Went to the game tonight... $5 ticket from a scalper and I parked on the street a block from AWA.
As Eric mentioned Archie didn't have much of a game... he didn't even get his money's worth on the three fouls or the T. After watching him I'd have to say that Koturovic must have been horrible. On one play it looked like he was going to get a chance on a fast break but Marbs put on a burst of speed and left him in the dust.
The good news is that Jake looked pretty solid - he tried to do too much on defense but I imagine that's what FJ wanted him to do. Not as bad as last year though... at least, he stayed in the paint. If he can stay healthy and Frank plays him consistenly, I think he'll settle down and be as good as, say, Ostertag or Battie. He was open for one jumper tonight and went right up with it and stuck it. I was glad to see that because that's the kind of thing we need from him offensively. He wasn't blocking out too well on the boards, though.
Casey looks the same as last year, which IMO means he doesn't belong in the NBA. Heck, he was still jackknifing on his perimeter shots.
Googs moved fairly well but he was overmatched playing center, which he did when Jake was out. His shot was falling early on but down the stretch he missed every one - wide open from 18 feet... you know the shot. He has to be hitting them because the team isn't using his passing ability and he has lost his toughness around the basket. He isn't laboring up and down the floor, which is nice to see but that in itself it's not worth a whole lot to the game.
Stoudemire looked good but he left the game limping in the fourth quarter - it didn't look serious but still you worry. He didn't look lost on defense but he had trouble containing Zach Randolph, who is strong and has quite a repretoire of shots. There is still no hint that FJ even conceives of running the offense thru Amare part of the time. I suppose he and his teammates will work out some stuff on their own eventually.
Marion's added muscle wasn't evident in this game but then he was going up against Rasheed. Overall, the Blazers controlled the boards rather handily with SG Bonzi Wells grabbing quite a few besides all their big men. Luckily, Marbury picked up several off the floor or the Suns would have been drubbed.
JJ had a middling game... not a disappearing act but he wasn't stellar by any means. Bonzi didn't try posting him up much but there wasn't any need of it as Rasheed and Randolph were operating effectively down low. On the other hand Bonzi was a factor on the boards and JJ wasn't.
Marbury didn't look as laid back as reports from earlier games indicated but he didn't get cranked up either. He seemed content to run the offense and kick it out when he did penetrate. I do think Frank wanted the team to win this game and they did stay in it all the way but faltered down the stretch... just what they didn't do last year.
Knight's okay... he's very quick. Barbosa didn't play, which was very disappointing for me.
Trybanski didn't play... another disappointment. He didn't look as skinny as I expected and during warm ups he looked like he moves fairly well. I wonder if they're contemplating cutting Archibald and were giving him a last look - because the way he played I can't imagine a guy who can block shots at all being left sitting while Archie diddled around on the floor.
One preseason game isn't much to judge things on but one thing for sure - we need much more off then bench than Googs and Casey are going to give us. We're going to need quite a lot from Penny and Zarko at the very least. I'd say that Zarko is going to get a ton of opportunity to contribute, as he may well turn out to be our best backup at 3, 4 and 5. That's how thin we looked in this game! Knight will be okay as the backup PG but if Barbosa can come in and change the tempo of the game that will be a big plus. Marbury and Marion are going to have to step it up and I expect they will...
