Two pre-season games in and the guy continues to do things that amaze me. Plus Pyrz had 4 blocks and looks better defensively than Oden right now. Of course, Greg is clearly a dominant offensive force down low and will be worth 8-10 easy points a game.
I think Barrett and Rice were talking about it during the game, but Rudy along with Sergio are high-risk, high-reward type players. They'll do some great things but might give up some as well. Rudy can really be a triple-double type of guy who can fill up the stat sheet... I love that. And Joel/Greg are the best 1/2 punch at center in the league I think. Greg looks great, even though he's probably a little out of shape. With Joel... Bayless and them need to learn that Joel's offense is really limited. There were too many times that they set up Joel and he needed to dribble or bring the ball down to make a move, and it was just another turnover.
I thought Joel looked better the first game defensively then Oden but not tonight. Guys were getting 3 point plays and going right around him quite a few time IMO. I thought Oden was the better defender tonight and I know when Oden gets in shape will be a lot better defender. Watch some of his games at OSU and see how he helped and blocked players shot. Right now he is a little heavy and out of shape to move fast enough. I think it will come once he is in good game shape and loses maybe 10 pounds. Plus I think he might still be worried about his knee a little and will trust it with more game time.
Rudy is pesky and really gets into the passing lanes. His lateral quickness for a player 6'6" is very good. I really think he should be our starting PG sometime this season. He's just too damn good to bring off the bench. He's a PG in a SG's body with a great feel for the game. His intangibles are incredible. Rudy finds seems and angles better than any guard on the roster. IMO, he's more dangerous when he's looking to pass. START RUDY AT PG!!
Joel blocked 4 shots and had 5 D Rebs in 20 minutes. Granted, both he and Oden had the same amount of fouls (4) in similar minutes. I'm not busting up on Oden at all; I'm just saying the Joel looks very good at a back-up C, and hopefully the NBA refs aren't about to make every game this year a FT shooting contest like they did tonight.
I think that's expected. Greg hasn't played in a year and still has to get in shape and get his timing down. I'll say this though, Przybilla is the best backup Center in the league.
