Taylor and MKG goin off

[CharlotteHornets]

MKG 15 pts on 6-8 shooting 1 for 1 from the 3 point line - 3 reb 2 ast 2 stl -in only 12 MINUTES!!!! WOW!!! Love what Taylor has done as well!

and 62 points in the 1st Half?!?!?!? I think the Cats scored less than that in a couple games last season...haha

[CharlotteHornets]

love Kemba getting to the line 8 times too!

[Proudiddy]

Yeah, Kemba is killing it too, as he should. I think he has 12 pts and 5 asts at the half.

[Bobcatter]

Judging from only the first half, it looks like we at least got the second best player in the draft. Robinson is getting shown up. Gotta love Taylor's shooting as well.

[Proudiddy]

Yeah, Taylor is looking better than most of the lottery picks as well at this point. This may have been our best two draft picks EVER.

[KembaSlice]

Our last 4 draft picks are all showing great potential. I'm getting very excited to see where this team is in 3 years.

[Proudiddy]

More defensive pressure causes yet another turnover in which MKG threads the needle to Kemba in front below the FT line and Kemba finishes a ridiculous layup while being fouled by Fredette. This looks like an entirely different team regarding our 2nd year guys and rookies.

[Proudiddy]

Our last 4 draft picks are all showing great potential. I'm getting very excited to see where this team is in 3 years.

Yeah, at this point, I'm thinking let's not sign any free agents and save all of our money for extensions, lol.

[winthropbobcat]

MKG= Pippen

Taylor = poor man's Danny Granger

[Bleeding blue in 62]

Mullens is balling also. Really the whole team is playing well. I would love to see Gilly take over this 4th qtr.

[CharlotteHornets]

Yeah, at this point, I'm thinking let's not sign any free agents and save all of our money for extensions, lol.

gotta remember we probably have 5 of the teams Top 7 players here so we should win every D-League game by 20+ but I love what I am seeing so far...

[skratch]

im really loving the team and mkg right now

[ammofan]

Mkg da gawd!

[Scrapper1]

MKG-18pts, 8rebs, 5asst and 4stls..in 20 mins with very little effort...beasting! Jeff Taylor-a steal at 31.. got a lottery caliber player in the second round. Kemba-fast and attacking..looks sharp as hell out there. Coach Dunlap- good job.

[Bosnian-Bobcats-Fan]

MKG and Taylor look GREAT....

[superb1]

I just hope this is the beginning of things to come. Plus I hope MKG, Kemba and JT rubs off on the rest of the team, especially TT.

sent from the pseudo GM offices of the Charlotte Bobcats.

[BlockParty]

MKG had a Cam-esq opening game, one small difference...we won.

[Whiz Kid]

MKG had a Cam-esq opening game, one small difference...we won.

I actually hope this ends up being the case. If you look at the Panthers, they still weren't successful with Cam but the media really changed their view because of how he was playing. I hope this can be the case here.

[Black]

He exceeded every expectation I had. Pretty much everyone did.

[Adam42R]

He exceeded every expectation I had. Pretty much everyone did.

Just finished watching the game on DVR - holy shit we have something to be very excited about! MKG seemed to play so well within himself minus two or three over zealous passes. And JT, I concur w/ those that said we might have a second lottery pick at 2nd round prices. Kemba and Biz seemed super pumped and even Higgins looked energized. And Mully had his groove back on from earlier last year .... this seems encouraging as hell. Go Cats!

I like that they are getting this bonding time w/ Dunlap and that Hendo and White? (was that Reggie White shaking hands with guys at the end??) were out there to get some time w/ the new guys and coach. Totally seems like we are moving in a different direction for the first time since bringing in Larry Brown (hope this yields better LT results).

[TheBeagle]

Like I mentioned on the game thread all of our 5 "core" guys where great. Since I haven't seen his name on this thread, I have to give Biz some love. Nailed all four of his FTs and each one was smooth and didn't take any lucky bounces; laid the wood to TRob on a handful of boxouts, just using his lower body strength to move him out of the way and his long arms to grab the defensive and offensive boards; no fumbling of the ball on passes in the post. Love it!

[Black]

Like I mentioned on the game thread all of our 5 "core" guys where great. Since I haven't seen his name on this thread, I have to give Biz some love. Nailed all four of his FTs and each one was smooth and didn't take any lucky bounces; laid the wood to TRob on a handful of boxouts, just using his lower body strength to move him out of the way and his long arms to grab the defensive and offensive boards; no fumbling of the ball on passes in the post. Love it!

Biz was solid, but still fouls way too much. I'm confident he can get that under control.

[ZackTB23]

You mean D.J. White right? If it was Reggie, I'd be scared as hell! This was suppose to reply to Adam42R.

[thesnowman22]

just finished watching it on dvr. Trying to remember its summer league, and we have an advantege by having so many of our top players playing, but wow- hard not to be excited. Win or lose, this team will be much more exciting and gives us lots to look forward too.

MKG reminds me quite a bit of Crash, and Taylor reminds me of Allen Houston. Bsmack played well as did Mullens, and as long as Kemba never shoots outside 15 feet hes gonna be ok. The intensity was awesome. Tyrus better be ready to play...

On another note, Jimmer just looks so defeated already. I hate to see that. But man, he has NO confidence.

[SWedd523]

Biz was solid, but still fouls way too much. I'm confident he can get that under control.
Fouls weren't really that big of an issue during the regular season last year. I'm sure he'll be fine

[PDXKass]

i think he did pretty well. i know these guys haven't had much time to practice together. I wonder if he's going to have a bit of a chip on his shoulders trying to prove he should have gone second instead of many people's projections that the second pick would be T-Rob.

[Whiz Kid]

T-Rob was the one hyped up by the media going into this game. Final results, MKG- +28, T-Rob- -31. It's early, but I'm thinking we made the right pick.

[QC Thundercats]

That's probably the most excited I've been watching a game in like 2-3 years. And to think it was a late night, Friday the 13th summer league game.

Here's what I took from the main cast of characters tonight.

MKG - What a start!! I loved how he kinda had that slight injury/tweak to his leg and just brushed it off like nothing happened. Relentlessly attacked on offense and defense. I noticed on a couple of his power drives that he jumped off the wrong foot, to maybe throw off the defender's timing and avoid the block. Definitely a veteran move. As for his handle, while it seemed a little loose at times, you could obviously tell he knows how to make a move off the dribble to beat his man. Just tighten that up, and nobody will be able to stay in front of him with his incredible first step.

Also showed good court vision and passing. Defensively afraid of nothing, even taking on big burly Robinson head to head a couple times - and winning! And maybe most impressive, even though he scored 18 points in like 20 minutes, none of the offense was forced, as most rookies do when trying to make an impression. Everything came within the flow of the game, and he had an impact on both sides. Can't wait to see more.

Jeff Taylor - Knockdown shooter, aggressive, intelligent defender, explosive athlete. And we stole him in the 2nd round! He looked like a seasoned pro and that he belongs in the league. We've just drafted two 6'7, long, strong, aggressive, hungry defenders to guard against the elite wings in the league.

Kemba - In just a few minutes, you could tell the difference a little structure went into helping his game. I know he was being guarded by the Jimmer, but he seemed like was at a different speed than everyone else on the court tonight, and could explode at any second. While his deep shooting is still a work in progress, he seemed much more in control of the offense than at any time last year. The offense ran smooth, he got the ball to people in the right places, and his attacks ended up in buckets or free throws every time. If that J ever comes around....

Mullens - I was bothered at first by him shooting so many 3s, but I guess he is what he is. He's never going to be a post up player, but maybe we have plans to develop him into a Ryan Anderson type player, which I'd have no problem with. He's a good offensive rebounder, and even though he doesn't have good defensive awareness, he's a good shot blocker off the ball. Shoot on, Mully.

BiSMACK - I'm just enjoying seeing all the improvements in his game as time goes on. He seems much more coordinated and comfortable now. He actually caught passes cleanly and finished with authority, and yes, nailed his free throws. I also loved watching him against Robinson, as he absolutely relishes playing against physical guys. Robinson tried to dunk on him and run through him a couple times, and Biz started smiling and then proceeded to body him up the next few possessions. And I liked his touch and decisive post moves on his couple opportunities. Sky's the limit on this kid.

ThoR - Kind of shows you the difference that coaching makes. I think he showed much more ability than I knew in terms of his ball handling and passing. But he was trying to do WAY too much out there, shooting deep, dribbling into trouble. I'm sure Dunlap wouldn't have put him in such vulnerable positions. Also kind of expected him to try to post more instead of settling for shots, but maybe thats what their coaches want. But I think he still has tons of potential and look forward to watching him grow.

Jimmer - Holy shit, what the hell happened to this guy! To have played a full NBA season and look this lost in a Summer League game? Couldn't dribble, couldn't pass, terrible shot selection and shooting in general. All he needs to do is grow his hair long and grow a mustache, and he'll follow in the footsteps of our favorite draft bust.


gotta remember we probably have 5 of the teams Top 7 players here so we should win every D-League game by 20+ but I love what I am seeing so far...

Yeah, but the thing is, most teams in summer league bring all their first and second year guys, so for ours to dominate like that shows our young talent is actually superior, and that our front office has done a great job of finding these prospects versus the other teams.


Biz was solid, but still fouls way too much. I'm confident he can get that under control.

Honestly, a couple of those fouls were very suspect. He didn't really look out of control or lost to me, so I don't think it will be an issue.

[Adam42R]

You mean D.J. White right? If it was Reggie, I'd be scared as hell! This was suppose to reply to Adam42R.

Haha! Intended to write [Reggie] Williams .... yes, Reggie White there at the end of the game would have been quite concerning.

[ohara831]

On the opening night of the Vegas SL, Beal dropped 22 points tonight and made some highlight defensive plays and Harrison Barnes dropped 23 on 8/13 shooting and 4/4 on 3ptrs.

Also, Barnes teammate with the Warriors, Draymond Green had 9 and 9.

And not to mention, he's facing up against Thomas Robinson tonight...

All of these guys are players that everyone on this board liked at one time or another. I wasn't a MKG guy, but I'm hoping for the best... I just really don't want us to look like idiots again with our pick. Anyway, here we go...

I hope he showed out for you enough to make you happy now. :)

[Zoolander]

Played great last night. Was really surprised how he could draw the defense and dish the ball. He did it a couple of times last night. Very Impressive. For those of you who didn't see it last night they are re-airing it at 12pm et today on NBA TV.

[adam187]

This is BobcatsPlanet after last night's game:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZLJWNp82gU

Proudiddy, you can be Rufio.

So excited by what I saw last night. I don't care that it's summer league, last year was so miserable, it's nice to get excited again.

[notdeadyet]

Played great last night. Was really surprised how he could draw the defense and dish the ball. He did it a couple of times last night. Very Impressive. For those of you who didn't see it last night they are re-airing it at 12pm et today on NBA TV. He reminded me A LOT of Magic Johnson, who I saw a lot of in his Laker days. REALLY! This kid, like Magic, just looks like a LEADER; he can do ANYTHING his team needs on the court, as well as get teammates to play better than they thought they could. Very, very impressive!!

[Proudiddy]

Guys, I know I'm drunk off the kool-aid right now, but no joke... MKG reminded me A LOT of a young Lebron last night. To have that size, handling ability, passing ability, and the explosion to push the break and find a way to the basket almost at will - that doesn't come along very often. Yeah, there was some Pippen in there too as he and Bron have a very similar skill set to begin with, but he was much more like Lebron in terms of forcing the issue with driving the ball.

And whoever said Taylor reminded them of Allan Houston, man, I thought that for a split second but I couldn't come up with a good comparison... He showed some explosiveness when he got in the paint area and off the baseline and his defense was relentless. He seems like an extremely complete player. In all of our years, going back to when the summer leagues were streamed for free off of the Magic's website and I'd watch and listen to those horrid announcers, I've never seen our rookies or team look like this. I know it's still summer league, but guys, we have shifted into a new era with new direction.

At no other time in our history, aside from maybe a few of Kemba's performances in exhibition last year, did I see our rookies and KNOW they were going to be not only good, but franchise "core" players. And MKG has the ability to be a superstar in the league. I saw all of that last night, regardless of the competition.

Also, keep in mind, Sacto may be a team in disarray of some sorts, but Jimmer was on the Vegas SL banner and guys like Darnell Jackson, Whiteside, Kurz, and a couple other guys they had have been in the league for 2-4 years. So we shouldn't have blown them out like we did - IF we didn't have some legit players.

I can't wait till next game.

[DashGlobal]

hopefully the coaches can fix that broken shot. if he every gets a respectable outside shot look out!

[BrotherDave]

He looked pretty good against border-line NBA players.

[Mustachio]

two things about the competition. One, I keep hearing how we have a more complete team than anyone else in the summer league. While a bit true, the only 2 people that shouldnt be there are Dunlap and Mully. and 2, I think we have a pretty dang good young core, but the reason we blew out the Kings last night is that we played like it was a regular season game, and sactown played like it was a summer league game.

Regardless, MKG and the team played at a high level and thats all you can ask no matter the competition level. Good message to send to the young team... Play hard and fast, don't worry about what they do.

[spectre]

I've seen that mentioned elsewhere about Dunlap being there. Sure, head coaches normally don't do these things but lest we forget the last time Dunlap coached he was a frigging assistant in college! If you look at NBA experience and esp. recent a lot of the guys coaching other teams probably have more.

Summer League really doesn't mean squat definitively unless it's bad. By that I mean if a guy can't play in SL then he most likely won't even cut it in the pros. An NBA player should look good in SL, and if he looks really good then you can start having some hope about the guy.

Saying all that...damn we looked good!

[Bleeding blue in 62]

I'll say one thing. Of the summer games I've seen so far, not only have the Bobcats looked like the best team but was also the most fun to watch. That should help sell tickets. I'm a Tony come lately since Gilly went there.I already can't wait for their next game.Not just Gilly & Taylor, but the whole team looked great and energetic. Get em Bobcats!!!!

[SJackson1]

18 Pts, 8 Rbs, 5 Asts, 4 Stls !

This is exactly why we picked him at number 2 becasue he can do so many things on the court !

[G Wuh Wuh Wuh Wallace]

Had a chub on all day about last nights game. I really loved what everyone was doing and for now MKG looks the part. I really liked the interviews on bobcats.com especially kemba and mully. They both seem very very hungry and bought in to this new system. They are deff worth a look if you guys haven't watched them yet. Biz looked really good as well but I was so impressed with the offensive abilities of taylor. He has such a smooth shot and just looks savy out there. Granted this was all glorified pick-up game but still....the sky is the limit for these guys.

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/video/head-coach-mike-dunlap-71312

[BrotherDave]

18 Pts, 8 Rbs, 5 Asts, 4 Stls !

This is exactly why we picked him at number 2 becasue he can do so many things on the court !

Against arguably the worst SL team in Las Vegas.

/pessimism

[Jennings]

In 21 mins. BTW, have you seen the Lakers team?

[ND22]

Against arguably the worst SL team in Las Vegas.

/pessimism

2nd worst...Lakers take the worst title.

[CTownSC]

We play Cleveland next - they should have plenty of recent draft picks on their squad - I'm hoping for a tougher opponent in game 2

Go Bobcats

[batingaw]

2nd worst...Lakers take the worst title.

2nd to that. Lakers is the worst.
I am also pessimist but at the same time excited to see the team against real nba team.

[BlockParty]

We play Cleveland next - they should have plenty of recent draft picks on their squad - I'm hoping for a tougher opponent in game 2

Cleveland's roster just took a hit when Kyrie Irving broke his hand going all A'mare/Fire Extinguisher on a wall during a Cavalier practice yesterday. Broken bone which will require surgery...should be ready for training camp in late September
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8167467/cleveland-cavaliers-guard-kyrie-irving-breaks-right-hand-las-vegas-practice

By the way, watch the video on this link until 2:15 when Kyrie is chirping w/ Kobe about playing 1 on 1. Kyrie says, what you think I'm Lil Bow Wow, Kobe replies, you're about as big as him.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 2012 SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER
(as of July 10, 2012)

NO. PLAYER POS. HGT. WGT. BIRTHDATE PRIOR TO NBA/HOME COUNTRY DRAFT YRS. PRO
10 T.J. Campbell G 5-9 190 1/23/88 Portland/USA ’10 R
50 Micheal Eric F/C 6-11 240 6/24/88 Temple/Nigeria ’12 R
44 Luke Harangody F 6-7 245 1/2/88 Notre Dame/USA ’10 2
31 Justin Holiday G/F 6-6 185 4/5/89 Washington/USA ’11 R
2 Kyrie Irving G 6-3 191 3/23/92 Duke/USA ’11 1 OUT-lost fight w/ wall
21 Rob Jones F 6-6 240 1/22/89 Saint Mary’s/USA ’12 R
12 D.J. Kennedy G/F 6-6 215 11/5/89 St. John’s/USA ’11 1
30 Matt Pressey G 6-2 195 11/8/88 Missouri/USA ’12 R
24 Samardo Samuels F 6-9 252 1/9/89 Louisville/Jamaica ’10 2
15 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 1/15/88 Texas A&M/USA ’10 1
14 Garrett Temple G 6-6 195 5/8/86 LSU/USA ’09 2
13 Tristan Thompson F/C 6-9 227 3/13/91 Texas/USA ’11 1
3 Dion Waiters G 6-4 221 12/10/91 Syracuse/USA ’12 R
40 Tyler Zeller F/C 7-0 250 1/17/90 North Carolina/USA ’12 R

[Plowright]

That is a pretty good summer league roster they have there, this should be a much tougher test. I expect to see MKG on waiters, Waiters was thought of as one of the best scorers in the draft so it will be a good test for MKG too. I just hope his knee isnt too bad, I know he sat out part of practice the other day but Bonnell said it was nothing too serious. Temple better not come out and torch us!!!

[DashGlobal]

I wonder if the game is gonna be on nba tv.

gotta see this game!

[Plowright]

Dash, I have just removed you from my ignore list.... so be nice

I wish to bridge our friendship through this link that will show the summer league game

http://atdhenet.tv/index.html

[DashGlobal]

Dash, I have just removed you from my ignore list.... so be nice

I wish to bridge our friendship through this link that will show the summer league game

http://atdhenet.tv/index.html

Good look on the link.

Hopefully it is manageable as all the ones yest I was using were causing me trouble (shutting off, needing to download x thing, ect)

[Plowright]

I used this one for the last game with a bunch of other as my Summer League Broadband didn't work and it was fine. If for some reason it doesnt work go to the chat room/gamethreads section on BCP. There will be people chatting during the game who will prob have other links

[WAM9]

According to the guide, NBA TV will definitely be carrying the game tonight at 8:30pm.