UCLA summer pickup ball update

by clipschamps on Sep 10, 2008 12:26 PM PDT Comment 10 comments

Just wanted to update you guys on whose been playin pickup ball at ucla. The big name players are starting to show up this week. Kevin Garnett, Zach Randolph, Danny Granger just to name a few, and also about half the clipper roster: Tim Thomas, Cat, Paul Davis, Al thornton, Ricky Davis, Deandre Jordan, Mike Taylor, Jason Hart and the one and only Baron Davis. I believe a lot of em r gonna show up again today (Weds) for those who can make it out here. Quick thought on Baron: looks to me as if it was his first time playin in a while and he looked awfully rusty. I mean he was missin layups, airballin jumpers and so on. He still was probably the best player on his team and commanded the most attention due to his playmaking ability, but he also did have a lot of turnovers. As for the games itself, its like an early training camp for the clips with about half the roster here, and the guy that runs it puts the clipper players together on the same team so its cool seeing these new guys gel and getting to play with one another.

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Keep us posted

thanks for the update.. i have been to watch a couple times in the past few weeks, and not too many big time guys were there.. i’m going to try to make it thurs, so hopefully you can convince some of the big name players to show up then ; ) HA, HA

by psw on Sep 10, 2008 2:46 PM PDT reply actions

UCLA pick-up Games info?

What time do the guys start playing? Can anyone come to watch or even play? At Pauley?

by DerickG on Sep 11, 2008 12:11 PM PDT reply actions

Link

DerickG…Here’s the link to the original post from clipschamps with the details about the PU games at UCLA…

http://www.clipsnation.com/2008/8/15/594930/if-you-live-in-the-la-area

by Lawler's Law on Sep 11, 2008 1:05 PM PDT reply actions

I went today...

Although a lot of the big names were missing, there were two Clips who made an impression on me.

Mike Taylor is fairly thin, but he had a sweet stroke from three point land (hit several in a row during warmups) and was very aggressive in attacking the rim whenever possible, which I really liked. You have to be careful not to extrapolate too much, but he seemed like he could be a solid role player.

Ricky Davis looked good today – directing traffic, being aggressive and it appeared to me that he was taking Mike Taylor under his wing a bit (they were on the same team). I sensed Ricky was going out of his way to feed Taylor, give him pointers during breaks in play and, perhaps most importantly, encouraging him. Even better, I spoke with a guy who helps to organize the games every day. I asked him whether Ricky was playing every day and he said he was scrimmaging AND working out every day there. Unprompted by me, he said Ricky has looked great during the summer.

Hopefully, both of these players will be able to provide pleasant surprises for us all season long.

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein

by Another son of Mike Smith on Sep 12, 2008 12:07 AM PDT reply actions

ricky davis

ur right about ricky davis, hes there almost every day and just plays with such a high intensity. The thing that really stood out for me was his leadership qualities and how hes always telling his teammates where to be on defense. I always saw him as a selfish player in the nba, but that definitely has not been the case here. Hes constantly yelling for his team to move the ball around, and hes a much better passer than a lot of players here. Surprised that not too many ppl showed up today, Kevin Garnett, Al thornton, Cat mobley and a bunch of others had been playin there all week.

by clipschamps on Sep 12, 2008 12:36 AM PDT up reply actions

Can we still watch?

I’m planning to go this week so I was wondering if we could still go and watch…. Thanks

by cliptakular on Sep 15, 2008 4:44 PM PDT reply actions

Yes, I believe so...

I’m planning to go again sometime this week. Hopefully make some more Clip sightings. :)

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein

by Another son of Mike Smith on Sep 16, 2008 8:41 AM PDT reply actions

I believe the summer scrimmages are effectively over...

I went to UCLA today. First off, this week’s games start at 1:00 rather than 3:00, as I guess the gym is now used for UCLA volleyball at that later time. Second, the number of players was substantially smaller – just enough for one decent game with nobody waiting on the sidelines. I spoke with one agent who said that most of the key players are taking a break before training camp starts in a few weeks (!)

I did see Mike Taylor again today. He was very aggressive on the offensive end – constantly attacking the basket and getting buckets at a strong clip. I wish he had passed just a bit more and showed more effort on the defensive end, but overall he looks good to me.

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein

by Another son of Mike Smith on Sep 16, 2008 5:25 PM PDT reply actions

were you allowed to get autographs?

I know that the summer pick-up games could be over but I was just wondering if they were giving autographs during those pick-up games. If not, then at least I wouldn’t be as disappointed that I could’nt go!

by cliptakular on Sep 17, 2008 9:35 AM PDT reply actions