2023 NBA Summer Leagues (Caleb & RHJ)
- Thread starter NickRU714
- Start date
Caleb's NBA value will be based on whether a team can view him as a best defensive option for a possession for a specific spot. If the answer is yes why not have him on your roster as a 12th player (don't they have more that dress now). If he can be trusted to be a better option cold off the bench to defend a last possession at the end of a quarter. If not, I dont see any value.
You don’t know yet with the right mix of offensive players that he can’t help a team play lock down defense for block 3-4 minute stretches without materially compromising the offense. That’s simply not fair as you’ve never actually seen him play with a combination of 4 other guys whose offense was good enough to get them to the NBA.
So far - he hasn’t stagnated the offense at all in summer league play. He’s actually accumulating assists at a very high rate. As long as he doesn’t try to do too much, he’s not hurting an offense that much by being in the game for a couple possessions.
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I thought of a new All-Star weekend event for defensive specialists.
"Lockdown"
1 possession
1v1 (maybe 2v2 as well)
Full court
Offensive team has 20 seconds to get down the court and score
Imagine Caleb against Ja Morant for the full length. Would be great.
Or Caleb against someone like Jokic/Embiid. Would Jokic be able to get the ball down the court without losing the ball to Caleb?
Don’t sell him short yet on 5 v5 is my point. Caleb doesn’t only collect steals. His defense results in others getting steals. He forces a lot of bad passes too.
He has to show enough on offense that opposing teams have to take his ability to score seriously and cover, not ignore him, forcing his team to play 5-4 on offense.
Got it. It’s a good point except that part about not seeing any other possible value. Your selling him short.
At minimum, a lock down defender always makes for a very useful practice body on a roster.
He is showing enough. You can’t simply “not cover”Caleb. He’s a pretty smart halfcourt player and can take what a defense gives him. The 3 of 11 is deceiving. Some of those were missed offensive hustle play put backs. He’s wisely avoiding the temptation to take the types of shots that he knows aren’t his strength. Last game he didn’t attempt a shot and his team was +14 in the 13 minutes he played.
Totally agree. Caleb might be my all time favorite and really hope he sticks. Like you said, he needs to stick to what he’s good at and demonstrate competence on offense. I’m sure coaches are salivating at how disruptive he is on defense. Your points raised in this thread have been excellent.
Ron led the Raptors in points (19) and minutes in their overtime loss tonight. Looking good.
I watched the Raptors-Nets game last night.
Eh. It wasn't really that great of a game for RHJ.
Nearly half of his 19pts came from great FT shooting (9-10).
He was 5-13 from the field (0-2 from 3).
All the shots were layups (most nice drives through the defense and not just easy drop offs or fast breaks)
Don't remember him hitting an actual jump shot.
Had a couple nice assists off drives.
He also tried to dunk on a guy again and missed - got blocked a couple times and had some bad turnovers.
Got bailed out on a couple turnovers where he got striped or made a bad pass but they kept possession.
Also the end game was horrific for Ron.
As a Nets fan - I was very happy he throw up the terrible step back 3.
It didn't matter to the final play but he just stood there and watched Jalen Williams put back layup to win.
Ron's guy ran completely past him following the play and was in excellent position to end the game as well - if Williams didn't get there first.
Note - OT was the Elam Ending. First Team to score 7 points wins.
Raptors needed 4 points when Ron took the terrible step back 3.
Here are some highlights - I think they show all 5 of Ron's baskets.
His end game shot isn't in there.
Eh. It wasn't really that great of a game for RHJ.
Nearly half of his 19pts came from great FT shooting (9-10).
He was 5-13 from the field (0-2 from 3).
All the shots were layups (most nice drives through the defense and not just easy drop offs or fast breaks)
Don't remember him hitting an actual jump shot.
Had a couple nice assists off drives.
He also tried to dunk on a guy again and missed - got blocked a couple times and had some bad turnovers.
Got bailed out on a couple turnovers where he got striped or made a bad pass but they kept possession.
Also the end game was horrific for Ron.
As a Nets fan - I was very happy he throw up the terrible step back 3.
It didn't matter to the final play but he just stood there and watched Jalen Williams put back layup to win.
Ron's guy ran completely past him following the play and was in excellent position to end the game as well - if Williams didn't get there first.
Note - OT was the Elam Ending. First Team to score 7 points wins.
Raptors needed 4 points when Ron took the terrible step back 3.
Here are some highlights - I think they show all 5 of Ron's baskets.
His end game shot isn't in there.
The knock on Caleb is that he's offensively challenged enough you can't assume that this was a fluke.
If you are a Nets fan, you should be feeling good about Jalen Wilson. Averaging 17 points in 4 games and does a little bit of everything. Looks like he can be a rotational player. He was drafted 51st and is on a 2 way. Nets always seem to have a really good eye for talent in the draft.
I can confidently say Caleb will not consistently miss actual layups once nerves pass. Mid range and 3s id agree
I’m sure they must practice running plays. It’s helpful to have the best defenders possible to try things out on isn’t it?
During the regular season they rarely practice in the NBA, because they generally play every other day, and sometimes back to back. That is another reason they started the G-league, so the young players had a place to develop, because it is hard to improve sitting at the end of the bench with little to no practice.
I saw a couple minutes of today's game. RHJ didn't play. He was not in uniform at the end of the bench, with his left arm in a sling. Ugh.
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