Game thoughts: Let me be the first to say...

[Roy Hobbs]

... we're doomed!  We lost to a Rockets team without Yao, Battier, and McGrady!  We got outrebounded, and our leading scorer was Michael Sweetney!  DOOMED!

(Just kidding, of course.  There are some kinks to work out for some of the guys, maybe, but overall, I think there's a lot to be encouraged about.)

[BBS]

The Sky is Falling!!! The Sky is Falling!!! 

I totaly agree alot of things to be excited about. KG looked good. Baby looked more streamlined (ya thats what I'm gonna call it). Sheed got that first T out the way. Williams looks to be a solid post player. Daniels can run the point. Lester looks to be a fisty Defender who isn't afraid out there.

Overall I am very pleased.

[Edgar]

We rock!!!!!!


now in serious business

regular season mins

Shelden   2
Scal      5
Hudson    5
Sweetney  0
Giddens   0

[Reggie's Ghost]

So close.

Looking forward to overanalyzing KGs limp, how he plays on the court with Sheed, Rondo's elbow, how Daniels does, how slim Baby looks, whether Giddens plays, and what all this Lester Hudson talk is about.

Cheers to a new season folks!

KG did indeed look limp free, jump shot looked smooth as ever, but he struggled to get up there at certain points.  Looks good, about %80.  Sheed spent most of his time bombing threes (most of which went in), but his solid, aggressive defense was a surprise.  In general, the bench struck me as very solid defensively, with Marquise showing that herky jerky style of his looked great in the lane (won player of the game, and Doc mentioned his playing the best of anyone today).

Between Rondo's new jumper and Baby's new bod, both looked uncomfortable and struggled almost throughout.  I also became a fan of Lester Hudson, a scrappy bulldog PG with a hard nosed style of play.  He passed well and got up for this preseason game, which I always enjoy.  Giddens played well defensively, and disappeared on offense (no surprises there).  He's a step below Walker in my mind if Bill can come back healthy.

Solid preseason game, so far my thoughts are to hold onto Hudson and cut Sweetney (too out of shape) and let Giddens and Walker duke it out for the 12th man role.

I for one am enjoying the replacement refs, who will clearly be holding players to rules that have been long forgotten by NBA refs in the last decade: palming, 3 seconds, traveling and line violations are back, seemingly regardless of who you are.  If you ask me, it's good for the authenticity of the game, and anything's better than last years official ref squads.

You know your in trouble when you've already had your fill of Greg Dickerson, Gary Tanguay and Donnie Marshall...

[the_Bird]

Didn't 'Sheed just look really, REALLY happy to be here?  LOVED his aggressive D in the first preseason game; this is a guy who's got a lot of game left, and has something to prove. 

I! LOVE!  RASHEED WALLACE!

[ben]

The good
 
Sheed - awesome
KG - awesome
Pierce - awesome
Ray Allen - SO SO AWESOME!!'
Perkins - Quicker
Marquis - good playmaker good defence
Williams - seems good

The Bad

Baby - looked terrible, bad defence, slow
Rondo - bad game?  Brooks destroyed him
Marquis - can't shoot?

[CelticG1]

The good
 
Sheed - awesome
KG - awesome
Pierce - awesome
Ray Allen - SO SO AWESOME!!'
Perkins - Quicker
Marquis - good playmaker good defence
Williams - seems good

The Bad

Baby - looked terrible, bad defence, slow
Rondo - bad game?  Brooks destroyed him
Marquis - can't shoot?

I heard Rondo wasn't great. From what most people said in the game thread though Baby supposedly looked real good, quick and was playing good D, and Marquis was doing a good job facilitating the offense (we already know he is not a good shooter this isn't news)

[RAcker]

We rock!!!!!!


now in serious business

regular season mins

Shelden   2
Scal      5
Hudson    5
Sweetney  0
Giddens   0

You might be being a little generous there with Hudson, but I hope you are right, E.

If Hudson is getting 5 min per game that probably means we are finishing people off early in the 4th quarter like we did 2 years ago.  That would rock!

By the way, Giddens is just clueless and regardless of what Sweetney can do in the post on offense, he is just a useless tub of guts on defense and in the rebounding department.

[slamtheking]

The good
 
Sheed - awesome
KG - awesome
Pierce - awesome
Ray Allen - SO SO AWESOME!!'
Perkins - Quicker
Marquis - good playmaker good defence
Williams - seems good

The Bad
Baby - looked terrible, bad defence, slow
Rondo - bad game?  Brooks destroyed him
Marquis - can't shoot?

I'm on the opposite side on this one.  I wouldn't use awesome to describe anyone's performance.  Some encouraging stuff to be sure but definitely plenty to work on.

The starters came out in a groove which was very good.  KG looked as good as he ever has as did Ray.  They were flat in the second half though.  Rondo did not have a good game overall.

The bench was flat in the first half but they looked decent in the second half. 
Baby didn't play well. 
Williams didn't look good at all. 
Scal wasn't much better.     
Sweetney won't make the team. 
House looked solid--most consistent performance throughout the game.
Daniels looked like a good pickup. 
Giddens played solid defense--very good to see.  Looks like he could take TA's spot no problem.
Hudson looked like a nice pickup.  Maybe not quite ready for primetime but certainly a keeper at this point. 
On the whole, the bench frontcourt was getting beat on the boards by a smaller team--not good.

How does a professional NBA team miss 20 free throws??  disgraceful.

[Kwhit10]

What stood out the most to was Sheeds post D.  He was very active down there and I feel really good about having Perkins/KG/Sheed down low.  Will be very tough for opposing teams.

[blueygreen]

WE'RE DOOMED! QUICK WE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO GET GERALD GREEN AND ANTOINE WALKER ON THE ROSTER! REBUILD REBUILD REBUILD!

[kw10]

I thought Baby was supposed to be slimmer and quicker? I didn't watch the game...but from what I read, does he need his excess weight back? lol

It's good to hear 'Sheed is looking great out there, and same with KG.

[the_Bird]

I thought Baby was supposed to be slimmer and quicker? I didn't watch the game...but from what I read, does he need his excess weight back? lol

It's good to hear 'Sheed is looking great out there, and same with KG.

He had one little quick spin move and fadeaway shot (which he made) that he's not able to make last year.  I missed a lot of his minutes (game is saved, I'll re-watch tonight) and I missed a lot of the time he was on the floor, but at least on that play his footwork looked real good.

[Brickowski]

Well, the third string played terrible defense in Q4,  Sweetney can't guard a chair. Shelden Williams made one nice play (the putback on the free throw) but was completely invisible the rest of the time, and that big Australian guy ate him up. 

Giddens looked lost on offense. I doubt if the C's will pick up his option.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lester Hudson.  He didn't play badly at all.

I thought the replacement officials were fine in the first half, but got completely whistle happy in the second, which ruined the flow of the game.

[slamtheking]

Well, the third string played terrible defense in Q4,  Sweetney can't guard a chair. Shelden Williams made one nice play (the putback on the free throw) but was completely invisible the rest of the time, and that big Australian guy ate him up. 

Giddens looked lost on offense. I doubt if the C's will pick up his option.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lester Hudson.  He didn't play badly at all.

I thought the replacement officials were fine in the first half, but got completely whistle happy in the second, which ruined the flow of the game.

good summary.  pretty much agree with everything except whether they'll pick up Giddens option.  I'm on the fence on that one.  Giddens played solid defense which is what Doc is supposedly have him focus on.  The team didn't look for him on offense which was a little surprising.  He kept the ball moving when he touched it---would have liked to have seen him look to score a little.