I went to it, here's the analysis you've all been waiting for. I'll go over it player by player. Keep in mind this is one scrimmage and not a great way to evaluate. There were white and green teams. The white team won, I think it was 82-74. White team: Mateen Cleaves Antonio Daniels Reggie Evans Ibrahim Kutluay Vitaly Potapenko Vladimir Radmanovic Robert Swift Green Team: Ray Allen Nick Collison Danny Fortson Jerome James Luke Ridnour Damien Wilkens Galen Young Black Team (As in injured and sitting on the bench wearing black sweatsuits): Rashard Lewis Ronald Murray Allen: Easily the best player on the court whenever he was in the lineup. Didn't look any better or worse than last year. Seeing him shoot in person makes you wonder how he can be the best shooter in the NBA with that funky stroke. Cleaves: Played really well...but that, strangely, was the problem. While everybody else was playing at practice speed, he had to play at almost full speed to look good. That said, he should be a backup for somebody, and he'll probably be a coach someday if he can hang on long enough. Think Avery Johnson. Collison: Didn't have a great game, but showed flashes of what he could do. He wasn't as buff-looking as I thought he would be, but played center about half the time he was on the court and held his own. Definitely not a power player, but he has enough moves to make up for it. He probably won't post up as much as you'd expect, but he can get points in the paint by rebounding. Daniels: Probably the second best player in the game. He could pretty much do what he wanted on the offensive end, but held back for whatever reason. One of the more vocal people on the court. Evans: Pretty much the same as always. Had a couple fastbreak dunks, but also had no idea what to do with the ball in his hands in the paint. Fortson: Looked more stout than fat, if that makes any sense. Didn't do much. Looked real bad on offense, cheated a lot on defense. James: He sucks. So. Much. Kutluay: Good shooter, but nowhere near the ballhandler Barry was. He could bring it upcourt with no pressure, but he's not a point guard. Good passer and his defense was average from what I saw. He fell down a lot, which makes me think he's not used to the contact yet. Potapenko: Looked solid. Like Ray, makes you wonder how he can make shots with that form. He seemed a little disinterested, which isn't surprising given the poor competition he was up against. Radmanovic: His shot took a while to get going, but once it's on, he just let's it fly. He looked comfortable being the main scorer, but he didn't have the intensity needed to be one in a real game. Reminded me of Rashard in a bad way. Ridnour: Seemed uncomfortable running the offense at first, but it was obvious why. He'd dribble upcourt and everybody would just...sit there. Same problem as last year. He was better as it went on, but didn't do anything spectacular. I feel bad for him because he keeps waiting for his teammates to cut and they don't. He needs to work on his shot, because the form wasn't the same every time. He pretty much shrugged off any attempt to steal the ball while bringing it upcourt, which is his one big advantage over Antonio right now. Swift: He didn't exactly live up to his name. Wasn't as skinny as expected, but he looked awkward running up and down the court, and avoided contact like taking real screens. Always looked to pass when he got the ball except for a couple occasions. Had a nice tip dunk, but I could've done the same thing with a lane that wide open, so I didn't give him that much credit. Basically, he looked nervous and tentative. Hopefully it will go away quickly with experience. Wilkins: Didn't see much of the offense he was supposed to bring. His ball-handling was average at best, and he didn't do much. Young: Same as Wilkins, but replace "offense" with "defense". If I had choose, I'd say that the starting lineup would be, just based on this game... Potapenko, Radmanovic, Lewis, Allen, Daniels Of course, Collison or Reggie will start at power forward for their rebounding and defense, but as far as talent and productivity goes, The Radman is still ahead of the game.
Looks like Vlad should be getting a lot of SF minutes with Lewis out with a potentially serious injury. Some of my thoughts on your analysis Casual, and thanks for the in-depth report. Is appreciated. Fortson: He has a basic offensive game (based around open jumpers and offensive putbacks) and he does cheat a lot on defense, but as long as he bangs a few people around and grabs a few boards I'll gladly take it, for he only cost us Booth. Your evaluation of Swift surprised me. Everything I've read about him from training camp is positive, and mainly about how he doesn't back down from anyone, takes contact at will (apparently has suffered a few busted lips and corked muscles) and is impressing both Nate and his teammates. Basically re-inforcing what we both think: Half of Luke's problems as a point guard were that his teammates all stood around the perimeter waiting for a jumper. Luke's not big enough or durable enough to take it to the rim himself constantly and absorb contact, but if you move around on offense, he WILL find you in the right spots. Kutluay's stats have been alright in pre-season. While obviously he has a while to go, I still think he could contribute more than people think this season.
Did you happen to see Rashard Lewis shooting? I went to the Phoenix Suns @ Seattle Sonics and before the game Rashard Lewis was shooting...Wow he has the worst looking shot i've ever seen and he can make it!
McMillian's biggest concern about this scrimmage was that he didn't want anyone else to get injured. This was game was more of a publicity stunt more than anything else. I wouldn't read too much into how hard each of these guys played. It, however, doesn't surprise me that Swift is much softer than the media and coaches have reported him being. I think that the Sonics are more interested in highlighting the few good moments that he has other than pointing out that he has no chance of contributing a great deal in his rookie year. It kind of bothers me when people constantly make excuses for someone. Granted there is a learning curve, but don't report that he is doing so well when anyone can see for themselves that he is not ready to log consistent NBA minutes. I'm hoping that Flip can play in one or two preseason games to test out his pulled quadricep. I'd rather him come back a 100% healthy than return to early and risk further injury. I also hope that Rashard's injury isn't as bad as I'm hearing it is b/c Vlad doesn't seem to be wowing anyone w/ his preseason performance. That all being said I can not wait until the season.
I'm not suggesting that Swift is ready to play meaningful NBA minutes, I'm just commenting on a few articles I've read that suggest he hasn't been shy of taking contact and mixing it up with bigger NBA bodies.
