As you, I was always very optimistic about this season. 37-42 wins was my prediction, and if we come back .500 or better from this trip, I will feel confident saying 37 is too low. I may upgrade to 41-47. As long as VC and Devin stay reasonably healthy (knock wood), we are a definite playoff team. There is a special chemistry that you just feel about this combination of players and the way they are taking turns with breakout performances.
Brook is everything any team could want in a cornerstone center. 20/10+ seasons are in his future, and not that far away. In addition to the outstanding defensive presence he's shown since day one, he has demonstrated, on the few occasions we play through him, that he has an excellent BB IQ and will be an excellent post passer to cutters.
Everyone knew Devin was in for a breakout, likely all-star caliber year, but after his slow preseason, few would have imagined he would get such control of his turnovers and distribution decisions so quickly while putting up 4 games over 30+ in a 5-game stretch. What point guards, besides Paul, Nash, and Wade (who is functioning as a PG) are playing as well or better than Devin right now? And if you consdier both sides of the court, it's not a stretch to say he's currently performing at top 3 level in the league at his position, at least until Derron Williams and, perhaps, Tony Parker return to action.
Yi is a tad frustrating but only because you see the extraordinary level of talent he possesses in games like those against Washington, Miami, and the Clippers. His learning curve is steeper than that of any other youngster on the team, given not only the language/culture thing but the fact that he hasn't grown up in American-styled basketball. But he's already substantially improved his defense and rebounding from preseason, and I have confidence that, at some point this year, something's going to click and he's going to have a nice stretch of games that show what the future holds. And it will be awesome.
I'm getting carried away, no need to repeat all the praise for Ryan, Jarvis, and Keyon. And then there's Boone, who I think will be an outstanding backup center if he is given that role permanently. Hell, even Simmons is showing signs lately.
There's a LOT of reasons to be optimistic about where this team will be in April, and the 6-6 record thus far is just the start.
