We are going to have a lot of happy Rox fans this year. What I'm pleasantly surprised about is how this team seems to have so quickly gelled, you would think we wouldn't be in sync yet because of all the new players. Very talented team with a lot of guys capable of putting up double/double nights and able to win with a lot of player combinations.
thanks for the link. didn't watch the game but from the stats, moochie did play well. 5 assis vs 1 to. not bad at all.
The improvement from the last game was pretty amazing wasn't it? Tonight we got a taste of how good this team can be if we gel. So many things were positive this game I'm gonna mention four negatives: 1 Wesley must get his shot back. We can't have Jon Barry playing real minutes every single game. Wesley must step it up so he can contribute on the offensive end. His outside shot is about all he can do in 1/2 court. 2 Stromile needs to be a little quicker making his move after he gets the ball. I like his aggression in attacking the basket, but the reason he got stuffed the one time is because he held the ball (not even looking to pass it) for about 5 seconds before he finally made his move to the basket. That said, he was amazing on both ends. My jaw dropped when he tipped Duncan's jumpshot. How many times does that happen? He already has good chemistry with T-Mac. Did they practice together over the summer? Swift gets an "A" for this game for sure. 3 Moochie played. Hogs the ball too much but he clearly is quicker and more into it than last year. During the regular season, I don't want him taking away minutes from Luther. 4 Skip didn't play. Until I know the physical reason why he didn't play, this bothers me. The Chronicle will explain tomorrow I assume. Bear with me while I fret over (probably) nothing. Did anyone notice how JVG was very smiley and chatty with Pop after the game? He must be pleased with what he saw. I look forward to parsing his postgame comments. Folks, we have a championship caliber roster. If it comes together and the injury bug doesn't kill us, this will be a great season. Even if the Suns still had Amare, we are clearly the Spurs' main threat.
Player rundown away: Stro: He looked frigging awesome out there. The guy can block shots, period. He's long, and quick off his feet. And he showed off a nice arsenal on offense. He had a dunk, made a jumper, put in a jump-hook, and schooled Duncan with a sweet spin move. Even had a couple of nice passes. Once he teams up with Yao, somebody better pray for the league because I sure as heck won't. Tracy: What can you say. This guy is the best player in basketball. He's been shooting great, and he's attacked the rim more this preseason than he's ever done in a rocket uniform. He got hit, but I'm sure it's not serious. There just wasn't much reason to bring him back. T-mac is going to be the MVP this year, book it. Anderson: He is quietly having a excellent preseason. He hasn't done anything spectacular, but he's been solid at both ends of the court. He's shooting very well, and shown some nice vision and passing skills. He doesn't appear to have any of the lift that he used to (I'm not sure he's dunked this year), but his overall skills have fit in very well. Wesley: His shot is still off. He's still defending pretty well, but if he doesn't ramp it up, then he'll find DA taking a bunch of his minutes. Barry: Barry is Barry. He can still shoot, pass, and nail 3 ptrs in transition. Head: Didn't play as well as the previous two games. He had some ups and downs in running the offense. And he can get a little out of control on the dribble. But he nailed two key 3 ptrs, while playing off the ball. And I really liked his PnR defense, and his defense on Parker in general. Parker is quick enough to get by anybody in the league, but he wasn't getting by Luther all that much. Howard and Deke: They were solid as usual. Not much to say here. These guys know what they're doing. Moochie: He's looked surprisingly good this year. He's not overdribbling (much), he's been making his shots, and he's not getting abused on defense (yet). Granted he's mostly been playing against subs, but he is playing well.
i wouldnt worry about rafer not playing to night. barry didnt play in the first game. its preseason, not everyone plays every game. JVg probably wanted luther to man the point all night because he already proved his worth at the 2.
I can sum up the reason in three words: San Antonio frickin' Spurs. Gotta be excited that Luther was "just okay" against the frickin' Spurs.
I figure he also wants Luther to get some serious experience against a serious contender (specifically, the Spurs)... helps Luther learn a lot, while showing JVG what Luther's *really* got when it counts.
I'm not worried about Rafer's absence either. Man, Swift sure didn't disappoint for his first preseason game. He had a couple of "HOLY ****!" moments and made nice plays on both sides of the ball. Can't wait to see what he can do with Yao and the starters. A funny anecdote that Bill Worrell related: When Swift was visiting Houston during his jobhunt over the offseason, Carroll Dawson was meeting with Stro and asked, "Well, would you like to see some of how we play?" Stro said sure, so CD popped in a tape of the McMiracle. "Swift said, 'I'm coming!'" laughed Bill. All in all, this was probably the most intense preseason game I've ever seen. Obviously neither side was coaching to win, but the players and crowd were INTO it. We're in for some awesome battles this season!
This was a weird game to judge simply because the rotation was way off, even for a preseason game. Swift looked great as many have said. My jaw dropped a couple of times with things he did. He looks (after only one game, granted) much more of a well rounded player than I thought he was. There were times he jogged his way back to the defensive end while the Spurs were pushing it, which bothered me a tad. But, I didn't notice JVG jumping on him for it, so I will assume it's not as big a deal as I saw. It didn't seem as if he did anyting on the boards, but he got his average (4 in 20 min.), which averages out nicely when he gets more minutes. Luther looks like he is MUCH more comfortable playing the off-guard than the point. He still easily looks like he should be our primary backup to Alston though. He is certainly not perfect, but he has shown enough to assume he will keep getting better with playing time. Preseason or not, beating the Spurs in SA is always a good thing.
If Wesley doesn't improve on his shot, his defense won't save him much, and Head will eat away at his minutes slowly as the season progresses (as well as DA). This is exactly why I wanted the guy traded more than any other guard we had (more than MJ even), but I understand that there are not going to be many takers for a guy like him making nearly $6 mil per, at least he will be coming off the roster following this season. As for T-Mac, Stro, and DA, the only thing that will stop them is an injury-plagued season. T-Mac is un-freakin-believable and already in mid-season form. His numbers will certainly be down this year (scoring-wise) but not to worry, because it would just mean that he doesn't have to be 'superman' and carry the team along with Yao, there will actually be other help out there this season. If anything, I am hoping that Yao and T-Mac can pace through the season a bit so they are not nearly as worn-out by playoff time (not that it slowed T-Mac down last season, even with his injuries he was amazing). Overall, I am just getting a really good vibe from this team. Barring any serious injuries or a chemistry problems, this team will be a force to reckon with
whats up r2k u know im gonna ask this mannnnnnnn can u upload the game or the highlights or anything man..thanks..
