VJ Edgecombe Summer League Debut Was INSANE!

VJ Edgecombe Summer League Debut Was INSANE!

First clip, we’re going to see his first turnover. Unfortunate start just dribbling off Bona’s foot. It is what it is. Move on. Speaking of Bona, let’s appreciate this dunk on Philipowski. On this one, VJ just uses his speed to get around Williams. Doesn’t even need a screen from Broom. And this was a common theme. Two players on him. Great job on this one making the quick decision. And it’s very nice to see Broom hit the three-pointer. Not only that, but he didn’t even think about it. As soon as he caught it, he was going up with it. I like the confidence. VJ on this one playing through a lot of contact. Gets the defender on his back eventually. And again, he’s seeing a crowd. There’s a one more pass to Hood Shafino, but you’re going to see later. He’s not a catch-and shoot player, so maybe that was a part of VJ electing to go with this risky lob pass to Bona. I will say I think the right read was the other way and then the one more to Justin Edwards in the corner. But shout out Bona for making this catch. My goodness. Then he was just relentless finishing through contact. My goodness. Hood Shafino is going to make me rip my hair out. He’s not good. He can’t beat anyone off the dribble. I’d rather just see VJ play point guard. As a result, deep into the shot clock, VJ and Bona have to bail the Sixers out. Look at VJ accept the contact, go right into Filipowski. A lot of contact goes uncalled, but if he keeps driving like that, he’s going to get rewarded with free throws for sure. Another situation where the Sixers possession was going nowhere, so he has to throw up a movement three off the dribble handoff. And it’s good to see he’s even willing to take this shot. First half, his three ball really wasn’t there. Immediately after that, Ace Bailey takes him to the cup. And I love this contest from VJ. Unfortunately, no one is there to help him on the glass. And Ace Bailey eventually finishes. And this is a play right here where you can say, “Oh, this is going to be a situation that he can find himself in consistently next year.” Justin Edwards, two defenders on him early in transition, pardon me, early in the shot clock. Now he’s catching and attacking with an advantage already. Maxi Embiid, Paul George, McCain, they’re going to put him in these scenarios. And he just dust his defender rotating with ease. He also looked off Filipowski. You can’t really tell full speed, but when they slowed it down, you saw him freeze the defender looking the other way, then scooping it in a different direction. VJ’s motor and stamina just seemed on a different level compared to everyone on the court. Look at him in the corner just crashing the glass while his defender is just trying to catch his breath. Plays like this are why people say he plays bigger than his size. Brick three-pointer. You see our big man boxing out their big man. So VJ skies for the rebound. One thing on his three ball, I don’t really enjoy how he catches here, then brings it all the way down, and then goes back up with it. I think doing that makes it tougher to not make a mistake going up with it. We really saw flashes of the mid-range. Defender goes under, so he’s like, “Okay, let me take my time.” Reset that screen. My goodness. One of the toughest areas on the court to hit a mid-range jumper. He goes up with full confidence and knocks it down. Nothing but net. And then he calls for a midpost face up touch randomly acting like he’s Joel Embiid late to react on the first read so it gets deflected. He gets another chance luckily avoids the steel attempt. Fakes the floater and finds Broom down low. What a pass. And it leads to a foul. Please get Hood Shafino off my screen while watching. I think this play might have just skated by you. But I was so impressed because he catches. There’s a near sevenfooter right next to him. One dribble and I mean in 0.1 seconds it feels like he’s right at the rim. Are you kidding me? That block attempt had no chance. It’s so refreshing to have this type of athlete on the team. Once again, this is what he was dealing with all night long. Pushing the pace, a wicked crossover, but then his space is taken. But another quick decision. That should be a three-point splash. And then this is just ridiculous. grabs the rebound. He’s faster than everyone on the court and slams it home. Another play where you see guys on the court trying to catch their breath. Meanwhile, VJ is activating that next gear. He was getting pressured like this all night long. Does a nice job working through the contact. At this point, he can do a little side step into the midi, but he elects to take another dribble. And now he’s double teamed, but he does make the right pass to Bona. Just an unfortunate miss. Finally, he gets a three ball to go. Couple possessions later, we got a heat check from him. Gets wide open off a double screen. So, he pulls off the dribble from three brick. But once again, I’m just happy he has the confidence to take that shot. The three ball is definitely going to be a work in progress. But the hustle and motor is there. Edwards taking the midi. Look at him on the perimeter. Everyone’s at a standstill. He dives hard, jumps in the air, contorts his body to grab it in, and now they have an extra possession. I love this play right here. Every time he’s been going to the basket, he’s been, you know, elevating to the rim, kind of out of control. So, the defender is thinking about that and this jump stop reather because of that works so well. That’s a high IQ adjustment mid game, baby. Where did this come from? He’s working off the pick and roll in such a tight space. Off the dribble on his strong side, contest in front of him, contest to his side. Another rhyme. Nothing but net. And look at the high release. My goodness, his shot is so reminiscent of Anthony Edwards. It’s crazy. I love Broom already because you could tell he was looking for VJ when he had the hot hand. One of the only things Jaden Springer does well is defense. And he fights through the screen here. But again, VJ uses the overaggressiveness to his advantage. Stop on a dime up fake. Springer absolutely sells out for it. still gets a contest, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing bonet. Obviously, with VJ’s athleticism and speed, he’s going to be out of control as a youngster. But my goodness, the mid-range reps we saw from him, he was playing at his own pace. And something that I love is you guys know how I made that workout video. We saw a lot of that tonight. So, that tells me he can take what he practices off the court and do it on the court, ingame, real action. Some players don’t have the capability of doing that. Another play where he gets to the loose ball first. And let me tell you, for a guy who is supposed to be limited on ball as a creator, that’s what they said. He really can process the court pretty quickly. Comes off the screen, sees the cutting hood Shafino, and immediately knows he’s the open man. He’s looking to get him the rock as he cuts around Bona. But immediately when Bona’s man switches because he’s staring right at Hood Shafino, he audibles and throws it to Bona. You can make a case he was eyeing down Hood Shafino on purpose to open up Bona. But either way, tonight he showed a lot of quick decisions passing wise. Another play where he’s just a better athlete than every single player on the court. He’s going to be so good in transition. And as you guys know, I’ve been complaining. The Sixers feel like one of the worst transition teams of all time lately. It’s great to see him go against Springer. I mean, this is elite defense and he still finds a way to get the shot off. That means more to me right now considering how young he is. With the way he was described in scouting reports, I I was thinking that type of aggressiveness and physicality could really hinder him and he would just end up passing the rock. Misses badly. He could care less because he’s making a play on the other end of the floor. He’s got that short-term memory, it seems. Then he takes a little breather running down the court and as soon as he gets the rock, he’s exploding to the basket. I mean, he was relentless getting downhill tonight. The defense had to be annoyed about him tonight because he was just looking to attack 247 in every single scenario. Halfcourt transition, it didn’t matter. When VJ had the basketball, he was a threat to get to the rim and the defense had to keep that in mind 24/7. Let me paint the picture for you on this one. I think the coach took him out in crunch time because he really played VJ a lot throughout the game. mostly because the Sixers were terrible without him on the court. So, finally he comes back in, but there’s only one minute remaining. He was resting for like three plus minutes. And now it’s a do or die possession. Great screen from Bona. Gets the defender thinking with the in-n-out dribble. That defender thinks he’s going for the layup. Psych. Stop on a dime. Ball fake. Turn the other way into the midi. Are you kidding me? Again, they go to him down the stretch. And if you play him like this, he’s just gonna breeze by you with ease. And as I said earlier in the video, if you drive like that, the refs are eventually going to call the whistle. And there he gets the foul. Unfortunately, he went one of two. And unfortunately, the Sixers went away from him in crunch time until this three-pointer. But my goodness, what a debut for VJ Edgecomb. Easily was the best player on the basketball floor tonight. I am beyond impressed. What a game. And that was a physical game and a lot of guards on the Sixers just looked unplayable. Multiple guys with NBA experience were out there. Justin Edwards at times was struggling with the physicality and the Jazz really collapsing on drives. VJ, of course, struggled at times. His three-point shot wasn’t really there. He was out of control on drives. Lost his handle at some points. But all of that, all his mistakes and the physicality, it it didn’t affect him at all. He could care less. He just kept going and going and going. That aspect really reminds me of Jaylen Brown. His motor just seems ridiculous. And I think because he had such an offensive load tonight. I mean, after the first quarter, he was pretty much their point guard. We didn’t really get to see him focus up defensively. And that’s his main calling card. What a freaking game, man. That was beautiful. Let me know your thoughts below.

Sixers Breakdown & News

Social Media
Twitter- https://twitter.com/OfficialRomp