I'm going to the home opener for the Pacers tomorrow and I will probably write something up for them after watching their first two games sometime this weekend.

(Not that any of you care or are worried about them...but they are the only team I can do it for).

Ryan wrote:
I'm going to the home opener for the Pacers tomorrow and I will probably write something up for them after watching their first two games sometime this weekend.

(Not that any of you care or are worried about them...but they are the only team I can do it for).

Sweet. I'd love an in-depth write-up from Ryan. Perhaps you could shed some new light on the Pacers for me so that I no longer think they are mind-numbingly boring.

I love the recaps & comments, Paging Stanley...(and others)...lets keep this thread alive!

Will do -- it'll be tougher once the League Pass free preview goes away, but there's so many network games on that it won't be hard to come up with something.

Brandon Roy was a STUD last night. Man, he was clutch.

Wonder if they would trade him back to us for McFoye...

College Wolf wrote:
Brandon Roy was a STUD last night. Man, he was clutch.

Wonder if they would trade him back to us for McFoye...

He was "give me the ball,I will win the game for us,I can't be stopped" good

I watched 2 non-Wolves NBA games this week, but don't have much time to report on them...they were Houston/Boston and Houston/Portland...

- YAO stunk it up bigtime in both. Like "wow he looks HORRIBLE" stunk it up. And Yao is one of my favorite players, I would not overstate it if it wasn't true.

- Artest seems to have a good attitude and doesn't care too much about getting his own shots/stats as long as the team is playing well. And his D is sick.

- T-Mac seems hobbled to me, but when he's hot he still has to ability to be a top 5 player.

- Bones Barry is so washed up. I can't believe he's even playing.

- K. Perkins looked like an absolute beast in the game I watched.

- I love how the C's just see which of the big 3 (or even the whole starting 5 really) is hot, and revolves more of the offense around them. It's like one night Ray will have 28 and Paul will have 9, then the other night it's the complete opposite, and they win both games just as effectively. I love their attitudes. All of them. There isn't a Celtic (unless you count the suit-wearing Cassell) that I don't really like.

- Tony Allen plays like a spaz, and it's fun to watch.

- Powe = Underrated. Big Baby = Overrated.

- Rudy Fernandez is awesome. He also looks nothing like I expected he would. He reminds me of a young, upcoming Ginobili.

- OUTLAW = STUD.

- And finally, the Vanilla Gorilla Pryzbilla played exceptional defense on YAO. I never heard the announcers allude to this once, but it was very impressive. I spent most of the 2nd half just watching Pryz beat up on YAO when Houston was on O. He made a concerted effort every single time down the floor to push, grab, and pound YAO, and it worked really well. His stats didn't do him any justice, the guy was a huge part of that Portland win last night.

I watched the Bobcats beat NO last night. The thing that jumped out at me was the play of DJ Augustine off the bench. He was absolutly unbelievable. He completely took over the game and actually outplayed Chris Paul while he was in. I haven't looked at his stat lines so far this year and I know nothing else about him but last night was a good night for DJ.

mmaland wrote:
I watched the Bobcats beat NO last night. The thing that jumped out at me was the play of DJ Augustine off the bench. He was absolutly unbelievable. He completely took over the game and actually outplayed Chris Paul while he was in. I haven't looked at his stat lines so far this year and I know nothing else about him but last night was a good night for DJ.

Wow... really? I didn't see highlights. I REALLY liked his game in college, but was unsure how it would translate to the NBA. Man, that's crazy. It will be nice to see him when the Wolves play them.

Portland-Miami:

- Portland reminds me more of the Flip-era Wolves than any other team; most of their guys are jump shooters. That means long rebounds and not much penetration except for Brandon Roy. They do a good job of offensive rebounding, though, because of their length.

- Roy is really good at getting into the lane, but he's the only one who wants to go all the way to the basket. The rest of the players don't drive much or drive to set up their pull-up J.

- They have good jump shooters, even down to guys like Channing Frye. There's also diversity, as some guys are spot-up shooters while other guys shoot a lot better off the dribble.

- Overall, though, jump shooters are easy for good defensive teams to guard. A team crowds spot up shooters (like Steve Blake and Martell Webster) and backs off of guys who want to drive and pull up (like Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez).

- Fernandez is a cross between Manu Ginobili and Peja Stojakovic.

- Dwyane Wade is back. He's one of the most complete offensive players in the NBA.

- Their bench seems weak. Daequan Cook is a streaky shooter, and Chris Quinn is good if he doesn't have create shots for other players.

- Mark Blount showed signs of life. His game still has the same strengths and weaknesses.

- Mario Chalmers was okay. He's got long arms for a point guard and could be disruptive defensively. It helps him that Wade handles the ball a lot.

Boy it doesn't take more than a glance during a Miami game to see how preposterous the Beasley as 6'10'' PF nonsense was. I was AMAZED last year now a guy that big could move like a guard... obviously we all saw the combine measurements but seeing him on the floor made it very clear. He and Gomes are blood brothers at the PF position.

Scouting the Refs:
In the Celtics/Hawks game I saw a laugher of an AND ONE call. Powe was cutting to the hoop and was obviously held, then he broke free, caught the pass and layed it in. AND ONE on a foul that occurred 3 feet before he received the pass (and they just let him have the layup... there was no one in near him to have fouled at that point).

I personally thought Beasley looked like he was about 6'6". Especially when he was standing next to Aldridge who isn't super tall. There's no way he's taller than 6'8" though. He's still pretty good but I think I'd rather have Rose.

D-Wade is back. He's a stud. Top 5 in MVP voting in the early going here.


I didn't see the Phoenix - Houston game, but saw highlights of the fight lol. Here come some suspensions...

The thing that struck me the most about watching Phoenix and Huston was the play of Yao and Shaq. To see 2 giants on the floor at the same time who are both remarkably good is a rare treat indeed. These guys both rock!

Denver-Cleveland:

- The Nuggets did an interesting thing with J.R. Smith -- played him without Billups or Anthony on the floor and let him be the primary scorer. The Wolves could do this with McCants - play him with Love, Brewer, Telfair, and a center like Madsen or Collins.

- LeBron is really good. He could be the MVP this year.

- Wally hasn't changed: good jump shooter, shoots too much, and isn't a great defender.

- I kind of like J.J. Hickson's game. He's athletic for a big, relatively explosive, and has a nice touch.

- Mo Williams was a better pick-up than I thought. A guy who can shoot that well could be a difference-maker.

- Reggie Miller's voice is annoying. I don't care if he's articulate; that's just not a guy who should be talking for a living.

College Wolf wrote:
I personally thought Beasley looked like he was about 6'6". Especially when he was standing next to Aldridge who isn't super tall. There's no way he's taller than 6'8" though. He's still pretty good but I think I'd rather have Rose.

D-Wade is back. He's a stud. Top 5 in MVP voting in the early going here.


I didn't see the Phoenix - Houston game, but saw highlights of the fight lol. Here come some suspensions...


I really noticed his non-height when he was standing next to Wade. Beasley was taller but not by a ton.