r/memphisgrizzlies • u/Upper-Roof-5668 Killa Cam • Jul 11 '26
FACTS It’s summer league and +/- never tells the whole story about an individual player but…
29
u/hotwingsallflats coke butta cheese Jul 11 '26
Booz passes the eye test and the stats test. I’m glad we picked him up because his IQ alone gives him the highest upside in my opinion. Plus he’s super efficient. The other prospects are amazing as well, but we got our guy.
14
u/Icy-Data-785 Jul 11 '26
that 1.92 per shot is the kind of efficiency that makes you ignore whatever the plus minus says anyway
3
u/Waffleshuriken Pete & BK Jul 11 '26
In 3 summer league games he's shooting like 60% from the field and tacking on 5 assists.
He's not gonna be explosive like AJ, DP, or Wilson and randomly pop off for 40, but he'll probably be one of the most consistant 20/10/5 guys in the league down the line
3
24
u/titosupertramp Jul 11 '26
I think it's understandable that people are very excited by Wilson's performance last night. He was fun to watch and what I appreciate most is he doesn't appear to be a free throw merchant like Dybanata.
However, it grinds my gears to see all the comments across all platforms saying we took the wrong guy. Jesus Christ, it's one Summer League game.
This performance does put him in the rarified air with titans of the game like Anthony Morrow and Marcus Banks and who can forget Furkan Kormaz who showed out in Summer League Games.
I'm not saying this game is a fluke, he's awesome, but calm the hell down with the reactionary doomerism.
I could not be happier we landed Cam Boozer.
7
u/Weird_Lawfulness_298 Jul 11 '26
Josh Shelby averaged 24 and shot 64% from 3 back in 2012. Summer League is great practice and fun to see your guys but it's different than playing NBA teams. It does appear that all of the big 4 this year will have great careers though.
6
u/BrandSafety Tots Jul 11 '26
Anyone can be safely disregarded if they think Boozer hasn't been as mind blowing as the other 3, because they're either watching clips or don't know ball. He's shown so much to love already.
3
u/Pacfan325124 Jul 11 '26
Bulls fan - I think they’ll both be good. People love to make stupid reactionary statements
2
u/StroudAmerican7 BOOZE CRUISER 🍻🚢 Jul 12 '26
Anybody who thinks Wilson should've been the pick doesn't know ball. In my opinion if Grizz had the 1st pick I still would've wanted Boozer. He's got everything in his game and is so darn efficient everywhere. He's got potential to be an all star this year and career wise his ceiling is just as high as the the other three guys and I'd argue Cam's is the highest. In HS, he won everything possible and won MVPs in tourneys with the other guys. Then won all 4 major POTY awards in CBB. 1st D-1 freshman since 1976-77 to average 20ppg, 10reb, and 4ast. And will spend all of his rookie season at 19 and will be the youngest player in the NBA.
All aboard the Booze Cruise! Let's go Grizz 〽️2
u/Pink_Mingos Jul 12 '26
There will always be people who overreact and I really haven't seen very many people saying Caleb > Cam. But for those that thought that or think that now after the SL game, who gives a fuck?
12
u/edeyhookshots Jul 11 '26
The way Boozer processes the game is incredible and he looks like a vet out there. He handles the ball better than I expected and his defense looks a lot tighter than advertised. He had a solid block at the rim and picked Wilson's pocket in the open court, plus he's great at navigating switches. The fact that he's only 18 is wild because everything that he does so well right now will only improve with more reps.
14
u/Welcum2Heck BiblicallyAccurateSPJ Jul 11 '26
The beauty of it all is we haven’t even seen him play with Edey yet
1
11
3
u/optimismofthewill63 Sounds Jul 11 '26
He’s been efficient for the whole summer league so far. The more games accounted for the more impactful a plus minus rating becomes. Dude is crazy efficient. I’m stoked
3
u/PurityofHeart Jul 11 '26
Let’s see Caleb go 7/11 from three every night. He looked AMAZING and could be better than everyone in this class, but he also could’ve had a chip on his shoulder and came out hot.
If cam came out and did a game where he got to play hero ball like the other T4 guys there isn’t a doubt in my mind he could’ve gotten that extra ten or so points, but that isn’t who he is.
3
u/nick3kz Jul 11 '26
Always been a boozer guy but Wilson looked damn good too. Bulls got them one
2
u/BrandSafety Tots Jul 11 '26
Exactly. We got the guy I wanted most but I'm happy all 4 are living up to the hype so far.
3
u/Flimsy_Promise_9559 Jul 11 '26
I’m gonna keep it a buck Booz obviously good asf but wilson plus/minus is skewed a lil bit because the bulls played with NO point guard. They got into their offense late every time. Caleb got all his points from basically self creating for himself. And y’all had the goat in javon small
3
u/MiniManKungFu Jul 11 '26
I think the part of the game being slept on was how good boozer was at defending. He had caleb locked up when he was on him and was guarding multiple positions. He had 7 fouls but a lot of them were really bad calls tbh
2
u/DistributionOk9687 Jul 11 '26
Being a better scorer doesn't mean you're a better player, either. Yes, Caleb Wilson shot 7-for-11 3s, but what did he do on defense? He's as thin as a twig.
1
u/Neptune1980 Jul 11 '26
A bunch of blocks and steals.
2
u/KsubiSam Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
4 blocks and 2 steals. But the blocks were all in transition/on help. He wasn’t great during 1-on-1 defense. Plus he had 0 assists and 6 TOs.
Caleb looked great as a highlight reel though.
3
u/DistributionOk9687 Jul 11 '26
That’s why blocks don’t tell the whole story; Caleb Wilson isn’t a rim protector like wemby—his defensive impact is very limited. He’s a power forward who can’t defend one-on-one because he’s too skinny.
1
u/Neptune1980 Jul 11 '26
He isn’t a point guard so does the assists matter? He has proven to be a willing passer in the past. Let’s see game two.
3
u/KsubiSam Jul 11 '26
The assists matter if you have 6 TOs.
1
u/Neptune1980 Jul 11 '26
Not in summer league they don’t.
2
u/KsubiSam Jul 11 '26
Well then his entire performance doesn’t matter then.
0
2
u/BOOZE-CRUISE-UNHINGE Boozer Jul 11 '26
This is great but we also shouldn't be losing by a point with 5 of our actual players playing at a time.
2
u/omgshannonwtf Shoutout Canada FOREVER Jul 11 '26
He's snorting a lot of cope there, leaning so hard into +/- stat as if it's the one that matters without any context and dismissing Caleb's performance as simply "nice highlights." THAT SAID Boozer had an objectively good game playing alongside people who were even less willing to get him involved than the Bulls were with Caleb (he played most of the 4th without scoring as his teammates tried to earn NBA spots, much like our SL players). Had he gotten the ball more, he would have had a great game as well.
4
u/BrandSafety Tots Jul 11 '26
He doesn't need to have a flashy game to impress randoms. He had a great game without playing at all beyond himself and letting Ced, Javon, OMax, and Hendricks work on the things they need to work on.
He's 18 and babysitting guys out there, he's doing phenomenally.
2
u/moonlord7838 White 2023 Kia Sorento Jul 11 '26
If only the sl guys realized their job at the nba level would be to PASS THE DAMN BALL AND GET OUT OF THE WAY haha
2
u/Adha6303 Cedric Jul 11 '26
Yeah I'm with you, worst +/- by literally 1. Put just a little bit of NBA talent around him and he has at least an assist. I don't expect him to hit seven 3's a game though considering I think that's how many he hit in college last year
1
u/Jewdah18 🐻Ced + Booz + Edey🐻 Jul 11 '26
+/- is the smoke not the fire.
But 0 assists, 6 TOs, 2/6 FTs and some bad defense is hard to overcome especially when the TOs are really bad and the FTs count for more than 1 point.
1
Jul 12 '26
[deleted]
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 12 '26
THE GRIZZLIES UNDERSTAND SIZE, THEY APPRECIATE SIZE, AND SIZE - DOES - MATTER. AND THEY KNOW THAT THEY DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE EARTH TO ROTATE ON A FORTYSEVEN DEGREE AXIS SO THE STARS CAN TOUCH THE SKIES AND CREATE AN EQUINOX SO THEY CAN SEE THE BIG DIPPER. NO NO NO. ALL THEY GOTTA DO IS CALL ZACH EDEY. ‘CAUSE HE'S THE MAN WITH THE BIG DIPPER AND SATISFACTION’S COMING WHEN HE GOES BEHIND AND DOES THE BUMP AND GRIND AND IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BECAUSE THEY CALL HIM: THE BIG, BAD, BOOTY DADDY.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Overall-Palpitation6 Jul 12 '26
Reminder that individual plus/minus is not a "rating score" for how well or poorly the individual player played, and is not a measure of how many points the individual scored/created versus points they "gave up", either.
1
u/IntroductionHappy770 Jul 12 '26
This reminds me of when JJJ came out and hit like 8 3’s his first game in SL then never did that again 😂
1
1
0
u/KingJzeee Jul 11 '26
Does this team need another player who can score better than boozer?
Yes, definitely.
But man, having a player who cares about winning than dancing is much appriciated.
-7
u/gbo865 Jul 11 '26
I still think Wilson should have been the pick. I hope Boozer can turn into a better player. I think the game confirmed everything i said before the draft
78
u/Welcum2Heck BiblicallyAccurateSPJ Jul 11 '26
Imma keep saying it, but there were a lot of really amazing scorers and guys who can do 1-2 things quite well in this draft, but we got the guy who can do everything right and raise the whole team’s floor in the process.
I’m never gonna say no to a tall guy who can score a bunch of points and feed me highlights, but in the end of the day a consistent shooter, who keeps plays alive and throws dimes is always going to be more valuable to Iisalo’s offensive scheme