Looking back on...stuff (a possibly recurring thing)

This may or may not be something I try to do regularly; I don't know. Obviously, there are plenty of places to get recaps of the previous night's games, and I'm not really going to bother trying to do every game. So, brief, faulty analysis on a portion of the previous night's games. How could you resist?!

WASHINGTON V DALLAS (the return of zero)

So, this. It was..interesting, in that it seemed way more significant than an early regular season game really ought to. I mean, both teams had key players out, they've both got new pieces they're trying to integrate...this isn't likely to be real indicative of what these teams will look like later on.

And yet, you got the idea that you really did learn a lot about these teams from this game. For one, and you may have heard this mentioned, Gilbert is back. And somewhat reformed. He really did play as a sort of quasi-point last night, and it worked. His decision making was very good, he ran the offense superbly, and dealt with the double teams Dallas threw at him very well. From a health standpoint, even if not 100%, he was still quick enough to blow by the Dallas defense with relative ease, and maybe at a later point in the season that would have ended up being an even better performance from Arenas. But, as it was, very encouraging.

The help was better than you'd expect, without Jamison, and considering that Caron Butler didn't have a great game. Blatche and Foye both showed real ability to contribute, right now, and even if I don't expect them to be as (somewhat) awesome as they were last night, if they can be legit fifth or sixth options...well, that certainly adds another dimension to that team. Saunders seems to have already made a clear imprint on this team, as the spacing was great, and there was a legitimate offensive philosophy in place, instead of...well, what we saw in Cleveland.

For Dallas, it was just a very "blah" performance. They'll make more shots than they did last night, sure, and given that their outside shooting is a big part of their essence as a team...it's perhaps harsh to judge them on an offnight. But you really didn't see much spark there. Dirk got a lot of points, did some nice stuff, but Marion wasn't particularly inspiring, Terry took way too many shots to get just 12 points, and otherwise there just wasn't too much help. It was very...slow. Too slow to deal with Arenas, or really run the court, and not enough offensive firepower to really do that much in the halfcourt. It will be different with Howard back, clearly, and I don't want to understate that, but I came out of this game with a somewhat dimmer outlook on the Mavs' season.

LAL-LAC

So, this...happened?

I don't know, not too much to say about this one, but I wanted to touch on it just for the Artest factor. I thought it went pretty decently. He missed some shots, he wasn't 100% comfortable in the offense, but his contribution was positive on the whole. He'll obviously play defense, and I didn't really get the feeling that he's ever going to even have much of an opportunity to play outside the offense, and perhaps the possible disruption caused by his presence was overstated.

Outside of that, not much to learn. The Lakers were always going to win, but didn't ever really show the desire to pull away for good. Kobe was Kobe, Bynum was pretty nice, and Lamar did well (sort of) in Pau's spot. Pau's absence sort of fucked with the rotations, and so the bench unit was weaker than normal, perhaps contributing to the inability to really jump out (and stay out) to a big lead. But we know what the Lakers will do, they know what the Lakers will do, Reggie Miller...alright, he has no clue what's going to happen, but most sane people know what's more or less going to happen with this team. Not many worries.

The Clippers seemed pretty lost without Blake, and almost didn't look like they realized this one counted. Baron was hurt/awful, but at least Kaman and Gordon looked nice. Dunleavy's rotations seemed...weird, but I don't think he's ever inspired great deals of confidence. Anyway, not much to really gather about this team without Griffin, other than to say they really do need him back, for all kinds of reasons.

So, there we go. Tonight, there are...games? LOTS OF GAMES. A few will end up interesting, I'm sure. And perhaps I will write about one (or two. or three. or twelve, I don't know) of them tomorrow. Until then!

Amigos' NBA Previews: LA Clippers

Alright, I'm going to have to do an abbreviated Clippers preview, too. Apologies to the legions of LA Clippers fans that were eagerly awaiting my opinion on their team.

Basically, they still have Baron, which could either be what drags them down or propels them to a playoff spot. Who the fuck knows. They got Bassy to back him up, so there's a guy who will bring stability...oh. Well, alright. At the '2' they'll trot out Eric Gordon, a sort of throw back shooting guard who basically just scores. But he's efficient, and he looks to be a good shout to have a big season. They traded for Rasual Butler to back him up, which is a sort of nice move. Al Thornton will start at small forward, and he brings great athleticism, but not a whole lot in terms of skills. They'll probably be looking to rely on him a little less this season, as he's not the most efficient player in the world. But not bad, as long as he's a role player, as that athleticism can certainly be very important. At power forward, they got some new guy. Blake Griffin, as he's apparently known, has been getting rave reviews from everyone, including most recently Greg Popovich, and who am I to argue with that? He's a very athletic 4 who looks like he'll be able to handle the physical aspect of the league very well, and he's also got a great motor and some decent technique. Don't expect him to be Dwight Howard right out the gate, but he ought to be pretty damn good. At center, they have Chris Kaman, who seems to be sort of forgotten. When healthy, Kaman can be a pretty nice center, and in the past has shown the ability to be a guy that can average a double double. Don't expect that with Camby around to grab decent minutes, but look for Kaman to be somewhat resurgent, and be part of what ought to be a very nice frontcourt. The aforementioned Camby is still pretty decent at what he does, and as long as the Clippers really only expect him to grab boards and block shots, he ought to do well. The reduced role could be a good thing, in terms of keeping him healthy.

Overall, the Clippers have the makings of a nice team now, but certainly it's a squad that is likely to build around Griffin in the future and hope to improve. Right now, I think they have an outside shot at the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they're consistent enough to pull it off. Clippers fans ought to be happy to have the return of something resembling hope. Oh, and if the Clippers were a hip hop act, they'd totally be...I don't know, Wale? I'll go with Wale. Because I'ma compare the buzz around the two. So there you go.