Thunder are beating the Mavs . OJ, I know JA and them love him now and are optimistic but I got money that by 27 games into the season you all won't anymore. He has made a few of them tonight (yet law of averages says it's a reason he's a sub 40% shooter for his career, and 37 on the preseason), but he takes terrible, contested, unnecessarily difficult shots. Brand isn't looking great though, he can't handle double teams nor even Serge's athleticism 1 on 1.
Just scored their first paint basket of the quarter with 1:18 remaining. Delonte is sucking too, needs to take his meds or something, keeps falling for no apparent reason.
James Harden still doesn't remember how to play basketball
Bold statement there that the Thunder are beating the Mavericks when Kaman, Dirk, nor Marion played.
Look, I know things will look bleak for the first 2-3 months. Why? Because Dirk is hurt. I'm not saying that everything will be all peachy once he gets back, this team has a lot to prove.
But I expect a ton of backlash towards Dallas early on in this season. They will be without Dirk for probably 10-15 games. They will probably have a sub-.500 record. OJ Mayo will continue to struggle, but those are necessary steps that need to be taken if he wants to try to elevate his game. He will have to learn under Rick which shots to take, when to pass the ball under pressure, and when to attack the basket. Thankfully, he has a back-court partner that will undergo similar hardships.
This team will struggle as long as Dirk isn't healthy. That's fully expected. But with him on the floor, it adds a completely new dimension to the team, because it keeps opposing defenses honest. Without Dirk? Man it's going to be rough. I expect a huge improvement in OJ's game if he hasn't figured out something by the time Dirk comes back, just because he's such a big distraction out there.
OJ is a low-risk, high-reward option. I understand the criticism that he's receiving from Bhz, you, and everyone else. He hasn't lived up to what he was supposed to be. He has some talent, but it hasn't shown off during the regular season. That's fine. But with this team, there are no Zach Randolph's, Rudy Gay's, Mike Conley's, or Tony Allen's to clash with. This is technically his team until Dirk gets back. It's an opportunity. If it doesn't work out? He can walk next year. He isn't getting paid very much, and we can split ties with him after this season. The thing with OJ right now is that he's never had this freedom. Carlisle's letting him take an excessive amount of shots, and he just hasn't found the balance of a good shot, and a poor shot.
Brand actually has played relatively well throughout the pre-season with other bigs on the court with him. Him and Kaman work extremely well together offensively. Kaman isn't that good defensively, but I've been content with what I've seen from Brand defensively. People can boohoo all they want about how old he is, but last year he was extremely good for Philly. Again, another low-risk, high-reward guy.
Kaman is the best offensive Center Dallas has ever had. Ever. Like, history. We missed those paint points tonight, and when Dirk's healthy, it will really free up Kaman to go to work in the paint. The negative, is that he's pretty much a black hole once he gets it deep. Around the arc, at the top of the key, his hands and passing is good enough to be valuable, but deep in the paint, that shot is going up.
Delonte falls all the damn time. He's just a pet-project of Carlisle's. He's looking for another Jermaine O'Neal or Ron Artest he can find.
. I expect him to fall out of the guard rotation by years end, hopefully.
It all lies on Dirk returning though. I'm hopeful. I was listening to a basketball doctor the other day, and he said that Dirk's knee procedure is the least invasive kind of knee operation that one can have, and that after it, he should be better than he has been in recent history. Kobe went through the same knee procedure last off-season, and Kobe looked DAMN good at the beginning of last year.
Last thing, Jae Crowder is fun to watch man. He reminds me of Charles Barkley in that he plays much bigger than he actually is. Jae is like 6'4'' without shoes on, but he plays like a 6'10'' player in the paint. His body is comparable to any seasoned veteran. There aren't many guys bigger than him at his height. He's a hustle guy with skill. He's going to be a Shawn Marion intangible kind of guy. Some nights he'll get you 4 steals and 5 blocks. I hope the guy stays with the team for a long time. He's not a superstar, never will be, not even an All-Star, but the kind of role player you want on your team. Undersized or not, he's a ballplayer.