Thoughts On Preseason Game #2 (GS @ LAL)

(I figure it'd be good to discuss the first game most of us were able to see... if a mod puts up a recap, feel free to remove this.)

So, that wasn't pretty.  There was no real reason to expect it to be... if you only have two real NBA-quality bigs in uniform, the Lakers are not the team you want to play.  Add in the absence of 'Buike and the early exit of Monta, and this was bound to be ugly.

Still and all, I gotta say that I was delighted to see the boys again.  Fun to see Randolph's hyperness, fun to see Morrow's quick release, fun to see Maggette being his jostling, frustrating self.  I like these guys!

You can't glean much from a preseason game, but if we're not gonna overanalyze, why are we here?  Thusly:

1) If Stephen Jackson's body language looked familiar, that's because it was identical to Al Harrington's body language around this time last year.  Tunnel vision, gunning, no interest in fighting through screens (that was Jack who gave Sasha those open jumpers), *zero* rebounds.  The idea that Jack is a brilliant team leader becomes more comical by the month... it's a PR gimmick he invented, a savvy one, but an empty one.   If we can move him for contracts that expire in '11, I think we've got to consider that.  It would be good to not have the guy anymore.

2) Curry!  He reminded me of a young Monta, actually -- more shooting and less driving, o' course, but another little combo guard who can do a lot of stuff and makes his share of mistakes.  I'm very, very excited about him, but I'm not convinced that giving him heavy PG minutes to start his NBA career is the right move... learning the league *and* the position simultaneously is a lot to ask.  He seems like he's at least annoying on defense, which is a start.

3) God, I love Randolph.  I don't know if he'll get as good as we all hope, but he's pretty damn entertaining as it stands.

4) There was something exciting about watching Morrow catch fire and realizing that last year really wasn't a fluke... that we really got a pretty good player out of nowhere.  If the franchise's plan is to promote Randolph, Curry and Morrow as our nucleus for the future, this game accomplished that, if nothing else.  I heart those three.

5) Not much to say about the other returning vets.  Glad to hear Monta's okay.  Biedrins was Biedrins, and it's weird how nobody thinks that's an important thing anymore... we still have a good young center here, people.  I didn't have any beef with Maggette's game, as it's not like we should expect him to be able to cover Pau Gasol.

6) I didn't see much in the four non-Curry newcomers.  Law's numbers look good, but really he shot a lot of free throws because Lakers kept bumping into him randomly, not because he was making things happen.  He's playing hard, at least, and I guess he's probably good enough that we wouldn't miss CJ if we threw him into a package deal near the deadline.  Moore didn't look at all useful... Pruitt didn't show anything to make you think he's a must-sign.  It did put a smile on my face to see Speedy, and he did okay in limited time.  But really, if any of these guys play significant minutes, something's gone wrong (which it already has, with Wright's injury... I hope we're trolling the D-league for an improvement on Moore). 

Overall, it was vintage Dubs basketball: a bunch of fun plays, porous defense, tons of mistakes.  Most of the guys played hard, though, and for a night where we faced the world champs and were several rotation guys short, it could've been worse.  A .500 season isn't out of the question.  But the first order of business should be to get Jack out of there... he's making a stink, he doesn't lead, he doesn't rebound, he doesn't shoot well, and his defense isn't nearly good enough to solve our problems on that end.  Thank him for the good times and send him on his way... let's kill "We Believe" once and for all and see what the young 'uns can do.