Was at the game last night - lots of fun to watch.
Things I observed:
Lillard has an incredibly quick release on his 3-point shot. It totally catches defenders by surprise. He can get off a 3-pointer any time he wants. This kid is the real deal.
Coby Karl is better at both guard spots than Nolan Smith. At 6'5", he has SG size, but runs the offense and distributes the ball better than Smith. Use the Elliott Williams Disabled Player Exception to sign Karl to a 1-year contract.
Freeland was very active and surprised me with the 3-point range on his jumper.
JJ Hickson is the PERFECT back-up big man/fill-in starter. I've been a huge Paul Millsap fan since prior to the 2006 draft. JJ Hickson has finally allowed me to forgive Kevin Pritchard for passing on Millsap FOUR times. Hickson is SO active. He just makes things happen. He is the ultimate garbage man, getting buckets off steals, broken plays, offensive rebounds, etc. He can also pass the ball.
Jared Jefferies will be a coach in the NBA some day. I watched him work with Freeland on low post moves throughout the pregame warm-ups. It was great to watch. He is a willing and capable teacher, and while he may not have a huge impact on the court, he is a perfect locker room and practice guy to have around. He will teach our young bigs as much as they are willing to learn from him.
Batum can score off the dribble!!!! Man, he had a couple killer pull-up/step-back jumpers. With his length, that shot is unstoppable. I hate to make this comparison, because Batum is a much more complete player, but last night his pull-up jumper reminded me of Travis Outlaw. When he's aggressive, he can get that shot off against anybody, any time he wants. With Aldridge out last night, it was great to see Nic being so assertive on offense.
Meyers Leonard is exactly what I expected. He is a work in progress. He shows flashes of brilliance, but also completely loses his man on defense at times. Enes Kanter is a much better player at this point in time. The good news is that at this time last year, Kanter looked every but was raw as Leonard, perhaps worse. One year of limited NBA experience has turned Kanter into a solid NBA center who is averaging 12 pts and 9 reb in 20.7 MPG coming off the bench. Hopefully, Leonard will show similar improvement a year from now.
Babbitt and Claver are nothing special at this point. They are marginal NBA talents. Claver is more active and athletic. Babbitt is a better shooter and rebounder. Too bad you can combine them into one player (Baber or Clavitt). The only reason to keep them around is they are young and our bench sucks anyway.
Adam Morrison is done and he knows it. His body language last night as horrible. He looked like he didn't even want to be there. Cut him!
Justin Holiday has the skinniest legs I have ever seen on an athlete - and that includes 13-year old female gymnasts.
Best for last - I loved the player movement and ball movement. The Jazz played their starters for most of the first half, and the Blazers, without Aldridge, dropped 70 points on them in the first half. After too many years of Nate ball, it was a ton of fun to see so much movement on offense with all the players involved. Our bench sucks, but our starters are actually pretty decent. We will probably lose more games than we win, but I think we'll be closer to .500 than most people project. With so many rookies, I think we will hit a wall after the all-star break and fade down the stretch, but win, or lose, this team will be fun to watch.
BNM
