Minnesota Sports Forum

I am watching the Lakers vs Raptors from a couple days ago. Here are some thoughts.

Upshaw has upside but he doesn't play big a lot of times. There were numerous times he didn't box out at all and it led to Raps players getting the rebounds that he should have secured easily. Offensively he has a nice jumper and used a nice ball fake to drive to the hoop. He is obviously a bigtime shot blocker but I am not sure about his defense. Overall he is a guy you would be thrilled to have but he has some big flaws but he is big and athletic and young.

Watching Randle it hit me that he looks like the guy Bennett was supposed to be. He has slimmed down from what I Denver in college and he looks quick and has a lot of skill especially ball handling and he always seems to be attacking one way or another.

Kobe looks old but he still has game and knows what he can do. He passed a lot in this game so far. Does not really get off the ground much. Played like this was a regular season game. He obviously really likes Randle a lot.

Clarksen is a nice player. Looks like he has a nice floater.

If Hibbert plays as engaged as he was in the first half he will help the Lakers win some games and get a fat contract from someone. He looks in great shape also.

Metta looks like he can still be a factor defensively. Looks like he still has something left in the tank offensively too. Basically he looks like he can still play

Carrol is a fantastic player

Lowry is a beast

Joseph was terrific in the 2nd half after just being sort of a game manager in the first. He basically did whatever he wanted and hit a shot on sort of a post up late that sealed the game.

Scola still has it. He even nailed a 3.

Bennett looked good nice activity level and was setting good screens on the offensive end. He hit a jumper and put Upshaw in a poster. Bennett didn't play until about 9 mins in the 4th quarter. Late in the game he was taking the ball to the hoop and he turned his ankle which made him threw up a shot and the ball came back to him and threw up a dumb shot instead of passing it off. He limped off the floor after the Lakers scored and Toronto took a TO. Looks like he is back practicing today so he dodged a bullet.

It's fun to see Mike Trudell as a sideline guy.

So you are saying the Wolves will start the season 0-1? ;-)

Most promising rookies so far:

Towns 15.5 pts, 7.5 rbs, 1.5blks in 25.5 minutes per game
Stanley Johnson 17.7 pts, 5.3rbs, 2.7 asts in 30.6 minutes
Bjelica 11.0 pts, 7 rbs, 1.5 asts in 18.9 minutes
Rashad Vaughn 15.5 pts, 1.5 asts in 28.9 minutes
Mudiay 12.3 pts, 2.7 rbs, 5.0 asts and 5.7 TOs in 30 minutes
Portis 10 pts, 12.7 rbs, 1.7 asts in 24.1 minutes
Porzingis 8 pts, 6.0 rbs, 1.5 blks in 20.7 minutes
Hezonja 9.3 pts, 2.8 rbs in 20.5 minutes
Okafor 8.7 pts, 3.0 rbs, 1.0 blks in 18.1 minutes
Rozier 11.5 pts, 2.5 asts in 16.5 minutes
Nikola Jokic 12 pts, 5.3 rbs in 20.4 minutes
Walter Tavares 9.5 pts, 5.0 rbs in 11.4 minutes

Stanley Johnson has come from bench in every game so far. But if he continues his strong play, I have hard time to see Van Gundy continuing starting Marcus Morris as small forward.

It looks like Denver might have found again some promising Euro big. Jokic is not that big or athletic but he has nice range and just tends to be in correct place to score in offense. Also their 2nd year center Joffrey Lauvergne has also looked promising. His numbers have been 16 pts and 10.3 rbs in 24.1 minutes. It will be interesting to see if Lauvergne or Jokic will start and Nurkic will come of the bench since both Jokic and Lauvergne are much better fits to play next to Faried.

I also still think that Walter Tavares has some Gobert like potential. He is 7'3 and has 7'9 wingspan and 9'10 standing reach. He might not be as athletic as Gobert but I think he is still surprisingly mobile for his size.

Some Walter Tavares highlights from Cavs game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2N752_Bdu4

There is no question Towns and Bjelica are two of the more skilled rookies in this class. That's great news for us.

Okafor hasn't exactly set the world on fire. I think the common thought was that Okafor would come out of the gate more NBA-ready than Towns, but that longer term, Towns would be the better talent (or that's what I thought at least). So far, Towns looks more NBA-ready than Okafor, but it's still very early.

Thanks for the summary, mikkeman. I've been perusing box scores, but had no idea our local guy Rashad Vaugn was scoring so well for Milwaukee. Too bad he has so much competition at SG...gonna be tough for him to get minutes barring injury with Middleton and Mayo ahead of him.

I have been following Stanley Johnson closely, and Van Gundy is giddy about him. You're right...I can't see Morris starting on that team very long. Stanley is definitely in the mix for ROY, which promises to be a much more interesting race than last year. Towns might be the early favorite.

I am curious to see how the Spurs come together. It really seems to come down to the health of Parker and Manu for them in the playoffs. I think it would been huge for them to get a young guard. McCallum is interesting. I am not sure Mills is the answer either.

Stanley Johnson leads all rookies in scoring so far in the preseason at 17.3 per game, including a 26-point night against the Pacers. He's been getting to the rim and finishing, using that big body of his to his advantage. Who would have thought... :rollseyes:

Camden0916 wrote:Stanley Johnson leads all rookies in scoring so far in the preseason at 17.3 per game, including a 26-point night against the Pacers. He's been getting to the rim and finishing, using that big body of his to his advantage. Who would have thought... :rollseyes:

It's pre-season. It means next to nothing. Maybe wait to brag until the games count and he does it for more games than you can count on 1 hand.

khans2k5 wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:Stanley Johnson leads all rookies in scoring so far in the preseason at 17.3 per game, including a 26-point night against the Pacers. He's been getting to the rim and finishing, using that big body of his to his advantage. Who would have thought... :rollseyes:

It's pre-season. It means next to nothing. Maybe wait to brag until the games count and he does it for more games than you can count on 1 hand.

Tongue in cheek comment, but of course you of all people would get pissy about it.

Camden wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:Stanley Johnson leads all rookies in scoring so far in the preseason at 17.3 per game, including a 26-point night against the Pacers. He's been getting to the rim and finishing, using that big body of his to his advantage. Who would have thought... :rollseyes:

It's pre-season. It means next to nothing. Maybe wait to brag until the games count and he does it for more games than you can count on 1 hand.

Tongue in cheek comment, but of course you of all people would get pissy about it.

****Breaks out fire extinguisher****