Opening Night:"They were exactly who we thought they were"

So I watched the first slate of games the NBA served up on opening week and they were not too shabby. For the Celtics-Cavs it was as expected and predicted, whoever had the most points between Pierce and James won the game. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer picture says it all. We don’t even have to talk about foul shooting or lack of.

Mo Williams looked decent and did what he has basically done since Alabama, run the team and get his shot off. I think a team has finally figured out how to use Delonte West.  He is combo guard, with a decent shot, and gritty defense. He can bring up the ball if you need him but that not his primary thing. This is how he was used at St. Joseph in Philadelphia with the majority of the ball work going to Jameer Nelson. Truthfully I don’t think he is a starter he is best suited as the 6^th man but on this team he is best person for the job. He allows for the team to still run while Williams and James can look for their shots.

This is something you would not have if Daniel Gibson or Sasha Pavlovic were in the 2 guard spot. Both are better shooters but are not as good defensively, not to mention West will hit the open shot.  Unlike most people though, I don’t see the James gang getting to the Finals. I said it before you need another star and Mo Williams is good but not a star.

Far as the Celtics the first thing I’m going to point out is am I the only one who noticed that Doc Rivers really has no faith in Gabe Pruitt or J.R. Giddens to back up Rondo? Now Giddens I can expect he was combo guard in college and he has to learn the position but Pruitt played the point mostly at USC and they gave him a little play last year and time in preseason. They would rather Tony Allen bring the ball up then put it in the hands of either of those two.

Speaking of Tony Allen it looks like he is going to get some more burn this year, which apparently is going to be at the cost of Ray Allen. T. Allen for a stretch in the game was touching the ball every time down. I party blame this on Jesus Shuttlesworth because sometimes he get s lazy or loses focus in a game. If you watch R. Allen run his cuts sometimes, he can be amazingly lackadaisical, which will lead to a change of possession or another pass having to be made. This is going to sound weird to everybody but it might be time to make Jesus the 6^th man.

The only reason I watched Game 1 was to get to Game 2. Initially for me it was all it cracked up to be. I never expected the Blazers to beat the Lakers on opening night but I wanted to see all the talent. Starting with Oden, I was impressed with for his first 13 minutes. The way that Oden attacked the boards which is what I expected him to and offensively he has become a little smoother than the last time I saw him in college. That is as long as I disregard that hook shot I saw. But then the Portland curse happened the big man had a problem in the lower half of his body, a sprained ankle. I have not seen Greg Oden since.

Far as the rest of the team, Brandon Roy is as smooth as a player there is and Aldridge was solid. The problem with rest of the entire team other than Batum, they only seemed to know how to play at one speed, warp speed.

When I was young I did not understand why you would play any other speed if you can out race your opponent. But as I got older Hubie Brown seemed like a genius (he is a genius if you know the game), every time he talked about basketball is a game of angles.

He is/was right and speed allows you increase or decrease those angles.  Gary Payton once told Jason (White Chocolate) Williams, that he needed to play the game at two different speeds. It sounded so simple but Williams did not get it until Hubie Brown got Memphis. If you play one speed all the time, your opponent knows what to expect and figure out how to stop it, and this is what Portland’s issue is.

Far as the Lakers, they did what I expected. Is it me or is the rule to be a Laker you have to smile and be photogenic? I swear all these guys have headshots and are trying to push them to an agent during timeouts.  The Lakers make the game look unfair, teams put their second best big man on Gasol because of Bynum and that’s just a mismatch. If that wasn’t bad teams put the third or best big man on Odom we he comes in and that is a ridiculous mismatch, because he is a starter posing as a sub.

In fact after watching the game last night I realize that Lakers second unit is more fun to watch than the starters and if they were in the East they would be a team fighting for the 8^th playoff spot. That’s when you know that you have a good team when the second unit is full of low-middle tier NBA team starters. Luke Walton one of the top 3 passers on the team can’t crack the rotation, after starting before.

Oh and “your boy” Kobe “Bean” Bryant looked like he was okay just coasting through the game until Prizbilla tried to prove his manhood on a unnecessary hard foul. I like Pryzbilla and I think that usually this is the right thing to do, but wrong guy, you idiot! Kobe scored the next 11 points and pushed the game out of reach.