Sophomore year all over again

While my primary focus is always the college game, I'm admittedly excited to see what Kentavious Caldwell-Pope does in his sophomore campaign in the NBA.  Sounds like his coach is too:

And Van Gundy watched all of that and was duly impressed, with an asterisk.

“"He'’s playing with great confidence and he’s doing great things,” Van Gundy said. "“You can count on the guy bringing tremendous energy. He made shots."”

 That asterisk mentioned above?  His defense:

"“My only disappointment was his defense and he'’s been having it in practices, too. He'’s struggling to guard people off the dribble without fouling. We’'re going to have to get that figured out because he certainly can move his feet and he certainly plays hard enough. But we had a scrimmage the other day and Jodie (Meeks) shot 10 free throws against him. Like most players, he doesn'’t think any of them are fouls but they clearly are.”"

KCP, at times, looked like an elite defender in college, so I don't doubt that he'll get it figured out.

Aside from wanting our Dawgs to do well at the next level, why does it matter?  Don't underestimate the power of a top 10 pick playing like a top 10 pick.  If Caldwell-Pope starts turning heads in the next month or two, you better believe Fox will be turning on SportsCenter in front of recruits and saying, "I put him there, and I'll put you there too."

h/t nba.com

KCP dominates NBA summer league

It's old, but you may want to read this article on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's early summer league performance.  After a shaky rookie season, KCP has a real chance at a breakout sophomore year in the NBA.

He finished off his freshman campaign going shot for shot with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, and now he's trying to carry that momentum into the 2014-15 season.  The Pistons' signing of Jodie Meeks may offer a little extra motivation.

Not surprisingly, his scoring and defense are starting to come around:

Over the first two games at the NBA Summer League in Orlando, KCP is averaging a league-high 28 points on 46 percent shooting, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 turnovers per contest.  He's also getting plenty of attention from the whistle, getting to the line 8 times per contest and converting on those shots at 88%.  Pope is matching this offensive performance with trademark defensive hustle, playing the role of de facto defensive playmaker.  Beyond his main focus at shooting guard, Pope is switching off onto the opponent's hot hand at the point and small forward as needed.  The results have been a little mixed, but the effort is noteworthy in an exhibition where defense is usually left at the door.

More surprising, he's starting to find his voice:

Beyond the numbers, it's the voice of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that has been the most surprising this summer.  On court, Pope actively coaches the still-very-raw Tony Mitchell on offensive sets.  He echoes every play call Peyton Siva shouts after crossing half-court.  He challenges Justin Harper to either put the ball or the player on the floor when they penetrate, a lesson Harper just didn't seem to learn against Memphis' Jordan Adams.  He even encourages 33-year-old Brian Cook to box out on one end and find the stroke that's evading him on the other.  In two games this summer, I heard more communication out of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope than I did last year in Orlando and the entire regular season in Detroit.

It should be exciting for Dawg fans to see KCP's maturation into (hopefully) a productive pro.  Setting aside the obvious benefits to the program, it's just been awhile since a Georgia fan could tune into an NBA game and see a Bulldog making a difference (no offense intended, Damien Wilkins).

As a bonus, USA Today pegged Caldwell-Pope one of the "9 players who gained the most" in summer league play.

Keep it up, Kentavious.  Dawgnation is watching.

h/t Mike Payne

KCP

If you missed it, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played in a wild one last night.  He poured in a career high 30 points in a really entertaining duel with Kevin Durant.

Most reading this already know what KCP is capable of, having watched him play two seasons for Georgia.  He has struggled in his rookie season to put it together, though.

The big story in Detroit when Caldwell-Pope was drafted was the fact that the Pistons didn't take Trey Burke.  At that point, a rivalry neither player particularly wanted was born.  By almost all measurables, Burke had the better rookie year, but it was nice to see KCP show his wares last night, and I still believe the future is bright for him.

So what went wrong?  A lot can be traced to the team that drafted him - and their point guard.  I had a chance to watch some of the Pistons - Bulls game last week, and what I saw was depressing.  Brandon Jennings is a veritable black hole on offense.  If the Pistons were running offensive sets, it was not evident.  Most possessions came down to Jennings or Rodney Stuckey hoisting a bad shot when the play clock got under 5 seconds.

Jennings can be a very dynamic player, but he takes way too many bad shots, and that takes away potential good shots for guys like KCP.  Jennings took almost 15 shots per game on the season, and made just over 5 of them (not great).  Almost 6 of those shots were three pointers, of which he converted only 2 per game (definitely not great).

KCP definitely has things to work on, but much of his growth will depend on Jennings' growth as a point guard.  It is unfortunate that the 30 point burst came in the last game of the season.  I would have liked to see if he could build on a game like this.

Either way, congratulations to Kentavious.  Way to go out on a high note.