last night's game

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I watched last night's game and thought it went really
well.  I still am not prepared for the stress of
opening night, but we definitely handled the bulls. 
We were in complete control for the whole game,
despite a monster night from Elton Brand (39 and 14.) 
Brand was guarded at times by Walter, Antoine, and
other comparative weaklings, and there wasn't a damn
thing they could do with him. Boy he is good.  But
when we put Vitaly on him he wasn't so saucy anymore. 
A good example of why defense means more than
shotblocking.  I came away from this game feeling
pretty good.  Here are my player takes:

Herren:  the guy's stat line was very impressive, and
he's obviously for real.  He is a true point guard,
has great range, and is a real hard-nosed kid.  He is
much slower than you may have heard on D, though.  He
seemed to struggle keeping up with Khalid El-Amin! 
That's where the Jason Williams comparison falls
apart.  I don't know if he has the jets to be a
starting PG in this league, although I'm sure he could
get away with it on offense.  Anyway, he will give us
a real life.  I don't see how we are going to split up
PG time!

Adrian:  this game was won, in my mind, by Adrian
Griffin.  Just like the AG of old -- always making key
plays, always getting the key rebound, always being in
the right place at the right time.  This guy played so
well last night -- he is definitely back to form.

Paul -- looked good.  Forced his shots I thought. 
Which is understandable given the circumstances.

Twon -- one of the most unselfish, controlled games
I've ever seen Twon play.  I can't remember him taking
a shot the defense didn't give him, and he his his
FTs.  He's clearly not a power forward the way Elton
Brand is a power forward, but he really is a wonderful
player.  I'm not sure he's a great offensive talent,
really, but I can live without that if he plays this
smart and rebounds a little more.

Kenny -- I had gotten so mad at him that I forgot that
he does some things well.  Still doesn't seem to feel
like passing the ball much, but he did make a few good
passes...I guess we need him, given that Randy Brown's
body probably won't take more than 20 minutes or so a
game.  Missed a few jumpers he usually makes. 
Meanwhile real PGs like Khalid El-Amin and Chris
Herren outpass him, despite his great talent; on the
other hand, I forgot that he can get by pretty much
anybody on the perimeter.

Walter - terrible.  I understand why people hate him. 
Didn't do anything; threw up brick after brick from
long range.  A real minus.  Put him on the IR.

Eric -- OK, but still dumb.  Still no in-between game.
 Everything is either spot up jump shooting from 23
feet or drive into a crowd of bodies and get
fouled/shoot an offbalance jumper.  Eric is a real
oddball talent, but at least he can score and play
some defense.

Moiso -- I thought he looked lost again (I missed part
of the first half.)  Couldn't get the ball down low,
got lost on D, etc.  ON the other hand, he changed
several shots with his shotblocking power.

Blount -- didn't do much, but hit a long jump shot,
which I didn't think he could do, and blocked a shot. 
Has a big presence, but isn't very aggressive yet; too
soon to say whether that's characterological or just
experience.  A great player to have available on your
bench, that's for sure.

Stith -- looks good, didn't do much.  Another good
bench player to have.

Vitaly -- Vitaly posted up down low several times, got
the ball, and scored on his hooks.  He obviously has
been practicing all summer, and believe it or not,
even has a little lift on his shot!  Looks great,
although his (and everybody else's) rebounding numbers
were abominable in this game.  Boy do I like this guy.

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