season opener

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>]

Could I still change my prediction from 41 wins to, oh... 55 or so? Kidding
aside, this one was all we could expect and more. But we shouldn't get
carried away because of one game against a bad team, even if they blew us
out in Cleveland in the preseason. 

Pierce - a superstar performance, aided by an indifferent defense by Murray
and whoever else had the misfortunate of covering Paul. I was surprised
when the box score showed only 5 boards for him, because it seemed like he
had gotten a lot more than that. Perhaps it's because  they were all big
boards.  He was getting superstar treatment from the refs, who called every
touch on him, and even some imaginary ones. 

Walker - had a horrible shooting night, even though he took mostly good
shots. In fact, he shot .500 on threes (4-8), and was 2-12 on layups and
mid-range jumpers. Perhaps he should stick to shooting 3-pointers :)
Anyway, a typical Toine night - poor shooting with good rebounding and
beatiful passing. That was atypical was that he got to the line. 

Kenny - a very good game tonight, good passing, running the fast break,
even his defense was good. We've been there before, so I won't hold my
breath hoping this will continue. 

Williams - a decent, if statiscally typical, game for him. He showed that
playing him at PF on defense OR offense is pure lunacy - he can't get his
shot off around the rim against big guys, and made Mihm look like Mutombo.
Still, I thought he contributed on D and in drawing fouls. 

The Big Guys - Battie and Pot did what they had to do. Blount was typical,
with 2 rebounds in 18 minutes, compared to Tony's 5 in 15, and Pot's 6 in 18. 

JJ - looked very good, clearly our 3rd-best player right now. It was
interesting to contrast him with the guy he's supposed to replace - Stith,
whom JJ completely outshone. 

Forte - also looked very good, a lot better than his stats might suggest,
and showed some good point guard play. Unlike Billups and other failed
converts to PG, Forte could be a succesful PG in the NBA - he's that smart
and solid fundamentally. 

Palacio - was fine, played good D, made 3-pointers when he had to, some
decent passes. 

Kedrick - didn't do much. 

McCarty - same old Walluh. Is it really necessary to have him bring the
ball up the floor? I know we're up by 30 and it doesn't matter, but it's
just not a pleasant sight. 

Overall: it's hard to judge how good the team is, because, once Toine hit
some shots and they went up by 20, everything was clicking. That won't be
the case every night. Still, they rebounded well and ran a lot, which was
nice to see. Let's hope we can similarly disassemble the Nets tomorrow night. 
Kestas