Before I get to anything else I would like to congratulate someone. William Green. We criticize him so much, and sometimes it might be a little unfair, but tonight he played out of his mind. Willie I will not utter a single derogatory comment regarding you for the next 24 hours buddy. You earned it.
Now to the game. This is the team we were supposed to be the first time we played the Raptors. We were forcing turnovers. We were running and the real Elton finally showed up. The Raptors weren't hitting open jumpers like they were in the first game and Jose Calderon barely played because of a bum hamstring, but we still came into their building and beat them. Awesome game.
Likes:
-Andre Iguodala. He's finally figuring out how to contribute in ways besides scoring. Ten assists, nine rebounds and only one turnover and it was by far Andre's best game of the young season. He looks much more comfortable in his role and it's not unrealistic to expect 15-7-7 this season. He's not going to score 20 a game anymore, but he's still a very good basketball player. His jumpshot is a different story.
-Elton Brand. He was hitting jumper after jumper, rebounding, blocking shots and just playing a great all-around game. He had a tough time handling both Bosh and O'neal defensively, but still played a heck of a game.
-Andre Miller didn't lead our team in shots! Thank God. 18 points on 14 shots and only one turnover. That's still quite a few shots, but I'll take this kind of performance every night. If I remember correctly most of his shots were around the rim.
-M16. He made some rookie mistakes and looked nervous at times. He also had five fouls in 20 minutes, but it's hard to argue with 12 points 7 boards and blocked shot. It's always nice to see my boy do well.
-We already talked about it, but Willie Green was not Willie Green tonight. 17 points on ten shots, zero turnovers and nine assists! This was probably Willie's most efficient game of his career. If he can play like he did tonight on a consistent basis, I might start to like him.
-We finally beat a good team! On the road! By ten points!
-More threes than the Raptors.
-Less turnovers.
-Eight steals.
-54% from the field and 82% from the line.
-The red jerseys? We're 1-0 on the year with them.
Dislikes:
-Thaddeus Young's ball-handling. Five turnovers is unacceptable. He also only took five shots.
-Lou-Will only playing 11 minutes.
-Samuel Dalembert and his low basketball IQ.
-Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'neal torching us.
-A dude named Andrea embarrassing numerous Sixers.
-Allowing 14 offensive rebounds, 9 of them to J.O.
-Andre Iguodala falling one rebound shy of a triple-double.
Soak this one in boys. Hopefully this is the win that gets the season rolling. I'm going to celebrate by writing a fatty essay that I've been putting off for months.
Player of the Game: The logical choice would be Elton, but Willie gets this one for sentimental reasons.
Record: 3-5
Favorite Open Thread Comment: "I always wanted a fathead of myself."--FuquaManuel