I didn't opt for league pass and so have only seen a few games, which may reflect a certain myopia in the following evaluations. But here is my take on last night: Mobley: More or less automatic from the field in the first quarter. Arc/rotation of shot was smooth rather than jerky, which his shot sometimes is. Disappeared in second half (since when was Rip Hamilton a good defender?), and did not show the greatest basketball intelligence. Too excitable, made completely unforced turnovers. Almost singlehandedly lost the fourth quarter. Grade: C Norris: Played better than what I've seen, despite the 4-13 from the field. Didn't dribble out the shotclock, had no turnovers, and did a decent job of creating. Still, if you're going to shoot 30%, don't take 13 shots. Grade: C+ Thomas: A PF should never shoot under 40%, but KT's O game is not really that of a PF. If he posts up he turns and faces from 15-18, and basically relies on his jumper. He can't seem to stop himself when he drives (usually makes it to the middle of the lane, tries to jump stop, and stumbles into defenders), and needs to learn how to go to his left. Made some big baskets toward the end though, and generally had a heads up game. Grade: B- Rice: More or less a nonfactor. Only took six shots, hit a nice jumper in MJs face, but otherwise was invisible. Looks very slow, weak, and overweight. Had no chance defending MJ (who also is slow), and was lucky MJ was missing wide open looks in the 1st half. Not much of a rebounder either. Grade: C- Cato: 12 pts. 10 boards looks good, but Cato has a tendency on defense to really disengage himself from the paint. I can recall several instances where he got beat and kind of just turned his back on the play as if to say 'if I can't see it, it didn't happen.' It must be really embarrasing for him. Still, Cato was THE ONLY ROCKET TO SHOOT OVER 50%. Grade--B Torres: I'm not sure why everyone is so high on this player. I suppose he's a solid backup, and in that sense is a steal since he was never drafted. But the form on his three is awful (looks like a bastardized version of Larry Bird's), he's not a great defender (cf. Rip Hamilton, who Torres did guard at times, and MJ in parts of the fourth), he's not a rebounder, and he did not seem as quick as everyone has said. In other words, he seems like Shandon Anderson, not Shandon Anderson with a jumpshot. And although his free throws were impressive, and although he plays with enthusiasm (ripped a rebound away from Popeye Jones) and is a pretty smart player, he turns 25 this month, and already has four years of professional basketball under his belt. I don't know how much better he'll get, or if he's capable of starting or even being the sixth man for a middle of the pack team. 7,8, or 9--perhaps. Perhaps if I hadn't read everyone's glowing reviews I'd have been more impressed. Grade: C Willis: What can I say--he's thirty-nine and still comes to play--except that Kev sure as hell shouldn't be shooting outside jump shots. Those shots obviously have absolutely no chance of going in, which I'm sure Willis knows. Can he just not help himself? Grade: B- Griffin: Right now, Griff doesn't provide much for the Rockets aside from shotblocking presence. He did have a nice turnaround jumper in the 1st half, but he has almost no chance of making the other kinds of shots he likes to take (long range jumpers, threes (which he actually shoots better than twos, though both are under 30%). Nor is he much of a position rebounder or defender yet. The potential is there, though, and EG does demonstrate talent in glimmers, so he should get minutes (especially since it looks like the playoffs aren't a reasonable goal at this point). I think Rudy T needs to guide EG's shot selection a little more toward the inside (I know some posters think EG is not strong enoguh for this yet, but posting up outside the block is something that anyone can do, and that requires quickness more than strength). Grade: C Brown: Not a whole lot to evaluate in Tbro. He's a solid penetrator and passer. Very quick. Didn't make mistakes, but seems to have done so in the past. Is this guy worse than Moochie? Didn't look like it to me. Grade: B+ Williams: Can't say much because he didn't play much, except that he had no chance guarding MJ at the end. Has lost a step. Grade: incomplete Morris: CSN in Washington had a great shot of him sitting at the end line when Torres/Williams were falling over themselves trying to guard Jordan. Had never seen a more intense/dissatisfied look on Tmo's face. He wanted in, badly, and that was good to see. Obviously I am biased, but I think Tmo may have done a better job guarding Jordan then, since he could worry MJ's jumpshots better than Rice, Torres, or Williams. And jumpshots really are, even more than in the past, the basis of MJ's game. Grade: incomplete Langhi: Should have sat on the floor with Tmo, where you would've been more visible. Couldn't see your wonder/dissatisfaction. Grade: F
Nice analysis, Tmo. You're going to hurt the feelings of some of us , but objectivity is objectivity. As for Griffin, right now he's obviously very green and raw. Actually, he did a pretty decent job on the boards (5 in 12 min.), but he does seem to rely more on reach and jumping ability vs. positioning. BTW, I'm going to give Rip Hamilton a A+. He put on a clinic in playing off the ball and middle distance shooting, and he may have taken 1 or 2 bad\questionable shots all night. Yeah, MJ was MJ (in the 4th, at least), but Rip was the reason the Wiz won last night.
Looks like Terrence Morris is finally going to get a crack at some real minutes now that Rice is out for 2 wks plus or hopefully longer. I may be a minority on saying this, but I would really like to see Rudy start Morris in Rice's place to kind of shake things up a little. I think Morris and Cato would be a good weakside shotblocking combination. Two shotblockers on the court affords our backcourt to play tighter defense on their man and gamble. This team really needs energy at the start of games and Morris's young legs can provide that. I would love to see him get 20 minutes a game.
Tmo, I did not pass on League Pass and that is probably the reason for the difference we have on Oscar Torres. Other than, I am in agreement on you. Regarding OT, his game against the Knicks was special. Walt Frazier and Marv, of MSG, repeatedly raved about his speed, shooting and defense. I would suggest you leave it open still, especially when you think everyone coming into the NBA will have to adjust. On starting Tmo, I think it is a good option. Hell, we cannot do any worst.
Good analysis for the most part, Tmo. Listen to DearRock though, Torres is a good player. I think he had an off game last night. He has some quicks, but the jury is still out on his defense.
Did you guys think Torres had strange form on his shot (esp. from 3)? Does he usually? He does play aggressively but in control which is good, but I was expecting from the posts for him to be a jet out there, and to have better lateral movement.
I agree with RocketsPimp agreeing with DearRock about agreeing with everything TMo said except for his one-game analysis of Torres. I stand by my prediction that two camps will probably form on Torres, one who says he shoots too much (because he likes to shoot), and the other that thinks he can nail the open shot, so shoot it. I do think that we are slightly overrating his defense. He gets too close to his man without the Christie ability to stay in front from that close. It works sometimes, but is risky, and he does get burnt. Mobley on the other hand provides a better balance of pressure without giving up the drive. I really think he has stepped up his D, almost like turning on a switch, like it was always there. Versus Rip, that was like guarding Reggie Miller. The Wiz ran Rip around a lot of picks. That requires team defense. As for Mobes intelligence, what can you say? He can't handle too many variables at once. I call it "Artificial Anticipation" of what the defense is going to do. You could also use an oxymoron..."Planned Reaction."
Tmo, I never played bball, but I would agree that his form is not the best. Sometimes though on that curl around a couple of picks 3 pointer, I cannot see anything wrong with it. Last night a couple of times he looked strange shooting but that could have been because of "hurries". Ainge saw him in practice and came away impressed with his form and percentage on the 3pt shot. On defense, I think sometimes he forgets that this is the NBA and everybody is faster. That is why I think he will adjust. I am not willing to say he has limited lateral movement after seeing him against Christie and Sprewell. In fact, I would venture to say that when we talk about putting a defensive team on the floor, he has to get serious consideration.
Tmo, probably your best analysis was the one on Thomas. Yes he can shoot and he is quick but that quickness is his biggest problem when it comes to finishing. Given his jumping ability, he should really concentrate on mastering the jump hook and the baseline fadeway jumpers, a la dream. The benefits to his game and finishing will mutiply. His back to the basket game, especially as a PF needs improvement. If he was delivering on those open looks and great drives our whole game would be different. It would not be a bad idea if he could drive and pull up and hit that jumper consistently.
Watch Torres some more. My opinion through preseason was pretty much the same one you've expressed. I thought his shot had a funny little hitch, and he didn't have a whole lot to offer. The hitch seems to more or less have gone away, and he has a really high release, especialy comming off of picks. Comparing him to SA, he has close to the same type of strength, but is much smoother/quicker than I ever saw from SA. Defensively, with his size, strength, and quickness, combined with the good effort I've seen, lead me to believe that he could turn into a defensive stopper type 2 guard, but one with enough offense that he wouldn't be the liability of Shandon in the halfcourt.
