Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about the NBA Summer League

NBA.com has a cool feature going on for the summer league in Las Vegas through next weekend. You can simply create a login (you don't have to pay) and you can watch all of the summer league games on-line. So being the NBA junkie that I am, I spent a good several hours watching some of the finest rec center style ball on the planet. First off, some notes on the Nuggets after two games: - Skeeta hasn't looked half bad so far. He had 14 points in his first game, which was more than Greg Oden, and he shot a better percentage than Kevin Durant. Who's laughing at the Nuggs for drafting him so high back in '02 now America?? Of course, this isn't the first time he has torn up the summer leagues. A couple of years ago he went off during a summer and ended up getting a contract out of the Minnesota T-Wolves. He was then let go shortly after the season started, when they realized he couldn't play in actual games. It was later learned that this was due to the fact that he often slips on all the pee running down his legs during play. - I know that most people spell Skeeta's name "Skita". But if you spell and say it my way, then you can pretend that Lil' John is constantly screaming his name. And let's face it, there are few things on this planet as fun and exciting as Lil' John getting crunk. "AW SKEET SKEET SKEETA!!! YEEEAH!" - Lamond Murray plays like the old man at the rec center. You feel like you should be able to kill him, but he knows a lot of tricks that you don't, and if you leave him open he will never miss. At least not until game two, then he's so tired you can put your friends little brother on him and he still won't make anything. - Here are Jelani McCoy's numbers so far; 13 ppg, 13 rebounds/game, EIGHT FOULS PER GAME. Unfortunately for Jelani, he's being outdone by young Mr. Oden (and by young I mean freakishly old for an NBA rookie). Greg has averaged a mere 9.5 fouls per game in his first pair of games. Now those are some numbers that Mick McAllister could be proud of. Here are the most impressive players in the summer league to this point: 1.) Marco Belinelli aka that Italian dude at Golden State who owns. He has been getting 25 a game so far and has made it look pretty easy. Plus he's hit 12-18 from three point range. I think he'll fit in pretty nicely in Golden State's offense. You know the one where you try to shoot a three or dunk on someone within the first 6 seconds of the shot clock.... kind of like how I play in my rec leagues... only without the shot clocks.... and the dunking. 2.) JJ Redick went all "JJ Redick at Duke" in his first summer league game, dropping 30 points. He looked like his old self again. Look, I know that everyone hates him, and he fell off the map last year, but he had a bad back all last season and he can play. Trust me. You don't average 26 a game in the ACC if you suck. Plus he can shoot better than just about anyone alive, so I think he'll be OK. I wish the Nuggets would put a trade together for him while his stock is down. He would fill that shooter need pretty nicely. 3.) Marcus Banks sucked during the regular season for the Suns but he filled up the stat sheet pretty nicely in his first game this summer. 42 points, 13-19 shooting, 4-5 from 3, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, 6 turnovers and 7 personal fouls. Top that Steve Nash! Some other notes - - There was a Gabe Muoneke sighting on the Charlotte Bobcats summer league squad. I'll always remember Gabe for a few things from my days playing against him when he was at Texas. One was his name, Nnadubem Gabriel Enyinaya Muoneke, and how it just flows so easily right off your tongue. Two was for the way he terrified the entire Big 12 with his "defensive lineman on steroids" appearance and nasty disposition. In fact, I'm afraid that if he reads this he may figure out a way to punch me in the face from Orlando. And third was for the time that he "man-dunked" on my teammate Stephane Pelle. I don't know how else to describe it. The dunk made him look like a man (probably because he dunked with one hand and nearly ripped the foundation of the basket over) and Stephane look like a frightened child. It was hilarious! Plus they are both African, so we had a good time imagining that some sort of dispute over killing lions was settled with that dunk. - David Stern's hard-on for the Chinese market knows no bounds. The Las Vegas Summer league features 21 NBA teams.... and the Chinese national team. The funny part is that they got absolutely destroyed in their first two games by the likes of Spencer Hawes, Francisco Garcia.... and Rudy Gay, who did this to 6th pick Jinlian Yi.... All I can say is GAAAWDAMN!!! Get'cho ass up EEEE!! So if you're bored and have several hours to kill at work, I strongly recommend spending that time watching some games on nba.com. Of course, maybe you're not like me and you don't enjoy watching glorified rec league games. Come on. What else do you have to do at work? You can only play spider solitaire and landmine for so long...