Impressions from night number 1

[jdpapa3]

My observation of the morning is that Dirk did get a haircut...he had a lion's mane before the season. He trimmed back a little bit.

[the_Bird]

You know what bothered the hell out of me last night?

One of the pregame shows or maybe ESPN, can't remember, talking about the NBA and how it was five times with a legit shot at the title, and that there was no other team that could possibly be a surprise contender.

What part of "surprise" do these people not understand?  The whole point of teams that seem to come out of nowhere (like Sam Cassell's Bucks) is that NO ONE EXPECTS THEM TO PLAY THAT WELL!  

Saying that "there's no chance of a surprise" is a pure logical fallacy.

[Fafnir]

You know what bothered the hell out of me last night?

One of the pregame shows or maybe ESPN, can't remember, talking about the NBA and how it was five times with a legit shot at the title, and that there was no other team that could possibly be a surprise contender.

What part of "surprise" do these people not understand?  The whole point of teams that seem to come out of nowhere (like Sam Cassell's Bucks) is that NO ONE EXPECTS THEM TO PLAY THAT WELL!  

Saying that "there's no chance of a surprise" is a pure logical fallacy.

Usually analysts will pick a surprise contender before the season, this year most seem to think that the Finalists will come from BOS/CLE/ORL in the East and LAL/SAS in the West.

Its not that their cannot possibly be a surprise team, but rather the do not forsee any other teams making a leap. For example last year many of them correctly anticipated Portland making a charge into the postseason.

The Wizards looked pretty good, and probably end up being the 4th seed if they can stay somewhat healthy.

[Rondo2287]

Also, did anybody elses stomach churn a little bit when they saw leon and lebron laughing on the sideline?

[Fafnir]

Also, did anybody elses stomach churn a little bit when they saw leon and lebron laughing on the sideline?

No.

[the_Bird]

Just the way that they said it bothered me.  I agree, it's likely going to be one of the big five, but you never know until you really start playing.  

[Bankshot]

Also, did anybody elses stomach churn a little bit when they saw leon and lebron laughing on the sideline?

Not in the least. He's one of them now.

[slamtheking]

Also, did anybody elses stomach churn a little bit when they saw leon and lebron laughing on the sideline?

that turned my stomach a little bit.

[slamtheking]

for the C's:
-KG looked a little off.
-Ray should not try to be a playmaker.
-Rondo looks better on his jumper but didn't take very many.
-Williams will do just fine in BBD's place---especially when he learns to anticipate passes.
-Sheed, Daniels, House and Williams make for a terrific bench.
-The starters really need to focus.  Their play was much too sloppy.
-Perk's jumper is looking much better

For the Cav's
- It's Lebron against the world still.
- Shaq started well but get him over 8 feet from the basket and his effectiveness drops dramatically.
- Sideshow Bob looked really good.  Can't stand him but he looked really good.

The rest of the league
-->who cares?  seriously, who cares?  They aren't the C's nor were they playing the C's.  Does anybody really care about any other games?

Well I care.

Me too.  I think the NBA as a whole is going to be very entertaining this year.  There are 5 teams at the top who are incredibly talented and stacked with all-stars.  There is also a second-tier who will push these teams.  The Nuggets, Hornets, and Jazz out west, and the Hawks and Wizards in the East. 


I'm looking forward to an awesome year out of the NBA.  After this year it'll be interesting to see how the free agency and collective bargaining changes thing.




Getting back on topic I thought it was an interesting opening night.  It was just one of numerous good games between the Celts and Cavs.  I'm glad we won this one because they don't play again until February.  I thought the Lakers were okay on a night that we know from last year is a difficult and emotional one to play a game.  The Wizards proved that they are back as a playoff team in the east with Arenas.  Portland's win against a team with a 6-6 starting center wasn't too inspiring, but you have to play who's on the schedule.

Definitely your choice to watch other games in the league.  I wouldn't tell you otherwise. 

Personally, I'd rather watch paint dry.  The game has been so Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again.ized with the permission given to players to violate the rules of the game that I don't find the NBA game entertaining other than watching the Celtics and rooting for the team I followed since Bird's rookie year.  My devotion to the C's hasn't faded but my enjoyment of the NBA product has definitely decreased to the point where I don't care about the rest of the league. 

[Fafnir]

Also, did anybody elses stomach churn a little bit when they saw leon and lebron laughing on the sideline?

Not in the least. He's one of them now.

Players change teams, happens all the time. If Pierce ends up a Laker I'd probably get sick though...

[blake]

The thing I took away from the game was that Marquis will be invaluable throughout the year.  He was extremely efficient on the floor and didn't force shots.  He was 1-1 from long range, and shot 60% for the day. 

The other thing that he has done for us is the guarding of Lebron.  Sure Lebron overpowered him and had 38 pts, but he played 45 minutes.  Yes, 45.  By Pierce not having to guard LBJ the entire game he had fresh legs for the end of the 4th quarter where we needed him the most.  Last year, in those iso's pierce would be so worn out he would usually take a fadeaway half jumper.  Last night he was able to get his legs underneath him and take a more high percentage shot.  That may be party due to this being the first game of the season, but Marquis taking Lebron for some extra time was huge IMO. 

[RAcker]

I'm going to keep this simple. My impression from last night is "We're good".

[the_Bird]

The thing I took away from the game was that Marquis will be invaluable throughout the year.  He was extremely efficient on the floor and didn't force shots.  He was 1-1 from long range, and shot 60% for the day. 

The other thing that he has done for us is the guarding of Lebron.  Sure Lebron overpowered him and had 38 pts, but he played 45 minutes.  Yes, 45.  By Pierce not having to guard LBJ the entire game he had fresh legs for the end of the 4th quarter where we needed him the most.  Last year, in those iso's pierce would be so worn out he would usually take a fadeaway half jumper.  Last night he was able to get his legs underneath him and take a more high percentage shot.  That may be party due to this being the first game of the season, but Marquis taking Lebron for some extra time was huge IMO. 

Quisy doens't need to stop LeBron, he just needs to play him as well as Pierce does (and it seems that he can).

Anyone regret not signing Grant Hill now?  

[Quinn]

I'm going to keep this simple. My impression from last night is "We're good".

and we obviously weren't even at 80 percent of our potential.
scary thought.

[nickagneta]

My league-wide observations of last night:

1.) If LeBron isn't putting up 45-50 points a night versus the better defending teams in the league, I see a lot of losses for the Cavs versus those teams.

2.) The Rockets are really, really, really going to struggle to put up enough points on the board to win on a regular basis.

3.) Gilbert Arenas is back. I wanted to wait and see figuring if he could make it through the first 10-15 games then I would make that declaration but from what I saw last night and in the preseason, he's back.

4.) Andrew Bynum really can not play defense. He just is not a good defensive player. Yeah he can score and block the occasional shot in dramatic fashion, but after watching Perk play Shaq, it is just glaringly obvious how much better a defensive center Perk is than Bynum that it isn't even worth discussing.

5.) The Trailblazers got a whole 4 points out of their center position last night. They also managed to rack up 11 personal fouls, 9 turnovers, 7 blocked shots and 22 rebounds. Quite the opening night combined stat line from Joel Pryzbilla and Greg Oden, to say the least.

6.) By mid season the Mavs might discover that the best PG they have on their team is Jose Juan Barea and not Jason Kidd.

7.) The Celtics bench will be single-handedly responsible for at least 25 wins this season. Make that 25 more as they were probably single-handedly responsible for last nights win. Without their play in the second quarter, the C's lose last night.

8.) The off season pickup that played the best all around game last night was not named Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Shaquille O'Neal or Shawn Marion. His name was Randy Foye, who had a hell of a game against Dallas for the Wizards.