Paul George a Winner in Summer League

Yesterday, Eurobasket listed its winners and losers of the NBA Summer League. Losers included Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Ekpeh Udoh, the Timberwolves, and the Clippers. Winners included Jrue Holliday, the Kings, the Rapters, the Knicks, and the Pacers.

The Pacers left Orlando confident with 10th overall draft pick Paul George (Fresno St.). George scored 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He also averaged 2.4 steals.

Defense has been a significant point of criticism against the Pacers. I will be happy to see the addition of his youthful aggression on that end of the floor this season. His ability to grab boards and force turnovers could combine to create many more scoring opportunities for the Pacers this year.

USA U17 Team Wins Gold!

The USA U17 Team handily defeated Poland 111-80 to win Gold at the FIBA U17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany.

Team USA was lead by guard Brad Beal (Chaminade College Prep H.S./St. Louis, MO), who averaged 18.3 PPG and earned the World Championship MVP award. James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian H.S./Norfolk, VA) joined Beal on the all-world championship tournament team.

Beal scored 20 points in the championship game. Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick H.S./Somerdale, NJ) added 16. Chasson Randle (Rock Island H.S./Rock Island, IL) scored 9. Adonis Thomas (Melrose H.S./Cordova, TN) and Marquis Teague (Pike H.S./Indianapolis, IN) scored 8 each.

Teague was 2-5 with 2 rbs, 8 ast, and 1 stl in 16 minutes.

Recap | Box Score

Gordon Hayward, Unstoppable Shooter in Orlando

Check out this move by #9 draft pick Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz in NBA Summer League play down in Orlando, FL. Hayward fakes out three defenders, then spins back for the 2-point jumper.

Hayward scored 14 pts with 4 rb and 1 ast in this game against the 76ers. The Jazz defeated the 76ers 85-56 for their 2nd win in 2 days.

Hayward is averaging 10.8 ppg and 3.0 rpg for the Jazz. His shooting has been impressive, silencing critics who questioned his shooting stats in the 2009-10 NCAA season for Butler. So far in the Summer League, Hayward is shooting 61.9% from the field and is 2-6 from behind the arc. He has also made 26 out of 28 FT attempts for 92.9%.

Interestingly, fellow Butler alum Mike Green was playing for the 76ers in this game, but had a rough showing with 0 pts, 1 rb, 0 ast, 2 stl in 19:55 on the floor. Green will make his way out to Las Vegas, NV in the next couple days to continue Summer League play for the Portland Trailblazers.

More Summer League scores and highlights are available at NBA.com.

2010-12 USA National Team Roster

The 2010-12 USA National Team Roster is out! These are the guys who could be representing us in the Olympics. Take a look at who is representing Indiana (in bold):

LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers / Texas)
Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets / Syracuse)
Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets / Colorado)
Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz / Duke)
Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors / Georgia Tech)
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers / Lower Merion H.S.)
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors / Davidson)
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder / Texas)
Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings / Memphis)
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies / Connecticut)
Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers / Indiana)
Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers / New Mexico)
Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder / Georgetown)
Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic / Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy)
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers / Arizona)
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers / St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.)
Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves / Prentiss H.S.)
David Lee (New York Knicks / Florida)
Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets / Stanford)
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA)
O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies / USC)
Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers / Rhode Island)
Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets / Wake Forest)
Kendrick Perkins (Boston Celtics / Clifton J. Ozen H.S.)
Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons / Kentucky)
Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls / Memphis)
Amar’e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns / Cypress Creek High School)
Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat / Marquette)
Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats / Alabama)
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA)
Deron Williams (Utah Jazz / Illinois)

2010 USA Basketball Select Squad

2010 USA Basketball Select squad (Hoosiers in bold):

Lavoy Allen (Temple/Morrisville, PA)
William Buford (Ohio State/Toledo, OH)
LaceDarius Dunn (Baylor/Monroe, LA)
Jimmer Fredette (BYU/Glens Falls, NY)
Scotty Hopson (Tennessee/Hopkinsville, KY)
Scoop Jardine (Syracuse/Philadelphia, PA)
JaJuan Johnson (Purdue/Indianapolis, IN)
Jon Leuer (Wisconsin/Orono, MN)
Shelvin Mack (Butler University)
Marcus Morris (Kansas/Philadelphia, PA)
Jacob Pullen (Kansas State/Maywood, IL)
John Shurna (Northwestern/Glen Ellyn, IL)
Kyle Singler (Duke/Medford, OR)
Chris Singleton (Florida State/Canton, GA)
Nolan Smith (Duke/Upper Marlboro, MD)
Howard Thompkins (Georgia/Lithonia, GA)
Mike Tisdale (Illinois/Riverton, IL)
Kemba Walker (Connecticut/Bronx, NY)
Chris Wright (Dayton/Trotwood, OH)
Tyler Zeller (North Carolina/Washington, IN)

The USA Select Team will begin training in Las Vegas this July, and will get to train with the USA National Team.

NBA Pick #10: Paul George

Pacers fans may be a little nervous about the Pacer’s first round pick of Paul George out of Fresno St. (or perhaps, more likely, they aren’t paying much attention to the Pacers at all), but I would say George is a big man from a small school.

Larry Bird said of him,

Paul is multi-skilled. He can play two positions and with his work ethic, he has a chance to be a very good player in this league.

But, if you need more assurance, here’s a good video highlight reel to get Pacer fans fired up about Paul George.

Featured Baller: LeBron James

Why play four quarters, when you could win it in one?

That seemed to be the Cavaliers’ strategy Sunday against the Clippers, when they scored 46 points against LA’s 20 in the first quarter. LeBron James scored half the Cavs’ points in that quarter. Three of those points were off a shot from the “C” in “Cavaliers” 30 feet toward center court. Moments later another trey came from the “a” a few feet deeper.

James kept contributing to accumulate 32 points including five three-point shots and 11 assists. Four of those threes were in the first quarter.

LeBron is almost too easy a pick for a Hinkle Hoops Featured Baller. Of all the teams in all the sports in the world, he might be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of all. His career average is 27.7 PPG! He has improved all of his major stats in this, his seventh season in the NBA, scoring 29.4 PPG with 8.0 assists. He is one of the best athletes to ever play the game of basketball, but he continues to work to improve his game. He focused in the off-season on his shooting, and improved both his FG% and 3P% by 2% each over his career average.

As he has improved, so has his team. The Cavs now have the best record in the NBA at 38-11, are on an 8 game win streak, and are 2-0 against the Lakers, who are a half game behind them at 37-11.