Quick Hits
I went out last night to the local drinking establishment with JW to enjoy the smorgasborg of basketball on TV (that and my wife is studying for the LSAT and kicked me out of the house). Just a couple of quick comments on the games I caught all or most of, and my first impressions of the season.
Portland @ Philadelphia:
Oh man, Portland's offense is just horrible to watch. Telfair/Jack brings the ball up the court, passes it into Randolph or Miles and everyone else stands around watching those two try to score on triple teams. This is the 4th or 5th 'Blazers game I've watched this year, and calling Randolph a black hole is an insult black holes all over the universe. Absolutely painful.
Wisconsin @ Wake:
Justin Gray can really, really score the basketball. The guy isn't a PG at all, and looks a lot better playing off the ball. He and Eric Williams were awesome last night, and Visser and Ellis played well alongside them. Wisconsin looked good actually, much more fun to watch than in the past - though part of it is the fact that Wake plays a defensive style that could be named "Red Sea against the Jews".
Purdue @ FSU:
Uh, wow. FSU isn't a good basketball team, but Purdue is beyond bad. They just couldn't get the ball up the floor, and it seemed someone from FSU was on a 1-on-none fast break for a dunk each time I looked up. Quite honestly, when FSU was up by 40, we stopped paying any sort of attention.
Clemson @ PSU:
Clemson is a pretty nice little team. Vernon Hamilton and Shawan Robinson are both capable players, and Akinbala can bang a bit. Clemson is going to be a solid team this year, and might sneak their way into the NCAA tournament if they can win a few key games during the ACC season. I was also impressed with James Mays, from the bits and pieces I saw. If they shoot the 3 like they did last night, they are going to beat some people.
Miami @ Michigan:
Miami is way more streetball than basketball, and it's going to kill them in the ACC. Diaz is a great player, but totally out of control a decent portion of the time and has no clue of working within the offensive scheme. Michigan also destroyed Miami on the glass, with that guy who looks like Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me just wearing out Miami's undersized and undertalented front-line.
Illinois @ UNC:
Whoa. UNC's freshmen are much better than I thought they would be. Bobby Frasor isn't the second coming, but he played much better than he had any right too. Danny Green and Marcus Ginyard can flat out ball, and Hansbrough is a big thug with a surprising amount of skill (and a lethal FT shooter). I hope Quentin Thomas enjoys his view from the bench, because his butt isn't getting off it during his UNC career - certainly not with Tywon Lawson showing up next year too. Dee Brown is good, but he doens't look nearly as good as he did playing next to two first rounders last year, and James Augustine just needs a tampon for being the softest interior player in the country. Yes, he's skilled - but he is a big giant zero on the defensive end, and Illinois did nothing to stop UNC's young wing players from getting to the rim over and over. Illinois won, but UNC might be the better team by the end of the year - and that's bad news for the ACC, they were supposed to be down this year.
Portland @ Philadelphia:
Oh man, Portland's offense is just horrible to watch. Telfair/Jack brings the ball up the court, passes it into Randolph or Miles and everyone else stands around watching those two try to score on triple teams. This is the 4th or 5th 'Blazers game I've watched this year, and calling Randolph a black hole is an insult black holes all over the universe. Absolutely painful.
Wisconsin @ Wake:
Justin Gray can really, really score the basketball. The guy isn't a PG at all, and looks a lot better playing off the ball. He and Eric Williams were awesome last night, and Visser and Ellis played well alongside them. Wisconsin looked good actually, much more fun to watch than in the past - though part of it is the fact that Wake plays a defensive style that could be named "Red Sea against the Jews".
Purdue @ FSU:
Uh, wow. FSU isn't a good basketball team, but Purdue is beyond bad. They just couldn't get the ball up the floor, and it seemed someone from FSU was on a 1-on-none fast break for a dunk each time I looked up. Quite honestly, when FSU was up by 40, we stopped paying any sort of attention.
Clemson @ PSU:
Clemson is a pretty nice little team. Vernon Hamilton and Shawan Robinson are both capable players, and Akinbala can bang a bit. Clemson is going to be a solid team this year, and might sneak their way into the NCAA tournament if they can win a few key games during the ACC season. I was also impressed with James Mays, from the bits and pieces I saw. If they shoot the 3 like they did last night, they are going to beat some people.
Miami @ Michigan:
Miami is way more streetball than basketball, and it's going to kill them in the ACC. Diaz is a great player, but totally out of control a decent portion of the time and has no clue of working within the offensive scheme. Michigan also destroyed Miami on the glass, with that guy who looks like Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me just wearing out Miami's undersized and undertalented front-line.Illinois @ UNC:
Whoa. UNC's freshmen are much better than I thought they would be. Bobby Frasor isn't the second coming, but he played much better than he had any right too. Danny Green and Marcus Ginyard can flat out ball, and Hansbrough is a big thug with a surprising amount of skill (and a lethal FT shooter). I hope Quentin Thomas enjoys his view from the bench, because his butt isn't getting off it during his UNC career - certainly not with Tywon Lawson showing up next year too. Dee Brown is good, but he doens't look nearly as good as he did playing next to two first rounders last year, and James Augustine just needs a tampon for being the softest interior player in the country. Yes, he's skilled - but he is a big giant zero on the defensive end, and Illinois did nothing to stop UNC's young wing players from getting to the rim over and over. Illinois won, but UNC might be the better team by the end of the year - and that's bad news for the ACC, they were supposed to be down this year.
posted by Nathan at 8:19 AM
Georgia Tech Sports
1 Comments:
Agree on UNC, I watched a good beginning chunk of that game and at first I thought Illinois was going to blow their doors off, but they calmed down and kept on playing. David Noel may be the surprise player in the ACC this year.
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