Man, I'm not going to close the book on Web just yet. Give him a little more time to come back from the injury. But Batum is definitely the best small forward right now.
I'm just kidding. I'd love for Martell to come back and really bust out making the drop off from one player to the other negligible. Anytime you can throw two really good small forwards on the floor you give yourself a lot of options depending on matchups and can sub one for the other if someone is having an off night. In all honesty I thought Nic and Martell looked pretty damn good tonight, Nic just looked a skosh better.
For a team with Roy, Aldridge, and Oden, I've got to say that our PG's and SF's looked pretty damn good. Nic and Webster, and Miller, Blake, and Bayless. They all stood out to me at some point in the game. Great to see Webster out there doing well, and Nic just keeps getting better. Oden is definitely on the right track as well. Some very nice moves.
I'd like to see +/- numbers. Rudy lost the MVP for Miller. Blake just hit a bunch of threes but certainly wasn't MVP. LaMarcus looked pretty bad. I blame his PG (Blake) for that...
Yeah, as non-descript as he looked, an announcer said he had something like 13/8 in very limited action. He needs to play with Miller to really open up his game, especially streaking down the court to receive an outlet pass a couple of times per game.
Seeing how good Oden looked out there has gotten me really excited for this season, Joel's no joke and he had some impressive moves down on the block. His hook still looks off, but other than that everything he did out there looked so much more fluid and about twice as fast. Batum looked great on O, hitting J's and getting to the hoop. I was starting to think Webs should start to provide an outside threat to go with Miller at the point and Aldridge+Oden down low. But Batum looked fantastic and if his shoulder is good to go I think he's got that spot locked up. Webs looked over-anxious but good, I'm happy for him to finally get out infront of a crowd again after last year. Blake put up pts and assists but didn't really stand out to me, while Miller just seemed to control the flow and make some smart decisions. Can't wait for the next time I get to watch this team!
This was a perfect example of what Steve Blake looks like when he's hitting everything. We don't see this Steve all the time. That's the absolute best Blake you'll see.
Not sold on Miller. He did what we thought he could do, dominate the ball and do a good job of it. Can he play with Roy? Don't know yet, and that's why I can't get too excited about him.
I don't understand. At times I saw him moving the ball immediately. I don't feel like he dominated the ball at all. Not like a Sergio or a Damon. It's not like he dribbled around the threepoint line, waiting for something to happen.
Ball dominant? I guess you and I were watching two different games. Most of the time he was passing within seconds of getting over the mid-court line, he did attack the basket on several occasions, but what I saw was somebody who looked like he knew how to orchestrate an offense without over-dribbling and with the ability to get others going.
I didn't mean he was holding it for 20 seconds and then passing like Sergio, but yes, the offense started with Miller and he coordinated it well. (I already mentioned that) But can he work with another dominant ball handler like Roy? That question was not answered because Roy played maybe 5 minutes the entire game. So right now, I see him as someone who would work well in the second unit.
From what I've seen, and what I saw tonight, Miller doesn't need the ball in his hands to be influential. He sees the floor. He knows where guys are. He would only need the ball for a matter of seconds in order to find the right guy and get a good look.
Miller also fed Oden down low, moves like that quick baseline spin he had on Joel in the 2nd half don't happen with a bad entry pass...
People that don't want a Miller/Roy pairing are over-thinking the situation imo. Getting too caught up on the term "ball handler".
I don't think Roy is that limited, that he can only work with the ball is his hands almost every time down. Jordan was an even more ball-dominant (and simply dominant) player, but he played perfectly well with Pippen, a guy who handled the rock a large portion of the game. I think Roy can make use of his great talent even with another primary ball-handler. To me, the default is that he can and I'll be unpleasantly surprised if Roy or Miller are marginalized so that the other can handle the ball. Roy can only prosper from getting some easy looks created by another player, rather than creating all his looks himself.
I am back from the FF - what a fun evening. Some impressions from the court - Blake looks a lot quicker than he did last year. I was impressed - I think he might be in for a better year than last year (per minute, at least, Miller is going to get a lot of minutes there). Webster looks nice and active. Roy looked like he was on cruise control, same as LMA. Travis was pretty much invisible - Dante I liked a lot. JB looked a lot better at controlling the team when he ran point. Ime looks a lot less wooden than he did the first year he was here. Spending time next to Timmy and the rest of the gang in San Antonio did good for him. The two that really stood out for me, however - were Oden - he is still a little raw - but he is fluid now, not mechanical. To think that this is the least skilled we will see him - makes me very excited - he is going to be a monster. And... quite frankly, Batum. Oh, My, God. This kid is special. I have the exact same reaction I have to what I have seen last FF - Batum is a lot better than what we have seen so far. He is so freaking fast and controls his body's lateral move so well - that he is going to be a star. This team is loaded.
