Preseason Game 1 Thoughts?

Question

Here are my thoughts. I want to know yours.

Celtics:

Pro - Who to guard? Garnett, Pierce, or Allen?
Con - Not much of anyone else though... and Allen didn't make any 3 pointers

Toronto:

Pro - The pro is they played against Boston
Con - The con is also they played against Boston

Memphis:

Pro - La Bomba might be ROY
Con - Even though they weren't really trying until the 4th quarter, I guess Iavaroni was training them clutch situations, it shows that only La Bomba is clutch and others need to work on it

Washington:

Pro - Team is healthy
Con - Nobody is home on the other team...

Cleveland:

Pro - Gibson's continues to display the abilities he had first shown in the playoff. Will he be the Most Improve Player?
Con - Nobody is home!

Milwaukee:

Pro - Yi isn't bad at all
Con - Noah did a little bit better, but Noah played under the American system

Chicago:

Pro - Played a great preseason game that showcased everyone's abilities. Nocioni looks in his prime.
Con - Still lost...

Houston:

Pro - Battier is "Mr Consistent" and Alston is fighting hard to keep his job
Con - Despite great stats, rookie Scola committed too many turnovers

Hornets:

Pro - Peja is back!
Con - OMG... this team sucks. The Rockets weren't using their top dawgs for long, and they cannot capitalize on Houston's 27 turnovers. They only won by a single goal! They are by far the worst team today despite the win against Houston's bench.

San Antonio:

Pro - They are very laid back
Con - Laid back = boring

Dallas:

Pro - Everyone is still as good as they were last season. Looks like they'll get over 65 wins again.
Con - They're trying too hard. The pressure will get to them again. Choke repeat!

Clippers:

Pro - Thomas was fantastic.
Con - We saw them play without Brand or defense. Thorton played more minutes than the other rookies and it's not much better

Seattle:

Pro - Who the heck is Wilkins?
Con - Durant looks overrated. His defense makes Steve Nash look All-Defense 1st team.

Sacramento:

Pro - Martin looks better than Luol Deng. Miller is healthy.
Con - Miller needs to fire his stylist. And they played against Seattle. So we don't really know how good they really are.

Golden State:

Pro - Who is Azubuike? And what a great win! Belinelli was solid.
Con - Harrington played like a rookie. Why didn't rookie Wright play?

LA Lakers:

Pro - Bynum had a rebound every 2 minutes. Also the Europeans played well. Looks like the Summer is truly behind them. (This sound like a Steve Kerr statement...)
Con - Kobe turned the ball over way too often (the most TO of any player today). And Lakers' defense still suck. At least they not as bad as the Hornets... OMG, Hornets suck!

These players are impressive, may or may not have the best performance. Just they exceeded my expectations.

3 most impressive players (in no order):
1. Kevin Garnett*
2. Kevin Martin
3. Juan Carlos Navarro
honorable mentions: Dwight Howard
*note: I'm not saying I didn't expect KG to do this well, but I didn't expect him to dominate from the get-go

3 most impressive rookies (in no order):
1. Juan Carlos Navarro
2. Marco Belinelli
3. Joakim Noah
Honorable mentions: Yi Jianglin

Dishonorable mentions:
1. Kobe Bryant - took too many shots in 20 minutes and the most turnovers of any player. If Kobe isn't in an offensive rhythm, stop shooting!
2. Luis Scola - too many TOs despite a great game. That offensive foul in the end cost the game.
3. All of the Hornets - Even the Sonics look better than his miserable bunch. Hornets cannot capitalize on any turnovers and playing against the Rocket's bench.
4. The Mavericks treated this game as if regular season. The Spurs sat back and joked.

Corrections and greater details over at:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-gePJ1Qk1dqdyO.Nz.k4-?cq=1&p=17

Answer 1

Boston vs. Toronto: I'm guessing KG is still the one to watch out. He played a laid back and matured basketball but still mustered 19 points and 16 rebounds whopping numbers... And he is not that serious yet. Truly proving why he one of the most sought after player this summer.

Cleveland vs. Wahington: I believe Cleveland has yet to scrap their rust yet. Their still shooting bricks! Arenas who's coming an injury did better shooting than the supposed to be NBA finalists. Horrible.

Milwaukee vs. Chicago: Yeah Yi ("EE") seem to be tentative... He'll learn definitely. Well about Noah, I guess he'll prove detractors wrong and Skiles right about drafting him... He's one hell of a workhorse. Big Ben was in an offensive mode finishing in double figures with 10 points.

Houston vs. New Orleans / Oaklahoma: How bad can a second team be? Pulled out the first team leading 21 points put all efforts down the drain... Talk about confidence break-up!

Well these are the only ones I saw... I believe the NBA would recover from it's off-season scandals with great games ahead of us...

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Watch your language Erica, GAWD, it's only a preseason game. I can imagine how you'll be when the real season starts! ROFL! jk, jk, xD Seriously though, Fleury will be good. The Avs are just starting their game, but I really don't care about the preseason. As long as no one gets injured, I'm happy. I agree with Armstrong being on the same line as Crosby but I'm not sure which wing he'd be better off playing. On yahoo it says he's a RW, but the Pens have Sykora and Recchi to fill RW, so someone's going to have to switch wings. ~ Damn, they lost. At least the Avs won in OT. Yay for Stastny!

Answer 3

Azubuike is the real reason Golden State traded Richardson away. He was the leading scorer in the D league when he was called up because of injuries to the Warriors last year. He has a guaranteed contract now and is looking for more playing time.

You are watching too much hoops, by the way.

Answer 4

I Just wanted to say I really liked this. You should do it once a week keep it up.

Answer 5

Very impressive

Answer 6

what about the knicks?