Obviously early, but just a few casual things I've noticed. 1) Less than impressed with LeBron James's ability to score...but man that dude can pass!!! The Cavs are 2-0 and he's handing out assists like free money on a street corner. 2) IMO, there are three components to LeBron's success...now and thru the season. Paul Silas, Zydrunas Ilguaskas and Darius Miles. Although I didn't think he was the best fit for the Rockets, Silas is a very underrated coach. I think he may be the perfect coach for the Cavs/LeBron. By staying healthy, the Z-Man's post play can take alot of pressure off of James. Miles has the handles and athleticism to keep teams from doubling LBJ. Miles has had a nice pre-season thus far as well. If I weren't unemployed, I'd check out the Las Vegas odds on the Cavs making the playoffs. They are definitley worth taking a flyer on. 3) Look for Scot Pollard to have a good season for Bird & Carlisle at Indy. But make sure you are looking for # 62....that's right 62. Pollard has worn 31 which is a family thing since it was also his dad's number. Reggie Miller's not giving up 31 to anybody so Pollard doubled it... 31 X 2 = 62. 4) Who's that new Celtic? Antoine Walker has lost so much weigh that I honestly did not recognize him. I'm not joking, Walker is about 25 #'s lighter. 5) It's early but Celtic Vin Baker appears to be dealing well with his alcohol problem. Good for him. Vin looks like he showed up to camp in shape. Currently, Baker is 2nd unit behind Mark Blount. But if he keeps his head on straight for the entire season, the C's could give NJ and Detroit a run for the money. 6) The Pistons are not (yet) playing Darko with their starters. Brown appears to be bring him along slowly. What's odd though is that Milicic is playing the Center spot. I completely missed this one. I had him pegged for PF in a Nowitski / Garnett sort of way. 7) I really like Dwayne Wade at Miami. Wade, Eddie Jones and Lamar Odom (all of whom started vs the Sixers) make the Heat a real tough matchup. Then add in the fabulous Butler Boys and the Heat have 5 of the most athletic and talented PG/SG/SF groups in the EC. I look for Pat Riley to use these guys almost interchangeably without definitions like "PG" or "SG". OK, it's early but I continue to suffer from the Unemployment Blues and the Rox have yet to appear on NBALP. Thanks for reading this far.
Well, the number of guards that could shoot coming straight out of high school were....well, zero... Oh yeah, Gater...6 years @ 42 million...
A-Train - I never kick a man when he's down or has a dislocated shoulder. Only those with a history of Plantar Fasciitis. Most of ya'all were patient with me for 2 years, at least give me until about game 10 or so of the regular season!
oops! I was going for Cato's contract...oh well, Moochie would probably be the best candidate, anyways.
I'm still reluctant to have high expectations for Wade. I hope he does well, he's a good guy with a nice story, but I thought he's been pretty overrated.
I wish more people would post some stuff like this. Gotta grill you a lil though. Agreed. I highly doubt LJ is gonna crack the 17ppg barrier. But he will make his teamates better. 2) IMO, there are three components to LeBron's success...now and thru the season. Paul Silas, Zydrunas Ilguaskas and Darius Miles. Although I didn't think he was the best fit for the Rockets, Silas is a very underrated coach. I think he may be the perfect coach for the Cavs/LeBron. By staying healthy, the Z-Man's post play can take alot of pressure off of James. Miles has the handles and athleticism to keep teams from doubling LBJ. Miles has had a nice pre-season thus far as well. I was following you until you brought up Miles. You think he's going to log enough minutes this year to crack into the top 3 difference makers this year for the Cavs? Unless LJ actually does play pg this year or Davis gets traded, I don't see how he gets starter minutes. 4) Who's that new Celtic? Antoine Walker has lost so much weigh that I honestly did not recognize him. I'm not joking, Walker is about 25 #'s lighter. Good to hear. I think he's gunning to break the all-time record for 3ptrs attempted, so he better get in shape. 7) I really like Dwayne Wade at Miami. Wade, Eddie Jones and Lamar Odom (all of whom started vs the Sixers) make the Heat a real tough matchup. Then add in the fabulous Butler Boys and the Heat have 5 of the most athletic and talented PG/SG/SF groups in the EC. I look for Pat Riley to use these guys almost interchangeably without definitions like "PG" or "SG". I think this is a weird situation here - they have so many good wing players. I'm guessing that once Butler returns from injury he'll be the starting sf again, EJ the starting sg(cuz of $$$ and to showcase for trade), Odom the pg(cuz of $$$), and Wade the 1st off the bench(cuz he's the rook and little $$$). I thought for sure EJ would be moved before preseason.
CriscoKidd - I will readily admit that 2 pre-season games is hardly enough to define someones NBA career but here's my gut feel - Ricky Davis takes/needs shots. As LJ progresses, Davis is counter-productive to James' game. IMHO Darius Miles on the other hand, can get his in flow and transition. At some future point, either Davis will have to re-define his game to fit or Silas will have to make some decisions as to which Cavs have the best chemistry. Or stated another way, if Darius Miles can't succeed under Paul Silas...he can't succeed. BTW - I was not joking about the Cavs sneaking into the EC playoff picture. It's not a LeBron thing so much as a Paul Silas thing. Any interesting sidebar to all of this... The 2003-04 Cavs have 14 signed contracts and are only a few mil over the cap...with only 1 of the 14 players making more than $5m!
Pound for pound I think the Cavs have the best young team in the league. Lebron, Miles, Wagner, Boozer, Davis, Big Z (he's only 28...). If they can keep that team together I think they'll be contenders one day in the future.
Milicic is 7'1" 255 as an 18 year old. He's a center. And don't expect him to get anything resembling starter's minutes. He is definitely going to be brought along slowly. He'll get around 10-15 minutes a night at best this season. Detroit has several other big men that are quality ahead of him. They'll start Ben Wallace and (likely) Mehmet Okur. Elden Campbell will backup and Corliss will get some PF minutes. It's also possible that Zeljko Rebraca (excellent post offensive player who can block some shots--when healthy) could get minutes ahead of Milicic. Milicic was drafted for the future, not the now. They've known all along that he wasn't going to be a major factor for a while.
I was just saying that Lebron's shot shouldn't be critized that much, since most high schoolers can't shoot anyways. If anything can be improved, it's a jumper...
I still don't think Miles can score in the half court. Even if he improves his shot, passing, cutting, setting picks, posting up... They all seem to be lost on him. He can definately play the break though, and will get more oppurtunities to with LeBron. I'm still not sold on Big Z as a true post presence... Most of his scoring comes from baseline jumpers and fadeaways. He plays far too small for his size. 43% shooting is way too low for a 7'3" center. His rebounding and defense also have to improve. How does Diop look?
You are dead on about Ricky Davis Gater. From what I saw during Lebron's 2 qtrs the other night, Davis looks the least likely to fit in Silas's offense. Guys like Boozer, Z, and Miles fit nicely into the offense. The offense is a simple one, set picks and roll to the hole and Lebron will get you the ball if you're open. Lebron is breath of fresh air in the current NBA. A player that actually would rather pass than shoot. Players with his attitude don't come along very often. If he can develop an offensive game, the sky is the limit for this kid.
RR - I would have definitely given you my take, but for some weird scheduling quirck, the Nuggs didn't play their 1st game until tonight. As of this moment, the Suns are up 56-52 but Carmello is 4-9 with 13 points. Got that from nba.com as there are no games on NBALP tonight. (But is doesn't seem like he's slowing Marion down...4-10 with 11 points).
