WildBB
Yogi n da Bear
It's early, but after 1 road game against an inspired 'Sonics Team, how do you all feel about the season. My takes in order of what I was impressed with:
1) Grant Hill - I love his passion and his smartness. He improves a near championship caliber team. My hope is he can play smart and injury free while keeping the drive going. It'll make us take the next step up.
2) Amare and Nash - Especially Amare is further along than I expected to see. He started off real slow and finished like dynamite. Steve allthough gearing up for the grind slower this year looked pretty much in season form allready. Amare needs to clear the Defensive glass better however. We're giving up too many Offensive Rebounds again. That's not only his responsability but the others have to box out better too.
3) Marion - This guy just eats up minutes and runs the floor very well. I've never enjoyed seeing him shoot much but his moves closer in are nice to watch. He should work his game inside more with his hops. If he could develop a short fade shot he could be devestating. But at this stage , I don't know if it's in him. (Hey Shawn, watch Larry Bird vids on using your body). I'd like to see him shoot the 3's less than in the past though. We have plenty of those, we don't need a #2 firing from there. Work the glass more. (See Ceballos).
4) Banks and Skinner - Nice contributions from these two. They seemed to outplay Barbosa and Diaw this game. Hopefully those two, it's only a matter of time. But if Banks in particular can be more consistent and shoot as well as tonight then we've got a nice bonus here. Hopefully he can run the team in spurts and have the help doing so as well. Skinner played good defensively and is physical. Like to see him keep being physical in keeping opponents off the glass.
5) Bell - Found his touch eventually. He plays hard and is the heart of this teams perimeter D. Obviously plays with passion and strong desire for results and wins. Will make a good coach some day.
All and all despite all the rumors and contoversy in the league heading into this season, no matter what develops this team is poised to take it to another level. I'd like to add a little more size to replace Thomas with, but it's rare that we'd use it much anyhow. But just in case it would be wise to have another physical body.
O/T: I think we might have seen the next superstar in this league last night.
1) Grant Hill - I love his passion and his smartness. He improves a near championship caliber team. My hope is he can play smart and injury free while keeping the drive going. It'll make us take the next step up.
2) Amare and Nash - Especially Amare is further along than I expected to see. He started off real slow and finished like dynamite. Steve allthough gearing up for the grind slower this year looked pretty much in season form allready. Amare needs to clear the Defensive glass better however. We're giving up too many Offensive Rebounds again. That's not only his responsability but the others have to box out better too.
3) Marion - This guy just eats up minutes and runs the floor very well. I've never enjoyed seeing him shoot much but his moves closer in are nice to watch. He should work his game inside more with his hops. If he could develop a short fade shot he could be devestating. But at this stage , I don't know if it's in him. (Hey Shawn, watch Larry Bird vids on using your body). I'd like to see him shoot the 3's less than in the past though. We have plenty of those, we don't need a #2 firing from there. Work the glass more. (See Ceballos).
4) Banks and Skinner - Nice contributions from these two. They seemed to outplay Barbosa and Diaw this game. Hopefully those two, it's only a matter of time. But if Banks in particular can be more consistent and shoot as well as tonight then we've got a nice bonus here. Hopefully he can run the team in spurts and have the help doing so as well. Skinner played good defensively and is physical. Like to see him keep being physical in keeping opponents off the glass.
5) Bell - Found his touch eventually. He plays hard and is the heart of this teams perimeter D. Obviously plays with passion and strong desire for results and wins. Will make a good coach some day.
All and all despite all the rumors and contoversy in the league heading into this season, no matter what develops this team is poised to take it to another level. I'd like to add a little more size to replace Thomas with, but it's rare that we'd use it much anyhow. But just in case it would be wise to have another physical body.
O/T: I think we might have seen the next superstar in this league last night.
