Caught about half of the Knicks and Celtics preseason game at Madison Square Garden last night. Some first impressions:
- The teams that are looking to start running Phoenix-style attacks (Boston and New York being two of them) are going to be giving up a TON of points... and the Celtics and Knicks aren't strong defensive teams to start with (especially given the fact that Theo Ratliff and Jared Jeffries sat out last night). Fantasy players -- make sure you start all your scorers when they play against these teams. (Hell, Boston scored 108 last night, and Paul Pierce didn't play.)
- Style of play aside, New York's perimeter defense is just awful. Look for scoring guards to go off against the Knicks all season. (This was also true last season.) By the same token, Boston's inside defense stinks -- they made Eddy Curry look like a young Karl Malone at times. I think Michael Olowokandi will make the Celtics; he's reportedly been very good in camp, but he cannot stop anybody.
- The refs are going to continue to call all contact on the perimeter, which is going to mean a lot of trips to the line for penetrating guards. Upgrade the likes of Marbury and Telfair accordingly.
- Didn't see too much barking at the officials last night, but I suspect that the NBA's new crackdown on arguments is going to mean a lot of technicals called in the first couple of months. That could mean some cheap points for designated-technical-shooters like Jamal Crawford or Wally Szczerbiak.
Posted by Charlie at 10/18/2006 8:08:00 AM |
