I liked what I saw, too. But I also noticed his scoring (in the video) was done against Kevin Saraphin and Damion James. All in all, though, he is reminiscent of a more agile Dirk.
He was -9 against Saraphin and Damion James, too. He did make his shots. So did McBuckets, but he didn't take many. Kirk took plenty, though.
I don't take much away from this game, either. I really want to see McBuckets use those moves he showed in college, instead of standing around waiting for a pass for a 3. Detroit has men at the bigs positions. Greg Munroe off the bench? He's tough for any 2nd unit player to hang with. Brooks showed he can play. Thibs needs to tailor his plays more to the players' strengths, IMO.
I wrote the same thing in the game thread before I clicked here. I do take things away from these games, Denny. Nobody cares about overall performance, but I like to see the rooks flash pro skills. I'm starting to get worried that McDermott hasn't shown us more off the dribble. If he can't handle enough to keep defenders honest I think it's going to be the thing that keeps him from potentially be a star-caliber player.
I'm not sure, yet, what's going on with McDermott. There are a few possibilities: 1) He simply isn't good enough against NBA competition 2) Thibs is horribly misusing him, allowing him to use only a fraction of his ability 3) Thibs' plan is a good one but Doug needs to figure it out 4) It's pre-season and Thibs has him working on things for the short term 5) He's just got to get used to the speed of the game Probably others. But seriously, when he's in, shouldn't most plays be designed to go to him?
I'm glad he's not awkward on the court. Some Euro players seem kinda out of it when they first play NBA basketball, but not him. As the season progresses I think his play might dictate Gibson's future with the club.
