Just got back, the family and I had a great time. I was lucky, had my jersey and a hat signed by Yao.
got back, nothing new to report, the court looks great, one segment that wasn't mentioned was Francis was skipping down the court, mocking Rafer and looking straight at him, and both were cracking up about it. No Tmac/Yao, Scola was too relaxed out there to really judge, Mike James was probably the most serious person out there playing, and the rest was just all fun.
is scola staying at the four seasons? was anyone else in line when he was walking up to toyota center?
When Rudy was around they actually ran a real practice. This was the loosest it's been and not much gained about the team from it but I still enjoyed it. And it was nice to see Steve on the court and get the response from the fans. It was like he never left. He certainly is popular.
The "real" practice before the open practice. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518640476/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/1518640476_e226aa484b.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Yao Rebound" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517787859/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2178/1517787859_0874a05d61.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="D Fence" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517787757/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2107/1517787757_f470222b42.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Bonzi Posting" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518640178/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2390/1518640178_a05ab19d15.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Sky Hook" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517787521/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/228/1517787521_491a77b27d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Team" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639906/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2419/1518639906_af3596ad84.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Is It In You?" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517787265/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2099/1517787265_2c730cf053.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="TMac for Three" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639670/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2070/1518639670_fe5addb20d.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Rookie Jumper" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517787019/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2016/1517787019_09165e173f.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="He Thinks It's Funny" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639442/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/1518639442_acfc82f9fc.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Really?" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639338/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/1518639338_f9c0bf2206.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Yao in Yao" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639276/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2392/1518639276_b22f2df0b7.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Yao Media" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518639152/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/1518639152_11f2c3b0a2.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="AB & SR610" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517786437/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/1517786437_157bda3860.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Surrounded" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517786279/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/1517786279_857a4660ab.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Up Against a Wall" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1517786139/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/1517786139_e5ae21b533.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Mike James" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbalke/1518638670/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/1518638670_86daca28ff.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Camera Glow" /></a>
Why do we still have the old design on the training court? Thanks for the picture Jeff keem em' coming.
I was impressed with Arron Brooks. I was unimpressed with JL3, Novak, and Harris. I was more impressed with Reed than with Harris or Landry. I wonder if Reed may stick vs. Snyder or Harris?
the open practice was more like run up and down.............i got front row seats and got high fives from every player that came out of the tunel............i got pictures with some cheerleaders ........but the hole practice was okay but when you go for free dont expect nothing great to happen.
I'll try not to repeat what I've already read here. What I saw: 1. On my way home from TC, someone called into 610 and said that Lucas looked really good, citing some "nice alley oops" or something like that. I don't know what he was watching because JLIII did nothing all that great and I can't wait to see him out of Houston (however that may happen). 2. Bonzi looks great. Not only does he really look at least 20-25 pounds lighter, but he's smiling a lot more and having a good time with all the players. He was a ref, so he didn't do much...in fact, while all the players (including the superstars like T-Mac and Yao) were shooting around before the scrimmage, all I saw Bonzi do was try to make one-handed half court shots w/ his back to the basket. 3. I agree that there was too much horsing around in this game. I didn't expect a JVG-esque practice, but there were a lot of "ill-advised" threes and several players that kept trying to throw the ball off the backboard (even the small guards). It wasn't completely unexpected, but it really was a bit much. Still, it was great to see so much talent on the floor and the veterans having a good time. 4. I felt bad for Novak since a) he had to sing w/ the rookies when he clearly is not a rookie (which I still don't get...was he that unnoticed last season?), and b) he doesn't seem to be able to find a suitable role on this team. I believe Novak, JLIII, and Justin Reed will be cut. I'm not too sure about Snyder, but those first 3 seem very expendable to me. I like Novak, but he has very little chance to make this roster. 5. The cheerleaders sucked. I don't know what Dubious is talking about, b/c that Asian cheerleader was by far the least coordinated of the group and wasn't close to being the hottest of the 6 out there today. I think that was the C team. 6. The team chemistry overall looks great. T-Mac and Rafer were having a good time w/ each other, Yao and Francis were constantly laughing, and Bonzi was just being Bonzi. I can't wait to see everyone mesh together...I'm glad we have Adelman to show this team the way.
