At this point you should probably know plenty about Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson. Neither of those two is expected to play much more, if at all, during the rest of Las Vegas Summer League, but we saw enough of them to know that they’re improving versions of the guys who played heavy minutes during last season’s playoff run.
But Brianté Weber is on Miami’s pro roster, too, and for many he’s still an unknown. Monday night he showed a little bit of what he’s all about.
It may sound a little disingenuous to say you can learn a lot about a player during Summer League, but it’s true as long as you exercise context and caution. From what are essentially exhibition games you can draw out an education on how a player moves, shoots, passes, rebounds and thinks. Josh Richardson spent last offseason making heady defensive plays rarely seen from first-year players in Las Vegas and they foreshadowed his earning minutes and trust from Erik Spoelstra in the second half of the regular season.
Just because it’s not happening against the Golden State Warriors that doesn’t mean it can’t be instructive.
Jamal Murray (29 points) was having a very good game on Monday, likely the best of the season for the Denver Nugget’s No. 7 pick. In the middle of the fourth quarter, sparked by a heated exchange of words and jumpers between Murray and Damion Lee, a fairly innocuous game was infused with a level of energy typically reserved for matchups between lottery selections. A previously silenced crowd became part of the proceedings, players on each bench grew animated and nobody was heard more loudly than Weber – who wasn’t even on the floor.
“Yeah, Mike. Yeah, Mike. Yeah, Mike,” he stood and shouted at Miami’s Michael Carrera, who was standing about four feet in front of Weber.
Once Weber (4 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals) re-entered the game with five minutes to play, he took on the larger Murray for the duration. After Juwan Howard noted Saturday evening that Miami’s guards had allowed the defense to speed them up and get them into trouble – the HEAT had 21 turnovers against Dallas – Weber was calm and composed on offense as he turned in two assists in the final 90 seconds.
“I did a better job just slowing down,” Weber said. “Simple plays. Coach told me to get comfortable making the simple ones. Simplicity is what we’re striving for. I don’t have to make a home run play.”
Meanwhile on the defensive side of things he showed exactly why the HEAT appear to like him so much.
“He has a uniqueness about him,” Howard said. “He loves to get into the heat of the competition. That’s one of the reasons why he’s a part of this franchise and he’s on the team. He’s a hard-nosed competitor. More importantly he plays tough defense. He’s scrappy. When you’re that size, that small, you have to have a little nastiness about him.”
“It’s always good basketball, good competition, when you see somebody going off,” Weber said of Murray. “Me being who I am, I like to showstop. I saw an opportunity presented itself, so I took it.”
While Weber is incredibly athletic, both fast and quick, stripping the ball like that takes a degree of patience and coordination. Particularly towards the end of a close game, when younger players tend to make mental mistakes.
“The pullup jumpers he was getting were off ball screens, so he was comfortable,” Weber said. “That one was a one-on-one. I knew I could stay in front of him one-on-one. Without the screen, I’m good on that. I definitely read that one and jumped it as soon as I could.”
Notice after the strip that while Weber didn’t slow down entirely, he seemed to know the situation – up five with a minute and a half to play – and didn’t press with time on his hands. Contrast that with how he’s typically played, attacking the glass at 6-foot-2 and immediately pushing down the floor in a manner that would make Goran Dragić proud.
There’s still plenty of work to be done. As fast as Weber has played at times, he can still play faster while being under control. While the form on his jumper looks mechanically sound, Weber shot 27.4 from three in his collegiate career and says he needs to do a better job of learning when to shoot and when to probe deeper into the paint.
And while he flashes plus court vision with passes like in the play above and here…
Becoming a professional point guard – running sets smoothly, knowing your personnel, setting everyone up in the best spots for success, managing the size in the middle of the floor – takes time. There’s no guarantee that anyone, no matter the draft slot, will acquire the necessary skills.
But Weber is the sort of player you take a chance on. He has all the physical tools, and then some. He makes plays on either end of the floor. He always appears demonstrably enthused when those around him do well.
And, to borrow common phrasing when describing a player of Weber’s sort, ‘The dude just competes’.
That much we can learn in July.