The Philadelphia 76’ers are sort of where the Celtics were last year in terms of what needs to be accomplished in the preseason. They’ve got Elton Brand… and they need to figure out just how well he really fits in with the rest of the team.
Sure, there’s very little doubt that he’ll have a positive impact. And there’s no doubt that he’s really option #1. But Philly still needs to get their timing down. They need to figure out how Elton likes to do the little things… like how does he set his picks… how quickly does he roll off those picks… how quick is he to help? So that means the Philly first unit will be getting more time in tonight’s game than the Celtics first unit.
So THAT means that the Celtics 2nd unit will be getting more reps against primo NBA talent. That’s good for their development… but it might not look very pretty. And the final score might reflect that.
What should we look for? Well… we’re looking for young guys to make good decisions. They might not execute after they make that right call… but we need them to show that they’re TRYING to do the right thing. We need to see confidence out of Tony Allen. We need to see Patrick O’Bryant on the post, making good decisions on defense (even if his guy scores) and making good moves on offense (even if he misses the shot). We need to see how well JR Giddens and Bill Walker grasp things. Will they be looking at the point guard for way too long trying to figure out the play?
Yeah, it’s a lot of minutia, but that’s where we’re at. We won’t see much of KG, Ray and Paul at all. They might be done for the night half way through the first quarter. They key here is… don’t worry about the results. Just make sure the C’s that are on the floor are thinking the right way. The “doing” part will come as the preseason progresses.
Previews Galore
I’m happy to present to you the full NBA, team-by-team previews on Yardbarker.com. I provided all of the previews for the Atlantic Division teams. I also did the same for FantasyInsiderOnline’s team-by-team fantasy preview. Each NBA team’s fantasy starter, bench, sleeper and stock up & down is on there. So check them out. A lot of people came together on that… there’s a lot of good info there.
Herald: Brand new day | Doc will take it easy on Big 3 | Globe: Big 3 will take it easy | Ray Allen ready to come out firing | Scott Souza: Pruitt more confident now | KG is the 2nd best selling jersey in Europe | Philly Enquirer: 76’ers test is cohesion, not Celtics | ESPN: Hornets banking on Posey’s winning touch | Oden (who looks jacked!) finally takes court
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