Season Eye-Openers
October 30, 4:56PM PST - Chris Morgan
After watching the season opener Tuesday against Cleveland, I noticed a few things. One thing that really opened my eyes was the play of Gerald Wallace. He has worked on his game in the offseason and it shows. He's a second year player out of Alabama and he wasn't all about dunks as he was last year. He acutally played, showing his athleticism in the post, the open floor, and from the premiter. He even hit a three, where he went 0-7 last season. I really liked what I saw in this kid and it's apparent that he really does try! With that being said, it looks like Chris Webber just ate hamburgers all season because he was more rusty than a ten-year old nail exposed outside through the rain and summer seasons! He was solid on the rebounds, but half of those came from his own misses. He didn't work on his foot work at all, and he still only has one post move: the baby hook, which looks like a prayer shot! Hedo Turkoglu got to start in Doug Christie's absense and the Turkish-supreme looks as if he is a lot more confident in his offense. Comparing him to Peja Stojakovic, he's much more versatile. Peja is much more lethal from the outside, but Hedo is much better at creating his own shot and rebounding. Bobby Jackson will be a starter for at least the next month and his first game, he didn't put up mind-blowing numbers, but they weren't bad. He was very sturdy, we'll be okay with him starting and having Damon Jones coming off the bench. Speaking of the bench, they were great. Keon Clark had 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks off the bench. I've always known he was a tall, lanky player, but was I shocked to see how skinny the guy was! It was as if I JUST noticed. Scot Pollard has the same game as last season and Vlade Divac is getting the Patrick Ewing syndrome: LEAD FEET! But, it's the first game of the season, of course you can't judge any of these players by one game, right? 81 more to go, and a championship to capture from the LA Rivals, the Lakers...