I never want to be one of those reactionary types. Still, here are some quick thoughts:
- Leon Powe gets buckets. We know this.
- Thaddeus Young is a player.
- The 76ers have the potential to run teams off the court some nights.
- Given Patrick O'Bryant's age, height, contract, and length, the Celtics have to feel pretty good about the gamble so far. He may have found the right organization to develop him.
- During Darius Miles first defense possession, when he forced the jump ball, he looked slow and rusty. Over time he looked better and I feel better about his conditioning. But he's clearly not where he needs to be yet. I see him playing in the NBA. I'm just not sure he's ready.
- It was good to see the Ray Allen come out of the gate shooting well.
- I enjoyed the SCAL-A-BRINE chants. I did not enjoy Scal's gunning.
- I'm feeling better about year 5 of the Tony Allen era. Also I'd forgotten that he's a good foul shooter - 5-5 on the evening, 75% for his career.
- Rajon Rondo flew up the court at points and in general looked good.
- It's easy to get caught up in the AND1 type of atmosphere that Bill Walker inspired tonight. Who doesn't like a half court ally oop and a dunk on Theo Ratliff? Check that, a monster dunk on Theo Ratliff. Granted the purist in me wasn't crazy about J.R. Giddens going out of his way to celebrate Walker's dunks. And yet Walker, Giddens, and Gabe Pruitt did get me thinking. Over the summer there was a fair amount of talk about Boston's veteran leadership mentoring the incoming youngsters and keeping certain new additions in line. However, there's a chance that the young guys will energize the older players. I expect Walker to make mistakes, Pruitt will have a hard time getting minutes, and Giddens is raw. Yet those guys looked hungry. Danny Ainge may have assembled a nice mix of established stars, young veterans, reclamation projects, and rookies.
- Glen Davis looked big. For some reason I had this image of Powe sending food Davis' way and then laughing as the former LSU Tiger scarfed it down.
- We may look back on it when it's all said and done and wonder why we spent so much time arguing about Eddie House's back up point guard abilities.
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