El Jefe
02-05-2008, 12:47 AM
I saw in the Vegas thread a discussion about the Toros game last Friday and the call for some thoughts from the game. I didn't get to watch the game as closely as usual (My friend with me was new to basketball, and we people watched about as much as I watched the game) but here's my quick run down.
The D-League is definitely a place where not just the players gain valuable experience. The refs, front office personnel, the dance team (I spent half the game searching for a cheerleader I saw that had no rhythm in an early routine), the PA announcer.....even the court-side hussies were picking up valuable experience that they can someday attempt to use on the grand stage. We sat next to a couple of hecklers who were quite thorough for the d-league level. They targeted Morris Almond, who had a poor game from where I was sitting.
Of the players, of course most of my attention was focused on Mahinmi. He guarded the rim well, and showed very good athleticism blocking a couple of shots. I thought his most spectacular sequence involved rotating across the lane to block a shot, and then recovering to the other side of the lane to take a charge. From my angle, I think the call would have gone against him in the NBA, but it was still a good demonstration that when he wants to, he has the ability to move quickly. On offense, I recall one nice post up move for a dunk, and one decent looking jump hook. Nothing else blew me away, but I'm ok with that, assuming we're not planning on running the offense through him in the future (that's just a guess. Wait, sarcasm doesn't work on the internet....)
Justin Reed was the high scorer, and seemed like the only guy on the floor who was shooting well. Even Demarr Johnson was clanking open 3's. No one made me think "if only he got a shot at the big show..."
For the Flash, Kyrylo Fesenko is quite large. I saw someone here compare his body type to Sabonis, and I don't think the comparison ends there. He's not NEARLY as skilled or creative with his passing, but he did seem to think pass first.
Meeting Chump was cool, nice to put a face to the Toro round-ups. Hopefully we do this again, and I'll have more time to meet everyone else.
The D-League is definitely a place where not just the players gain valuable experience. The refs, front office personnel, the dance team (I spent half the game searching for a cheerleader I saw that had no rhythm in an early routine), the PA announcer.....even the court-side hussies were picking up valuable experience that they can someday attempt to use on the grand stage. We sat next to a couple of hecklers who were quite thorough for the d-league level. They targeted Morris Almond, who had a poor game from where I was sitting.
Of the players, of course most of my attention was focused on Mahinmi. He guarded the rim well, and showed very good athleticism blocking a couple of shots. I thought his most spectacular sequence involved rotating across the lane to block a shot, and then recovering to the other side of the lane to take a charge. From my angle, I think the call would have gone against him in the NBA, but it was still a good demonstration that when he wants to, he has the ability to move quickly. On offense, I recall one nice post up move for a dunk, and one decent looking jump hook. Nothing else blew me away, but I'm ok with that, assuming we're not planning on running the offense through him in the future (that's just a guess. Wait, sarcasm doesn't work on the internet....)
Justin Reed was the high scorer, and seemed like the only guy on the floor who was shooting well. Even Demarr Johnson was clanking open 3's. No one made me think "if only he got a shot at the big show..."
For the Flash, Kyrylo Fesenko is quite large. I saw someone here compare his body type to Sabonis, and I don't think the comparison ends there. He's not NEARLY as skilled or creative with his passing, but he did seem to think pass first.
Meeting Chump was cool, nice to put a face to the Toro round-ups. Hopefully we do this again, and I'll have more time to meet everyone else.