I was at the garden tonight. My impressions:
JJJ: can flat out shoot. He has some very nice offensive skills and can easily make the 20ft jumper, but he is very thin, as the OP said, and needs to work on his defense.
Etuan Moore: looks like a great pick. He had good ball control and decision making, and a nice jumper, looked very comfortable for a rookie
Chris Wilcox: 2nd best player of the night, he's definitely worth the MLE. I was surprised at how good his offense and rebounding are. He reminded me of a younger, smaller Sheed. He showed a lot of hustle as well.
Marquis Daniels: the best player of the night! It's great to see him back, but this looks like a new and improved Quisy. He was much more aggressive offensively yet always in control. Was very good at creating his own shots but also had fantastic passes, 2nd only to Rondo tonight in passing the ball.
Keyon Dooling: I was one of the people upset that we signed him over Delonte, but I will be the fist to say I was wrong. He's a true backup pg and a floor leader. Showed great poise and leadership, a very nice jumper with range, and excellent passing skills. Also a solid defender. Great addition to the 2nd unit.
Brandon Bass: about what I expected from him. Big improvement from Davis. Bass is much more under control, stays in the paint, and has a much easier time getting his shot off. He had some nice offensive rebounds too, following his own shot a few times, and can hit the outside J as well, although not as good a jump shooter as JJJ imo. His defense was ok, not great.
Sasha Pavlovic: He was there, but honestly, I don't even remember if he played at all.
Rondo: as with the rest of the starters, half speed night for Rondo, a bit sloppy as well, but the usual display of skills that we expect from him. He was working on his post-up game during shootaround, and he looked good shooting jumpers as well
Jermaine Oneal: He looks to be in great shape, and he moved very well until he got hurt late in teh game. It looked like he pulled an abdominal muscle during a missed dunk. He gave a very half-assed effort though, which is ok for a vet I guess.
Ray Allen: typical Ray, although even he was at the slower gear tonight.
Sweetney: why do they keep inviting this guy to training camp each year? He looks morbidly obese and thus can't get a shot off because he has zero lift.
Avery Bradley: next to Sweetney, he was the worst player on the floor tonight, despite the game winner. He was very dissapointing. Even though he's not playing pg any more, he still looks totally lost on the floor and has trouble dribbling and passing. His defense was ok, not great, and he really had no offensive moves of note.
Overall, I really like the new additions to our bench. The bench this year will be a much more mature and experienced group that will give us a much needed boost, even without Jeff Green. Daniels, Bass, Wilcox and Dooling are all great additions. Moore and JJJ look like great draft choices, and I think JJJ can develop into a very nice player in a couple of years. Bradley though may be out of the league soon.
I'm not sure why they went all out with the celtics dancers and a halftime show and pregame intros for a scrimmage, but I guess that's ok.
Paul Pierce had a great time interacting with fans on the sidelines before the game, and with the coaches and players during the game. He was limping though, and also looks like he gained weight during the lockout.
KG looked antsy sitting on the bench and not playing. I'm not sure why he sat out. He did have some fingers on his hand taped. I hope he's not hurt as well.
Topic: Reflections on tonight's open practice (Read 12709 times)