Apricot's Notes on the Quinten Post vs Kel'el Ware duel; plus requests for Qs for Perks
Post tests himself against the first round pick
The master Summer League post index has links to all the game previews and reports, and the full Summer League schedule.
I was very interested to see how Quinten Post (pick #52) played against Kel’el Ware, a top 2024 NBA Draft selection (#15). As it turned out, Ware was chosen for the Summer League First Team, so he was a good test of Post. They both played pretty well, I thought.
The Duelists
Kel’el Ware, Indiana. 2024 #15.
Apricot In-Game Notes
After Ware beats everyone for an alley oop dunk, Post outfights Ware for a rebound. Am very keen to see this matchup unfold.
Post guards Ware well on a PNR. Post is not bad at drop coverage, keeping his arms in the passing lane to the roller.
Post’s gravity in the dunker spot and in the corner has given space for layups. On the other hand, he over helps on a drive to give up a mega dunk for Ware.
Bogus “illegal” screen on Post. That looked clean. Just because Pelle falls down doesn’t make it illegal.
Post pulled (minutes restriction) and GSW brings in backup center… Kevin Knox. Ware gets Collins defending him on a switch. > 1 foot height difference I think. Knox with a clean scram switch on the entry, actually stones Ware on a post up.
Post quite religiously boxes out on every play. But I wish Coach Deki could have had time with him. Deki taught Looney how to box out with one arm and rebound with the other. Post uses a classic full wingspan/butt stance that makes it hard to get the actual rebound.
Post with a very lovely pass to a cutter. I have zero doubts that Post will be viable as a delay/high post passer on offense. He looks fine on defense… so far.
Post with the OREB, missed an open shooter in the corner, but he secured it.
Ware with a turnaround hook shot over Post… decent contest. Any non-dunk shot by Ware is a victory.
Ethan Thompson has been pressing all game. THE PLOW with the blind denial deflection on D. Plowdini playing a more complementary role today as the others — with bag unsecured — are shooting as if it’s their last chance.
Plow’s shot is off and it may be messing with his defense. Earlier he let Pelle beat him backdoor out of the corner, now he lets Daniels grab an OREB over him. In the meantime, Pat Spencer is grinding out some scoring off drives to keep GSW ahead
Plow also switching to stay on the ball at the end of Q2. Definitely sees himself as the defender alpha on court. In the meantime Pat Spencer and Christopher scuffling… tech on Christopher.
Knox actually looks pretty good when he’s not spreading chaos.
Getting chippy. Refs call two straight illegal screens to try to settle.
Post stops Ware twice at the basket. That was 7 foot height at work
Post posts up and walks Ware under the basket and gets a foul. Not a huge fan of his post game, but it is functional. I’d just make it the bailout option of any play, not the first option.
Q3.7.45. Plowden with a masterful defensive rotation to save a dunk. Was a wing PNR and Ware got the step on Post on the roll, but THE PLOW stayed in the lane instead of following his man to the weak corner. That held up Ware long enough for Post to switch back, then The Plow scrambles back to cover his man.
In the age old Warriors tradition, Coach Vereen loses the challenge.
No large t-shirt head today, Podz wearing a normal Olympics jacket [for his TV interview].
Post tries to trigger a handoff with Spencer. Pat instead points him into the post, Post posts up Pelle, gets him with a GORGEOUS spin move, dunks. You didn’t think the Dutch battle ship could turn that fast, did you?
Spencer follows with a sweet handoff to another Post dunk.
Then Post stones Ware on two straight possessions, including one where Ware gets him with a roundhouse elbow to the gut. Post’s most impressive minute so far.
I am gravely disappointed that Podz didn’t unzip the jacket to reveal an enormous head of Trayce Jackson-Davis.
I guess it’s summer league for refs too. Ethan T gets robbed of a highlight block.
Commentators with an extremely outdated discussion of Steph Curry. I beg of you, go back to highlighting the unknown stories of the players on the SL teams.
Post with a clean pick and roll for a solid dunk. His screens are SOLID… you can see people smacking into them and feeling it.
The Plow gets smacked down fouled by Williams. Plow refused to accept a helping Williams hand. Getting chippy.
Post with a nice keeper to a drive to a foul by Ware. Post is very good at flowing directly into offensive actions and keeping the offense moving. Very decisive.
Post hesitates on the pick and pop three and airballs it. But otherwise having a very good impact. As I type it, Post gets called for a touch foul on the Ware fadeaway. Good duel.
Post is on a minutes restriction so he’s in and out.
Headed for a random ending. If GSW can pull this out, they will trigger a Pat Spencer vs Cam Spencer showdown.
[On learning that Cam is injured] Darn it!!
Vescovi with a flying save of a ball, then muffs the floater, then hits a huge 3 to keep the Good Guys close.
Knox has dialed down the chaos, not down to zero, but enough for his play to shine. Pat with a HUGE hustle play to break up a fast break.
Where is the foul on Christopher?
Good idea but Yuri to Pat pass goes awry.
Here we go. Pat with a good drive out of the corner, then turns it over. Pat had a lot of good plays today and created lots of shots with his kick outs. But he was unfortunately in the middle of all the losing plays at the end.
Would have been fun to make the championship, mainly because I wanted to see more Post. Oh well.
Profoundly unwise foul from Christopher. I would be surprised if this was a flagrant though. [3 FTs down 4 for no reason]
Okay, ALWAYS CLOSE ENOUGH TO HURT… need a rebound to a 3
That was fun anyway. Over these two weeks, I’ve become attached to this plucky band of brothers. It was all you could ask of summer league.
I think Post has a straightforward path to eventually being a hybrid of Brook Lopez and Bjelica.
2024-25 Nostra-Dramas
Kerr: did USA win Gold? if not, the GSW season will open with a whirlwind of doubt as to Kerr's ability to adapt his style beyond, well, his style. The goodwill and respect Kerr has built up over his illustrious career will prevail, but it will be noisy.
Curry: we all like to think of him as super-human, but is this the year, especially following the Olympics, that we acknowledge that he is older and his min p/gm, tot gms & on-court assignments need to be curtailed during the regular season, even at the risk of missing the playoffs? What's the point of getting to the playoffs anyway if Curry has been ground to a pulp during the regular season?
FO: MDJ has, imo, done a masterful job of getting the team out of its financial straight jacket. What he has now is flexibility, and waiting until the trade deadline may be the best play. Get a good look at the team, then GP2, Loon & Wiggs could be worth something to teams needing to fill holes due to injuries, etc. If Wiggs can't be moved, Moody would likely have to be as he would win the NBA's "Odd Man Out Award" if he & Wiggs finish the season together. Whatever happens, some money will be moved to make room for Post and/or someone on the buyout market for the stretch run.
Dray & JK: Who starts at PF? Dray will likely avg around 26 min p/gm. If he insists on starting and closing, it creates problems down the lineup. All Dray needs to do is come off the bench and log a few more minutes at center vs. other team's back-up centers (not as physically taxing), assume the old Iggy role, have more energy for closing, and then all the pieces in the lineup fall into place:
JK is your full-time 33+ min p/gm starting PF, he's a big part of the future and if the team isn't willing to go there by now, then trade him.
Wiggins, who avg a mere 27 min p/gm last year, gets back up to 33+. If he has a bounce back year, it will be on the court as a starter, not playing bench-player minutes.
Moody, penciled in as back-up SF behind Wiggins, and nobody, and I mean nobody not named Moody subs in behind Wiggs. Again, if Moody can't have definitive role on this team, trade him. At this point, it's just wrong. If Wiggs moved mid-season, Moody slips right into his starter role.
If Dray starts & continues to eat up the lion's share of min at PF, JK pushes Wiggs out of SF minutes and Wiggs pushes Moody out of the lineup entirely and I expect a repeat of last year's Merry-Go-Round of "trying to find out who we are" lineups.
In my groggy mind, Dray starting or coming off the bench will be the biggest foretelling of the season to come. Are Steph/Dray/Kerr willing to throw a change-up at the start of games? If you are trying to break out of old patterns, if you are trying to get out of old habits that aren't working for you, what better way than to start off games doing something different? Yada-yada-yada.
Ok, back to the espresso machine.
"The New Orleans Pelicans have claimed Trey Jemison off waivers from the Memphis Grizzlies, league sources told @hoopshype. Memphis waived Jemison to sign Jay Huff to a two-way deal."
https://x.com/MikeAScotto/status/1816944026878152776
Pels are in need of a starting center, so I can see why they picked Jemison up.