Hi all!
I'm back from the game.
I live near Bamberg, Bavaria. So this was a 400 km trip for me, 1-way.
First of all, pictures as requested above come later. But I had very cheap seats, for 59 EUR, since I'm a college student, so you don't see much.
My thoughts:
Kurt Thomas: Nice player. Not at all that big but I think he's good to go for the season. Finished a fast-break nicely with a mid-range shot during first half. So I would say, he is in good shape, tempo-wise. But foul-trouble caused him to get out of the game in the middle of the 3rd quarter.
Shawn Marion: He minor-knee-thing at the start of the offseason is over. I would say. Plays like ever. Had the most spectacular actions. Is fast, but really ugly shot when you see it in nature. And he dribbles in a funny way, never notieced that this much before. Had an 3 pointer air ball.
Boris Diaw: This guy really is big for his size. Very intelligent. Doesn't force anything. Had a VERY nice put-back dunk, but other than that rather unspectacular. Can do things, i.e. drive to the hoop, if he wants to.
Raja Bell: Really a nagging defender. had some nice 3 pointers. Other than that, he didn't show that much on offense.
Steve Nash: This guy really is the MVP. Didn't play much in second half. But during first half, he really would not let this game slip away. Everytime he was on the court in first half and the first half of the third quarter the suns limited the gap (tel aviv was leading most through the first half). After a few misses he was deadly from three-point-land.
Leandro Barbosa: Lightning fast. Lacks some court vision, but was dead on with some of his drives. Made 28 points I think. Topscorer. Had a nice game. Definately worth his extension.
Marcus Banks: Made a dunk. So he can dunk. If that is what anyone's been asking oneself. A good pickup, but no Nash, but who is. Good free-throw shooter. But as he had 10 FT attempts, he is not a pass-first PG. When he comes in a little bit of rhythm is gone, I think. The players didn't get the ball on offense as they would if Nash was on, but after a while it was OK. Still better than last year, or the year before that.
Amare Stoudemire: Here he is. I was on the road all day, so I hadn't had a chance to look up, if he would be playing. He did. And not very good in the first half. Not a lot of play were run though him. And he didn't defend that well. You could see at halftime when he was going to the locker he didn't really high five the fans. Oh no, wait. That was after the game. At halftime his body language said "heck, what's going on? why don't i ever get the ball?". He played the hole fourth quarter and the second half the the 3rd since Thomas had 5 fouls. Then it was better. But he was clearly not in a rhythm of any kind of playing. Looked still frustrated after the game and to march to the locker room.
James Jones: Now, he really impressed me. From the few games I've seen last season and the endless boxscore reading after every game, I tought he is pretty much expendable. But he really is not, well at least not that much. A good rebounder, a guy who wants to get rebounds, deadly from 3 point land. And no sloppy passes on offense. A solid guy who gives effort, and at 6'8" you know, part time power forward.
Jumaine Jones: He didn't play as far as I noticed. He did warm up though.
Sean Marks: Same for him, but I was really impressed at warm up time with some moves he made. He seems pretty quick on his feet for a big white guy.
Pat Burke: Same for him. But not that quick, still, he has a good shot.
Eric Piatowski: He has worn a suit.
Devin White(?): Didn't play. Did not do anything to blow me away at warm up time.
Did I forget someone? Since I'm writing this from my memory.
A notice to the atmosphere in die Kölnarena:
I really was a tad disappointed that it wasn't sold out.
There really isn't any fan culture arena-wise in Europe, so the crowd really was silent.
All in all it was every bit worth of it.
As said earlier; pictures coming
