Yeah, I sacrificed a Friday evening to preseason NBA basketball…here’s some observations from the game:
*Good Lord, Rashad McCants was on fire (20 points, 8-8 from the field). And what I liked about McCants, tonight, was that he played an extremely active role in the offense…he really did a stellar job of moving without the ball.
A nice sign, considering that Rashad tended to stand around waaaay too much during the KG era…when KG got the ball in the post, Rashad would often plant himself on the perimeter, and he’d barely move a muscle.
Also in today’s game, Rashad did a phenomenal job of penetrating and creating his own shot. While Rashad’s jumper will be on-target one night and off-target the next, he should always be utilizing his athleticism to attack defenses. He may be a streaky shooter, but he can still make a consistent impact on offense.
One more thing…Rashad was very opportunistic, with regards to pushing the tempo. I like.
*Rough night for Gerald Green…the kid had five turnovers in only nine minutes. He was noticeably frustrated with himself- on one occasion, he slammed his headband to the court when he took a seat on the bench.
*One play that sticks out- Telfair almost had a clean block of a Yi Jianlian shot. Telfair is a foot shorter than Yi, so it would’ve been the coolest thing ever if the refs had let the play go…but unfortunately, Telfair was called for the foul.
Telfair had a solid game, by the way…he made great decisions when distributing the ball, and he was impressive on the fast break. I’m very pleased with his play in camp and the preseason- the better Telfair performs, the fewer minutes Marko ("worst point guard ever") Jaric gets at point.
On another note, I hope Yi’s been able to cope with the small Chinese population of Milwaukee. Man, the struggles these professional athletes have to go through!
*How about a tip o’ the hat to Theo Ratliff? Who woulda thunk that he’d still have some gas left in the tank? Nice evening for Theo- tonight, he looked very much like a serviceable center who will do just fine in the starting lineup. Grabbed a few boards, made some easy baskets…in short, he did exactly what we need him to do this season.
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