Season Fast Approaching

I spent a lot of time this past week reading Hollinger's season outlooks for all 30 teams, and I'm just barely halfway done! Additionally, NBA TV has started a series called Real Training Camp where they go around to different teams and record preseason practices for 2 hours with commentary from 2 individuals who look like they would rather be somewhere else. Here are my thoughts...

-I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that the 76er project will not work out as well as suspected. They are getting a lot of play as being the #2 seed in the Playoffs for the East. Elton Brand's health is always a question and he thrives in a slow paced half court offense. With the athletes the 76ers have, they should be running up and down the court, creating turnovers, as much as possible. Brands ability to adapt, and not falling into the "big contract trap," will dictate the team's success.

-Lordy, I'm keeping an eye on the preseason scores, and Mike Beasley has 16 points in 20 minutes.

-In my opinion, Luol Deng's busy summer internationally, and continual work on his game will lead to his first All-Star appearence.

-The Hornet's training camp was so boring to watch. They spent 1 hour doing different shooting drills and none of the players looked like they were taking game shots. Or at least their shooting form wasn't. Every shot was taken lazily, but I can't really argue because they went in about 83% of the time.

-Byron Scott walks around practice and makes $100 bets with the players. They take 50 3point shots from 4 different points on the floor. If they make 40 or more, Byron loses. If not, he profits. Byron made $500 on the day NBA TV came into town. He did mention that he usually loses $2,000 a year from Peja, but makes up for it with Morris Peterson, who's shot form is boarderline grotesque. But then again, I can't argue as most of his shots are falling.

-PW's favorite player is having a good start to his NBA Player and Doc Rivers is giving much props.

-Speaking of Doc Rivers, he is hardly the brains behind the operation at Celtics camp. Jim Boudoures could have executed a better speech to start the practice. The highlight was saying "we turn the ball over too much, and that needs to stop." Solid analysis. The assistant coach does a majority of the talking during drills/scrimmages/simulations and he actually puts together well thought out statements that benefit the player's learning of the game. His attention to detail is uncanny, as they will go over how each play would be run, throwing in different wrinkles for different time scenarios. For example, the first 20 minutes of practice was spent going over defending a jump ball at either free throw line. If their is 5 seconds left on the shot clock, it looks a lot different from than a full shot clock.