Brother! Talk about emotional ups and downs. One minute I'm led to believe that Greg Oden is the next prospective great big man in a decade, and then I marvel at how, after 10 years of playing organized basketball, he still doesn't know how to move his feet correctly in the paint (dare I say it? He can look downright awkward). Then after a summer of Channing Frye scorching the rims around town, preceded by perhaps his best 2 weeks in pro ball at the end of last season, I'm ready to consider him a long-term keeper. But then he goes and looks totally, utterly, hopelessly & cluelessly flummoxed in Boston. I grant you that even a less rattle-able Rudy F. looked shaky in Beantown, too. The Boston game was the ultimate cold shower...liquid hydrogen, even. Brrrrrrrrrrr. But then, they pulled it together enough to beat Toronto 18 hours later. See what I mean? Go figure.
May they all have the ice water veins of The Kid, Nicolas Batum. What a breath of fresh air. No talk of being a project. No talk of delayed productivity while he adapts to American Pro-B-ball. Watching The Kid gracefully and fluidly play the small forward position correctly at age 19 can make you weep. Could it really be all that easy? I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear him say (think of the voice of Maurice Chavalier here), "My Cherie Amor, what eez so diffeecult about baskeetball? You know what must bee done and you do it." Followed by a guttural response from the pit of a downtown construction project, "Yeah, well, no duh! (Belch)."
So, we can say we don't really know this team yet (some specific players, yes, but not the team as a single organism). And we won't until a final piece begins to define itself - Martell Webster. Where and how will he fit in? How much has he changed/evolved since last year? Will he tend energetically to all aspects of the position? Or just shoot? My bet? Channing loses minutes, Travis returns to power forward back-up and The Kid backs up Martell...for now.
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