LeBron James, SF (MIA) - Oh, it's not the last time you are going to hear those "Over-rated!!" chants from last night's game (I couldn't find video of it, but I assure you it was awesome). They're gonna be there everytime the Miami Heat finds themselves in a losing situation as a visiting team. But one chant you are definitely not going to hear (at least for awhile) will be "Side-kick!!".
After a very humbling first quarter, where the whole Miami Heat scored only 9 points, Lebron took the reins like they were last year's Cavs and looked his usual dominant self, ending up with a stat line that answered any questions about who's the the man in South Beach: 31 pts, 10-21 from the field (47.6% fg pct), 3-6 treys (50% 3pt percent), 4 rebs, 3 asts, 1 steal and 2 blocks. Sure, the night was not without it's flaws (8 turnovers, 66% ft percent), but keep in mind this was against the very defensive-minded Celtics. If you watched the game, you'd know this was Lebron's team, and it's probably going to be his for the rest of the season.
So, what about the other two?
Dwyane Wade, SG (MIA) - I stand by the idea that he's not going to deliver 1st round production for the total season. Now, having said that, despite everything you are gonna be hearing today from the media about how awful he played last night, that awfulness is going to be a little bit overstated. Yes, he ended up with only 13 points (bad if you picked him in the 1st round).Yes, he shot 4-16 for a 25% fg percentage. Yes, he had 6 turnovers. But I saw three things that may tell me that his better days are ahead of him:- He displayed a lot of speed and defensive instinct (he had 3 steals), but offensively, he was a little bit out of rythm because he didn't played all but 2 minutes of the preseason due to his injured hammy. It's a little unrealistic to expect Wade to have a great game if he hasn't played more than 2 minutes with a starting five that's 40% new, and oh by the way, your first game will be against last year's championship runner-ups.
- That 4 of 16 field goal stat and the 6 turnovers doesn't tell the whole story. He missed at least three very easy layups that I can assure you he is not going to miss by the 10th game of this season. And two of those six turnovers were offensive fouls during shots that he made, and a late travel call was made on him as he was making a layup. In other words, his stat line could've easily looked something like this: 20 pts, 7-19 fg's and 3 turnovers.
- Not counting Lebron and Wade, the whole team made only 13 out of 37 field goal attempts. That's a 35.7% field goal percentage. And still, he somehow managed to distribute 6 assists. On nights where the team plays better, that number has a pretty good chance of going up.
Chris Bosh, PF (MIA) - If the offensive scheme of the Heat doesn't change soon, it's going to be a really long season for Bosh.
He was looking this preseason like all that talk about his drop in production for teaming up with Wade and Lebron was a bunch of BS. I myself, got convinced of it. But what I saw last night was very discouraging for what I expected from him this season.
He looked overmatched. He had no help from his teammates on either side of the court. I mean, I was really surprised when I saw the boxscore and found out that Wade had 6 assists, because I could've swear there was no ball movement from that team whatsoever. And the most affected by it was Bosh, who as great a mid-range shooter as he is, he never got the ball passed under the basket, and had to set up each and every one of his own shots from the outside, resulting in literally, a bunch of missed jump shots (eight, to be exact), one dunk and one layup. C'mon!! That's your $110 million-dollar power forward right there!! Lend him a hand!! Set him a post-up, a pick-and-roll, something!! Don't just give him the ball by the three-point line and let him try to shake off his defender by himself EVERY FREAKIN TIME!!
If the Heat keep playing that style of offense, just like Wade, you can bet that Bosh will fail to deliver up to the position he's been drafted on average.
Rajon Rondo, PG (BOS) - Rondo looked way better on the game than what the boxscore shows, especially in the 1st quarter, where he worked Carlos Arroyo like a speed bag. He ended up with 17 eye-popping assists (you can watch them at NBA.com), 2 steals, 5 rebounds (great amount for a point guard) and not much else. But man, was he flying up and down that court!! He even made Shaq look like a semi-decent pick for fantasy purposes (9 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block).Paul Pierce, SF (BOS) - Count me up as someone who thought Pierce washed up and had absolutely nothing in the tank. I mean, have you heard the one when his knee pop open and started to squirt liquid all over the locker room? He had a really good outing last night, finishing with 19 points, including 9 rebounds, 3 treys and a perfect 8-out-of-8 from the free throw line. He also had 7 turnovers, but with a stat line like this, who really cares?
I'm still skeptic. He's a very old 33-year-old guy that's constantly asked to guard the other team's best scorer. Don't expect him to have many more outings like last night's. This is as high as you'll be able to sell him. It's downhill from this point on.
Kobe Bryant, SG (LAL) - When are we ever going to learn? Kobe is going nowhere!! For the past couple of seasons, he's been coming with all these warning signs about how injured is he and how much mileage he's already put on his knees, always landing him on the wrong side of 5 in draft picks. And yet, each and every year we act amazed as we see him play as good as the year before. If you didn't saw him last night, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: He's still the best player in the league.
If you want to prove me wrong, you'll quickly point out that he shot 40% from the field (8 out of 20). And that's when I'll counter by saying he scored 27 points. He shot 10 out of 12 from the free throw line. He had 5 rebounds. He had 7 assists. He had only one turnover. He looked fast. He looked leaner. He was quick on his feet. He barely looked bothered by his surgically repaired knee. He... He will be the first suspect if Sasha Vujacic ever gets murdered.
Pau Gasol, PF (LAL) - Mark my words: If Kevin Durant is not this year's MVP, it will be Gasol. He simply dominates. 29 points, 11 of 23 from the field, 7 of 9 from the free throw line, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and one crappy song. What more can you ask from him?
Kevin Martin, SG (HOU) - Is this finally the year of the Kevin Martin revival? He's very talented, but he needs minutes in order to be a consistent 26 ppg player, and with Buddinger and Courtney Lee waiting in the bench, I hardly see him getting 30-plus minutes per game. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But if you ask me, he is sell-high material.
Aaron Brooks, PG (HOU) - I love Aaron Brooks for this season. Contract year. No competition at the point guard position. One of the prettiest jump shots in the league. Oh, and by the way, he had 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 4-of-6 from the three-point line, a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws and 9 assists. Yeah, I would rather have him than Wade. I have the fantasy cojones to do it, I can tell you that.
Robin Lopez, C (PHO) - Let's just put it this way: you drafted him, not for what you know he can do, but for what he was expected to do. Well, expectation's over. The result? 5 points, 5 rebounds and one block in 25 minutes. If there are other options in your league, like Varejao or Drew Gooden, I would go get them and drop Sideshow Bob until he shows signs of that upside.
Steve Nash, PG (PHO) - Last night, Nash produced a mediocre (by Nash's standards) 6 assists, but scored 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including 4 out of 6 three point attempts. Guess who's missing Ama're? By the look of things, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up this season as the team's leading scorer. He just doesn't trust his team that much.
