10.24.2005 - Boxscore World Tour

Strange boxscores tonight. Let's take a quick look...

POR 105, TOR 98

Even the city of Winnipeg can't make these teams good.

Portland is in trouble this year. Juan Dixon hasn't panned out, Martell Webster is a high school rookie, and Charles Smith--yes, that Charles Smith, a 30 year-old veteran who averaged a career-high 19+ minutes last year--might start. Telfair is two years out of high school and talented, but he doesn't take care of the ball.

Worst of all, Zach Randolph is fat, in McMillan's doghouse, his knee is already sore and at less than 80 percent in his first season following knee microfracture surgery.

Even former Jailblazer Ruben Patterson is already calling for changes to be made.

PDX fans should settle in for a very long season. It's a scary thing when D-Miles is shaping up to be your team's cornerstone. There will be fantasy value somewhere on this squad, but it's too early to say when.

Toronto started Loren Woods and Joey Graham. I didn't see it coming either, but Charlie Villanueva had another solid game (19, 5 and 3 on 8-12 shooting) and might actually be a decent pro as early as this year.

MIA 84, ATL 83

No surprises here.

We know Josh Smith can dunk, but can he shoot? Tonight's 1-10 performance is not encouraging. He's going to have to block a lot of shots to make that look good... Zaza Pachulia continues to put up numbers... The 2005-06 Atlanta Hawks are really a grand experiment in starting four small forwards. Let's see what happens... Salim Stoudamire is not ready to contribute, particularly in a lineup like this--avoid.

I hate Antoine Walker. Can anyone tell me why the Heat felt they needed to go out and sign him AND Gary Payton, two of the most selfish and outspoken basketball players in the league? Dwyane Wade is the shit. But with 4.2 turnovers and only .2 3PM per game last year, is he worth a first round pick?

ORL 65, MEM 65

Not exactly an offensive highlight reel here.

We know Dwight Howard is getting ready for an outrageous year; we know that Steve Francis continues to be vastly overrated as a fantasy commodity... Does anyone know what the deal is with Jameer Nelson? If he starts and plays minutes, he'll be Top 75. If not, he'll be waiver material. So far this preseason, he's started only 1 of 4 games and played 23.3 minutes per. That ain't enough. Are they really going to start DeShawn Stevenson?

LAC 112, GS 82

The Clip Show's B squad blows away the Warriors' scrubs.

LA started Walter McCarty (he's still in the league?), Yuta Tabuse, Daniel Ewing, Anthony Goldwire, and Cuttino Mobley. Cuttino will be a pimp this year. Draft accordingly.

GS started Zarko Cabarkapa (who could be quite a scorer if he ever started... he won't), Mike Dunleavy (this is NOT the year... he should be a backup), Andris Biedrins, Derek Fisher, and J-Rich.

Biedrins, a 19 year old Latvian rookie, knows how to hit them boards--15.2 per 48 minutes this preseason. Give him a couple of years, then draft him. Until then, expect a lot of this: