- 2 days ago
The Sports Junkies preview tonight’s big matchup between AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson.
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00:00Just a few weeks ago, we were at the Anthem, and everybody was fired up because the Washington Wizards selected
00:06A.J. DeBonson No. 1.
00:08Most people thought that was what was going to happen.
00:11There was some discussion that Darren Peterson could go No. 1.
00:14He ends up going No. 2 to the Utah Jazz.
00:17Darren Peterson has played in a couple of summer league games already, where he scored 25 points and 27 points.
00:25On very efficient shooting.
00:26He had 12 assists in one of those games.
00:28Now, in one of those games, he had eight turnovers, but he's played really well.
00:32I mean, they're just pickup games.
00:33Now you're going to see A.J. DeBonson and the rest of the Wizards summer league team against the Utah
00:39Jazz and Darren Peterson.
00:41Yep.
00:42On ESPN.
00:43Does it matter to you?
00:45Is it important to you that A.J. DeBonson plays better than Darren Peterson?
00:50It would make us feel a lot better.
00:51Well, he didn't have to play better.
00:52He didn't have to play better.
00:53He just played really well.
00:54As well.
00:55Like, in the same mix.
00:57Yeah, it looked like a star.
00:57It has to at least be a draw.
00:58If D.P. has 24 and 6, A.J. has got to have, you know, 23 and 8.
01:04I don't think it should be that, like, minute, like that.
01:09I think it should pass the eye test.
01:11Also kind of.
01:12He needs to look like a star.
01:13Yes.
01:13Like, I don't care.
01:14Like, honestly, he can go, he can have 12 and be 5 of 14 and everyone complain, only 30%.
01:22But if he looks like a star and he gets a couple big plays and they're good looks and he
01:26just
01:26missed the shot, I'm fine with it.
01:27I know, but you know how people are.
01:29He has to look like a star.
01:29You know how fans are.
01:30They go about results.
01:31I know, but I'm just telling you what I'm looking for.
01:33If he goes 5 for 14 and has 12 points and Peterson has 24, they're going to kill him for
01:38it.
01:38That's fine.
01:39And I agree with you.
01:40People will.
01:41I'm telling you, me, since I am a little bit more sophisticated than the average person,
01:44I will look at, does he look like a star?
01:47Right, right.
01:48Does he look explosive?
01:49Well, you know Peterson wants to go out there and show him up because he wanted to be the
01:54number one pick.
01:54It might be hard-pressed for him to ever keep up with DP scoring-wise throughout his career.
01:59DP's just going to be a scorer.
02:01Well, I mean, we'll see.
02:02I expect AJ to play really well tonight.
02:05I expect him to play pretty well.
02:07Now, it kind of depends on the minutes.
02:08I mean, is he going to be out there for, are the Summer League games 40 minutes?
02:12I believe so.
02:13Okay.
02:14I'd have to go on the box score and see.
02:16They go quick.
02:16I mean, they seem like they go quick.
02:18I'm sure they do.
02:19But I would expect him, if he's going to be out there for most of the game, I would expect
02:22him to play really well.
02:23I expect him to play really well even if he's going to be out there for a little bit.
02:25He's got an ego.
02:26A hundred percent.
02:28He wants to match whatever DP does or play better than DP.
02:31His ego is every big as strong as DP's.
02:35Here's the problem.
02:36Consider that ego.
02:37It's, okay, let me answer the question.
02:41It's not important.
02:42It's not important.
02:43But I care a little bit.
02:44Yes, that's fair.
02:48He's not set up like Darren Peterson to put up the numbers.
02:53He's not going to be dribbling the ball up the court.
02:56Darren Peterson dribbles the ball up the court, at least in his first two summer league games,
03:00a la James Harden.
03:02Do we have the roster yet?
03:02Ah, Luka Doncic.
03:03Yes, I have the roster.
03:04If I looked yesterday, I couldn't find it.
03:06You found it?
03:07Yes.
03:07Yeah, give it to me.
03:08Sure.
03:10So, accompanying A.J. DeBansa, you've got Will Riley.
03:14Okay.
03:15That's great.
03:16Of course, he averaged 16 points in his last two months of the season.
03:20I can't wait to watch him.
03:20He's so fun to watch.
03:22You have Jameer Watkins.
03:24Yep.
03:24He averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 50 games last year.
03:30Now, the rest of the names, outside of Julian Reese.
03:33Okay, Julian Reese is there.
03:34Trey Johnson.
03:35I see him on.
03:37A lot of these names, you're not going to know.
03:38They've got Felix Parra.
03:41That's the guy they drafted to Tennessee.
03:44He's going to be a G League.
03:45He's going to be a two-way guy.
03:46He'll be in and out.
03:47He's going to be a rebounder.
03:48He's like a Juju Reese, right?
03:51They've got a big thing.
03:51Athletic big man.
03:52Yeah.
03:53Seth Trimble?
03:55Yeah.
03:56Yeah.
03:56Played at Carolina?
03:57Yeah.
03:58He was like a four-year guy.
03:59He played a lot in Carolina.
04:00John Camden?
04:02Don't know him.
04:04No, the ones that matter.
04:06Qadari Richmond, Reese Beckman.
04:08Those things don't mean anything.
04:09The ones that matter are Trey, AJ.
04:11John Camden went to Cal.
04:14And Will Riley.
04:16Those are the ones that matter.
04:17Yeah.
04:18Those are the ones that matter.
04:21Who's going to be running point?
04:23Well, they have somebody.
04:27They have RJ Nembhard.
04:29Is that the same Nembhard that I know that went to Gonzaga?
04:33Probably.
04:34He's 27, but I don't remember him being called RJ.
04:37Wasn't he Ryan Nembhard?
04:39No, that's a different Nembhard.
04:42There's two Nembhards in the NBA?
04:44Well, this kid, RJ Nembhard, he went to TCU, I believe.
04:48Yeah.
04:49Okay.
04:49I don't know if he's related to the other guy.
04:52But that's a different.
04:53RJ Nembhard is Reuben Nembhard.
04:55So it's a different Nembhard.
04:56Got you.
04:56So I'm putting this up as our junkies poll of the day.
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05:10Please drink responsibly.
05:11I want to hear from some of these Wizards fans.
05:13We had thousands of people at the Anthem.
05:15The enthusiasm was super high.
05:17The place went bonkers when AJ DeBonsa was officially selected by the Washington Wizards.
05:23Everybody was super happy.
05:25You've seen this guy, Darren Peterson, show out in Summer League in two games.
05:30Do you care that when they go head-to-head in the Summer League game, that DeBonsa at least plays
05:37as well as Darren Peterson?
05:39Or do you want him to play better?
05:40Hold on.
05:41Remember, you've got to have context for this.
05:43Remember, Jonathan Gibney, whatever his name is, said he'd seen these guys play eight times, like going back to AAU,
05:52high school, and everything.
05:54And he said there wasn't a time where DeBonsa did not play AJ.
05:59Now, AJ's still a great player.
06:03AJ still went number one overall.
06:05And I think AJ does a lot of things.
06:07I think AJ's going to be a superstar.
06:08But it's going to be – Darren Peterson is the real deal.
06:15He's a scoring machine.
06:18I just think that – don't be surprised.
06:20Remember, AJ scored more than him in college.
06:23He was the leading scorer.
06:25He was on the court every minute.
06:27Head-to-head matchups.
06:29According to Gibney, DP always looked like the better player.
06:33I mean, Darren Peterson, to me, you hesitate to bring up Michael Jordan's name.
06:38But they always say, who could stop Michael Jordan's offense?
06:40Dean Smith's offense, right?
06:42He didn't score 30 points a game in college.
06:44He was part of his system.
06:46And Darren Peterson played at Kansas, Bill Self, and maybe that was limiting.
06:51And now, all of a sudden, at least in the summer league, he's got the ball in his hands,
06:54and he looks like Luka Doncic or James Harden.
06:58I would think that most, if not all, Wizards fans want to see AJ play at least as well, if
07:05not better.
07:05Well, again, I don't think – if Darren Peterson scores 24 –
07:09It's an eye test.
07:10I get it.
07:10It's an eye test.
07:11If he scores 24 and AJ scores 20, does that mean Darren Peterson won?
07:15No.
07:15That's the same thing.
07:16No, it's an eye test.
07:16That's the same thing.
07:17I'd say he could score 10 if he has a couple dunks and just shows you –
07:22but realistically, it doesn't matter.
07:25It totally doesn't matter.
07:26It totally doesn't matter.
07:27It does.
07:27Ultimately, the race is who's going to be the better player down the road
07:30and who's going to be the best player for this system.
07:34Yeah.
07:34Maybe – maybe Will Dawkins and they believe that Darren Peterson might be a better player
07:43in a certain system, but they want AJ DeBansa because they've got Trey Young
07:47and they figure lob threat and all these sort of things.
07:50The way they want to play.
07:51Right.
07:52They fit better.
07:52They're committed to Trey.
07:53And you brought up Alex Sarr's debut, which was disastrous if you just looked
07:57at the numbers and the box score.
07:59Yeah.
07:59But I remember watching the game going, well, he can get a shot off.
08:02Did Wemby also – or did Wemby just –
08:05Wemby –
08:05Did he dominate the –
08:06No.
08:06Wemby's first game, I remember looking at it and was like, man, he's going to break.
08:09It was – it just – he looked super awkward.
08:13The thing that AJ has going for him, and I think DP's probably showing this already too,
08:18is, again, he's played with all these guys.
08:20AJ's been playing with these guys for years.
08:23Summers and –
08:24They all know each other.
08:25They all know each other.
08:26All these guys.
08:27You know, when Alex Sarr came over, Victor came over, it's a little different.
08:32A little bit.
08:33A little different.
08:33Where are the Wizards fans?
08:34All these fans that were at the anthem fired up.
08:37Do you care about AJ DeBonce's performance in his summer league debut?
08:411-800-636-1067 is the number.
08:46I mean, it's not logical, but I kind of care.
08:48Like, to me – and look, I was a Peterson guy.
08:51You were a Peterson guy.
08:52But now we're DeBonce guys.
08:54Yeah.
08:55I need DeBonce to at least match him.
08:58It doesn't mean he's got to match him point for point, but where it's like, okay, Peterson, we get it.
09:05You're going to be a stud.
09:06But so is DeBonce.
09:08Yeah.
09:08And I want to say, too, I think I was wrong for this team.
09:12I do think that, you know, just seeing the size, just seeing the Lenny comparison that he made, the athleticism
09:20and everything that he has, just – it's really striking when you see how big he is.
09:24Yeah.
09:25It's really striking.
09:26If he has, like, as sports radio hosts, if he has a great game tonight, it only adds to the
09:34buzz, right?
09:35Because we felt the buzz.
09:36It's been years since we felt the buzz with the Washington Wizards, but we felt the buzz at the anthem
09:40and kind of leading up to it.
09:42Who are they going to take?
09:44And DeBonce seemed to be the popular choice.
09:47I mean, we put up a poll right when they got the number one pick, and 80% of the
09:52fans who probably had seen him play once or twice in college were like, A.J. DeBonce.
09:56For whatever reason, A.J. was the guy.
09:58They just bought him.
09:59He was the people's champion.
10:00Yes.
10:01And then when they picked him, we're there at the anthem, and the place goes crazy.
10:06We have Winger on the show, and David Aldridge, and, like, it seems to be the right choice for this
10:12team, for this city.
10:13A.J. DeBonce seems to be the right choice.
10:15I think they made the right choice.
10:16Right?
10:16But I think they'd be the star, too.
10:18Like, big time.
10:19Logically, my logical brain says it really doesn't matter.
10:21Darren Peterson's in another city.
10:23It doesn't matter how he does.
10:24A.J. DeBonce just has to show something.
10:26But there is a little part of me that wants to see A.J. like, match him.
10:33At least match him.
10:34But it would be even better if A.J. DeBonce, and this happens in Summer League.
10:39You were talking about Acuff during the commercial break.
10:43Darius Acuff took 28 shots.
10:45What if A.J. DeBonce puts up 35?
10:47Yeah.
10:48Which happens in Summer League.
10:49Then the buzz is going to get even ridiculous.
10:51And if he blocks, like, Peterson's shot.
10:54Oh, it's going to be.
10:55What are you thinking?
10:56Like, if you have to cut, I feel like you need to have the same energy.
11:00Like, if A.J. puts up five points in a dud.
11:04I don't think that's going to happen.
11:05Well, I'm just saying, if he does do that and he looks awful, like, everyone's just going to go,
11:10Oh, it's Summer League.
11:11Doesn't matter.
11:11Doesn't matter.
11:12Doesn't matter.
11:12He puts up 40 and looks like the next Jordan.
11:16Yeah.
11:16Then we got the real deal.
11:18Yeah.
11:18Then everyone's all excited.
11:19You can't just dismiss one.
11:21You don't think you're going to have it both ways?
11:22I don't think you can have it both ways.
11:23You can't just dismiss one.
11:25Well, only because we've seen in past history that you kind of can.
11:28Because Sarr struggled in his debut.
11:30Listen, I don't think A.J. DeBats is going to struggle.
11:32I think his struggle is going to be zero.
11:34Where he might struggle, though, is shooting percentage.
11:38Right?
11:38He's not a locked down three-point shooter yet.
11:41He might take a few shots and, you know, the shooting percentage might be a little off.
11:45I don't think he's going to go out there.
11:47He's not going to go out there.
11:48Well, A.J. better be better than Alex Sarr.
11:50Well, Valdez, here's what I'd say.
11:53Hey, I think there's a difference between emotional and logical, right?
11:56So, logically, it doesn't matter for any of them.
12:01It's summer league.
12:03It's pick-up like basketball.
12:04I know, but we buy into it.
12:06It may not translate to the regular season.
12:08And it may not translate to who these players are three years from now, which is really what's important.
12:12Tonight matters zero for their careers.
12:15So, logically, it doesn't matter.
12:16But emotionally, it matters.
12:20But do I expect, hold on, I'm not trying to lay the groundwork for there to be, like, no criticism
12:25or something.
12:26I expect A.J. to put on a show.
12:28I'll be surprised if he doesn't put on a show.
12:31Because doesn't it also show you how?
12:32Because he's that kind of guy.
12:33Yeah, doesn't it show you, too, how he's a competitor?
12:35Yeah.
12:35Yeah, I expect him.
12:39Like, if he comes in nonchalant, takes two shots, doesn't care, and Peterson's going at it nonstop.
12:44There's nothing nonchalant about him.
12:45I agree.
12:46Especially with DPs on the other side.
12:48You know, this is a rivalry.
12:50Whether you want to say it or not, it's a rivalry.
12:53And they're going to be...
12:53Of course it's a rivalry.
12:54I'm just saying, they're going to be compared to one another their entire careers.
12:57Just like Jade's compared to Caleb for their entire careers.
13:00It's a statistical...
13:02And this is the first round of a fight between the two rivalries.
13:08We're just saying, though, just logically, it doesn't matter.
13:11Yeah.
13:12Because it's a summer league.
13:13It matters, I guess, in the immediate impact of it.
13:19Yes, it does.
13:19Because you'll have scoreboards.
13:22If A.J. looks far and above better than Peterson, I mean, you have scoreboard for the time being.
13:29I don't know that that's possible.
13:31Here's the response.
13:32I don't know if it's possible that he'll look far and above superior.
13:34You can call us.
13:35But I think he's going to be great.
13:37Well, wait a minute.
13:38Peterson could have a bad game.
13:39Yeah.
13:39Happens all the time.
13:41Sure.
13:41But I think Peterson would be pretty consistent.
13:45He might.
13:45It's a pretty consistent score.
13:46But going forward, it'll be a statistical comparison because they're never going to play against each other.
13:53Unless they're facing each other...
13:54A couple times a year.
13:54Right.
13:55Unless they're facing each other in the NBA Finals.
13:57Yeah, but it's a rookie of the year race.
13:59I would say it'll be a statistical race.
14:02It's not going to be a head-to-head.
14:03Every year for their entire careers, their resumes are going to be matched up against one another for what they
14:08did that year.
14:09I'm telling you what I'm looking for.
14:10You guys can look for what you're looking for.
14:12I'm looking for some spectacular moments.
14:16But also, Matt, let's just say Peterson has a better statistical year, okay?
14:23It also matters how far you go.
14:25How much better is the team?
14:27Of course.
14:28So if Washington wins more games and they go further in the playoffs and Utah doesn't make the playoffs, boom.
14:33If DP averages 22 and they don't go as far as Washington does and he averages 17, you know...
14:43I think you can make the argument that you got a better player.
14:45That you did the right thing.
14:46Yes, that's what I'm saying.
14:471-800-636-1067 is the number.
14:51But tonight it'll be about who wins and who plays better.
14:53What are your expectations for tonight?
14:55And does it matter to you that A.J. DeMonsa plays better than Darren Peterson in his summer league debut?
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