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BasslineSpin.com October 21, 2008 ...There
was nobody there. I attended the Kings-Blazers preseason game at ARCO Arena
last night and it was as empty as I’ve ever seen it. Even with Greg Oden coming to Sacramento for the first
time. ...The Kings have a very very small margin for error and injuries this
season. Their depth is young and not really ready for NBA prime time minutes.
Bobby Brown, and Jason Thompson may be rotation players before their
due time. …Portland is going to be better than just ‘good’ this year. ...I’m
saying Rudy Fernandez is
going to command some serious playing time in Nate McMillan’s rotation. ...Two marketing thoughts
for the Kings; 1. Re-name the Thunder Sticks promotion now that there is an
NBA team named the Thunder. 2. Don’t drop said sticks into a section where
there are mostly empty seats—as it draws attention to nothingness. ...The
Dallas Mavericks waived Charles Rhodes. He
is a guy I think should be in the league. He has a back-to-the-basket game,
he rebounds, and he has terrific athleticism. October 16, 2008 ...The
Kings hosted the Clippers at the Spanos Center in Stockton last night. I
watched the game on DVR and came away amazed at the play of Kevin Martin and Eric Gordon. Martin scored at will - like he
might just run past everyone this season. Gordon was spectacular, showing his
deep range and power. Spencer Hawes played
well again showing that his hoops IQ is much higher than the average guy his
age. He did turn the ball over four times, and I still don’t think his hands
are good—but as hard as I’ve been on Hawes—I do see the high skill level he
possesses. Kenny Thomas
played well. It’s been awhile since I could write that. ...Clippers guard Mike Taylor impressed with hyper energy. ...I
also got up early to watch the 5 am game from China between the Warriors and
Bucks. October 14, 2008 ...I
caught parts of five NBA preseason games today—flipping the channel to
another game with each timeout. Observations: I saw some great post play
tonight. Leon Powe is a
talented dude that comes off the bench for the Celtics. Powe was man-handling
whoever tried to guard him. ...Al Jefferson is a
beast! He owned the Bulls in a Minnesota win in Chicago. Fans booed the Bulls
who played without Ben Gordon. It
seems to me that Chicago’s new Head Coach Vinny Del Negro is in
a tough spot with both Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff as his assistant coaches. I’m all for
having a veteran lead assistant but those two strong personalities seem more
like main-course guys than side orders. ...In the San Antonio-Detroit game,
the Pistons played horribly without Chauncey Billups. In
fact - with Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Jason Maxiell on the floor, Detroit was being housed by the Spurs third-stringers.
...I wonder about how the D-League Draft works. If a guy did not get drafted
but is signed to a contract overseas I would figure you rule that guy out as
a draftee. That really limits the available talent—as many of the best
players that were not selected in the June NBA Draft are now playing ball
internationally. My Top 16 undrafted
players that did not make an NBA training camp roster, without regard for
their current contract status: 1. Shawn James—Duquesne,
2. Reggie Williams—VMI,
3. Chris Daniels -
Texas A&M CC, 4. Kyle Hines - NC
Greensboro, 5. Chris Lofton -
Tennessee, 6. Kentrell Gransberry - S.
Florida, 7. Bryant Dunston -
Fordham, 8. Davon Jefferson - USC,
9. Stefhon Hannah -
Missouri, 10. Pat Calathes - St.
Josephs, 11. Haminn Quaintance - Kent
St., 12. Jamont Gordon -
Mississippi St., 13. David Padgett -
Louisville, 14. Dwayne Curtis —
Mississippi, 15. Bo McCalebb - New
Orleans, 16. Quan Prowell -
Auburn. October
12, 2008 ...Three NBA preseason games were closely watched in
the last 36 hours. The Denver-Phoenix outdoor game at Indian Wells was cool
to see plus Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller were making me chuckle with their
comments. ...I thought Robin Lopez
looked especially good for Phoenix. He had eight points, seven blocked shots,
and five boards. ...Seeing Denver and Phoenix combine for only 149 points was
disturbing. George Karl says
he wants the Nuggs to play more defense, and Terry Porter, as Suns coach, by default will play
at a slower pace than Mike D’Antoni did. But a 77-72 final score? Yuck. ...Next was
the Miami vs. New Jersey game from London. This one was fun with both coaches
playing their main guys down the stretch. Dwyane Wade made
some circus shots but struggled early and the Heat never could fully recover.
Vince Carter was
playing defense (three steals) as well as his signature offense (5-10 FG)
(9-10 FT) - scoring 19 points to lead the Nets. October 12, 2008 ...Three
NBA preseason games were closely watched in the last 36 hours. The
Denver-Phoenix outdoor game at Indian Wells was cool to see plus Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller were making me chuckle with their
comments. ...I thought Robin Lopez
looked especially good for Phoenix. He had eight points, seven blocked shots,
and five boards. ...Seeing Denver and Phoenix combine for only 149 points was
disturbing. George Karl says
he wants the Nuggs to play more defense, and Terry Porter, as Suns coach, by default will play
at a slower pace than Mike D’Antoni did. But a 77-72 final score? Yuck. ...Next was
the Miami vs. New Jersey game from London. This one was fun with both coaches
playing their main guys down the stretch. Dwyane Wade made
some circus shots but struggled early and the Heat never could fully recover.
Vince Carter was
playing defense (three steals) as well as his signature offense (5-10 FG)
(9-10 FT) - scoring 19 points to lead the Nets. New Jersey is super deep. As
deep as any team in the NBA. Carter, Devin Harris, Yi JianLian, Brook Lopez, Stromile Swift, Eduardo Najera, Keyon Dooling, Josh Boone, Sean Williams, Ryan Anderson, Bobby Simmons, and Chris Douglas-Roberts can all play. Maurice Ager played well Sunday—giving them 14
guys without counting Trenton Hassell.
...Miami received a strong performance from Marcus Banks. The former UNLV point guard should
be the starter in Heat land over Chris Quinn, and
rookie Mario Chalmers.
...Finally watched a later version of HBO’s Entourage so that we could see
the entire Kings-Lakers contest from Las Vegas. The Lakers won as the Kings
struggled to score in the second half without Kevin Martin on the floor. ...A poor assist-to-turnover ratio is still
going to be a HUGE reason why Sacramento will lose games this season. October 11, 2008
...Hit ARCO Arena last night for the Kings—Thunder preseason game. It was the
Oklahoma City team’s debut in Sacramento. The old Supersonics played without Kevin Durant in a half-full house. Most obvious
observation I made was that
Chris Wilcox lost weight.
Wilcox is in the final year of his current contract. He played horribly
Friday night including missing all four of his free throw attempts. ...Desmond Mason looked bigger than he has in the
past. ...The Thunder are really soft in the middle without any shot blockers.
Joe Smith,
Wilcox and Nick Collison are
not Centers in my book. The problem is the Thunder don’t have an efficient
Center on their roster. Johan Petro is
making some strides but he should be a backup at best at this point in his
career. ...Individual impressions: Bobby Brown, Spencer Hawes, Kevin Martin and John Salmons played well for Sacramento. Jeff Green and Damien Wilkins were the lone Thunder players that
had good games. Green looks like he could do much more than we have seen to
date. At 6’9” - his ball-handling ability combined with his agility and
offensive finesse—is rarely seen. ...What is the deal with the
Oklahoma City road uniforms? They
have “Oklahoma City” basically stenciled on there in a small font. It looks
D-Leaguish. The color of blue used is nice but I’m saying right now the
Thunder road jerseys are the ugliest uniform in the NBA. |