I only caught the 2nd half, but he really looked good on offense. Here's a link to the box score. Box score Theres a replay of the game tonight. I think at 8pm eastern time (so 7 pm for us Texans) on ESPN 2. Let me know what you guys think. Can he cut it in the NBA??
Sure he looked pretty good especially against a team like USA. He is a shooter but as I remember he had several nice drives. But in my opinion he is not ready for NBA yet.
newly and leunan might be pretty good inexpensive options in 2010 when the team uses it's cap space to rebuild.
As I said in the game thread Brad looked pretty good in transition, but no so good in the half court game, apart from a nice 3. He has alot of work to do before he can even sit on a Rocket bench - but having said that I was pleasently surprised with his effort against the US.
We also have the rights to Eliyahu, who Hollinger says: Houston owns the rights to Lior Eliyahu, who again played sparingly for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His numbers this year aren't nearly as strong as the ones from a year ago (11.0/8.8/5.6 per 40 minutes, 11.84 PER), but combined with last year's, the numbers suggest he'd be a decent role player.
watch the game in full, Newley 3 pter has certainly been getting better, he attempted some real nice drives in the half court with mixed results, most of his scoring drives were from transition where he looked outstanding, what more impressed me was he ability to play 1on1 D, against some very athletic 2s like Kobe and Wade, he started the game on Kobe and whilst they called him for two fouls on two of Kobe's jumpshots, his ability to contest the jumpshot was impressive, particularly the first one, in the first minute of the game, which one first view (there was no replay) actually looked like a clean block.... also if you get the chance check out Patrick Mills (currently St Mary's sophmore), although he is only 5-11, his speed is amazing, should see the quote from Chris Sheridan on espn.com...... he compared his speed to Iverson as a rookie, he blew by Kidd and Williams a couple of times it made them look like they were standing still, even more impressive was a pull up and turn around later in the game, especially for someone of his height.... also gotta hope the US shoot FREE throws and 3 pters better or they could have big trouble with Spain, Argentina and Greece.....however when the play intense physical D, they look almost impossible to score on also how and why is Jason Kidd a good fit for the US team
Smeg, Do you think Newley has a chance to be a rotational player some day? How has he improved in the last couple of years? Have you seen major progress? Also, Mills is really good, I like him a lot, reminds me of Brooks. DD
Dak, last night certainly impressed me, mostly cause I didn't think he had a chance, I'm still not sure, i think he could get invite to a training camp now, which is certainly an improvement, the kid works damn hard and has a bunch of confidence, from what i understand, seen, heard, he shot the 3 really well in Greece this past season and was a big reason they qualified for Euroleague and then they get rid of him... really need to see him in euroleague.......... guess the interesting think is if he can be a gun from the 3 pt line, he has some skills that the normal hoiberg, paxson, kerr, kapono types don't have, in that he is 6-6, he some good (at least NBA average) athletisms, hops and speed, can dribble decently and seems to be improving on D. Also the aussie coach is a nutter for defense and seems to got Newley into that now and as a result starting, his minutes in the national team have certainly gone up and if he wasn't improving both on D and with his decision making on offense (and reduced number of forced shots) then he wouldn't be playing so much.... it will be very interesting to see his minutes and performances at the Olympics proper, will try to provide recaps after each game...... as for Mills the dude is flat out fast, if only he was a few inches taller, he would be a lock for a solid NBA pro.... again the Olympics will show some more about whether he is real or just another bogues/boykins... but damn he made a statement last night, probably all the way into the first round
The improvement shown last night from Newley compared to when he left the NBL was something that really made me take notice. Like Smeg mentioned the first two shots he contested on Kobe were the most impressive part of his game based on seeing him in the past. Was also nice to see him attack the rim and not settle for the jump shot. His range also seems to have improved, sinking 8 threes in a game shows he has been working hard on this aspect. Patty Mills reminds was electric last night, when he went flying past Williams in the first quarter for the lay up you could just see he was "on". If Australia are to have any success in this campaign Bogut and Mills will have a lot do with it.
