More Boxscores

We're getting to the time in preseason where scrubs are getting the large majority of the playing time, but hey, we can at least get some info on the younger guys.

Interesting numbers in the Warriors-Clippers game tonight.

Monta Ellis--as you know, a darkhorse pick of mine--went for 15 & 10 assists. This guy can really play, I'm tellin' ya.

DuJuan Wagner, once thought to be a rising star and now fighting for his NBA life, came up with 23 points. He's a good example of a guy who can't shoot & relies almost entirely on his ability to get to the basket--but, while quick, doesn't have the high end "Wade-level" quickness it takes if that's your entire game. I think he would've really been exposed if he'd gone to college---good thing for him he made the jump & banked a few million dollars before people figured out he's just nothing special. He's the flipside of the Leon Smith case that you never hear about, the guy who made millions of dollars more than he otherwise would've if he'd played in college.

Anthony Roberson continues his strong preseason play with 15 in 23 minutes on 7-12 shooting.

Rookie Patrick O'Bryant had 6 points in 15 minutes. I'm up in the air on him. He's the kind of guy who often fails in the NBA, but a friend of mine who I respect a lot says he can play. We'll see. At a minimum, I can pretty much guarantee it'll take a few years, so don't go jumping on him in your fantasy draft.

Yaroslav Korolev--a 19 year old former first rounder in his second year with the Clippers (after getting virtually no playing time last year), came up with 5 threes in 8 attempts & scored 25 points. Again, I wouldn't expect him to do much this year on a deep & talented Clippers team, especially with Tim Thomas playing that shooting combo forward role, but they might have found themselves a 6'9 shooter for the long run.

Paul Davis made a showing. Not a good showing, but a showing. He did have 7 boards and 4 assists in just 19 minutes, but pulled an oh-fer in the scoring column--which is surprising, since the only thing I thought he could do on an NBA level is score. Well, we'll see. I still think he can make a 5+ year career for himself in the NBA just based on his offensive skills. Tough team for him to get on, with Brand & Kaman pulling down 35 minutes each, and solid backups in Rebraca, Tim Thomas, and the underrated James Singleton and Aaron Williams. But Davis will stick, I think.

Daniel Horton got a DNP-Coach's Decision, which really doesn't bode well for him. Meanwhile this Robert Hite guy from Miami got 28 minutes and shot the lights out with 10-14 shooting and 4-6 threes. If I have to put odds on Horton sticking, I'd say...20%.

Rudy Gay keeps getting minutes, and scoring. 14 tonight, including a couple threes. I don't know, maybe I'm starting to come around on him. Preseason means very little--except for rookies. Gay's played well, probably better than any rookie other than Rajon Rondo.

Randy Foye continues to struggle in Minnesota, but I'm still keeping the faith.

Tyrus Thomas with 10 pts, 3 rebs, 1 stl & 2 blks in 18 minutes--and also 6 fouls. He's a hyper, hyper player. It's a gift and a curse.

Deron Williams with 19-4-9...I like him a lot, I think he's getting ready to break out. As noted before, he played really well down the stretch last year. I think that PG class of Paul, Felton & Williams is going to turn out to be extremely strong.

Watch out for Kevin Martin on Sacramento, the guy can really play. He had 20 in 21 minutes tonight. In 41 starts last year, half a season, he averaged 13.7-4.7-1.8 on ridiculous .511 shooting from the field and .423 from three (on 3.0 attempts per game). Excellent, excellent rookie numbers. Not sure if he can build too much on them with Bibby, Artest, Miller, and Abdur-Rahim sucking up offensive stats, and the underrated John Salmons playing a similar role, but he's too good to take a step backward.

Brandon Roy with a cool 19 points, including 11-12 from the free throw line. Roy & Foye are in the Dwyane Wade school, guys who can handle the ball like PGs and get to the line any time they want. He's a good one.

Cedric Simmons had 9 & 7 with 2 blocks, continuing his strong preseason play. I like him over Hilton Armstrong among the the Hornets rookie big men, it just seems like Simmons is a better complement to Tyson Chandler, who's basically a clone of Armstrong.

Jordan Farmar also continued his strong play with 12-2-3 in 20 minutes, including 2-3 from three--my biggest concern coming into the season was whether he could hit the NBA three. With Kobe & Odom, he'll get his open threes, just like Smush does. He needs to knock them down at a 35%+ clip.

Maurice Evans, the ex-Piston, went wild for 27 points, probably beating his career best for any 2 games combined. I like this guy quite a bit. Not a superstar, but he really defends, he's athletic, and he has some offensive game. I actually would have liked to have seen the Pistons get more use out of him than they did--whenever I watched them, which was quite a bit, he was doing something positive during his minutes of PT.