Hey guys, Prada is still out of commission thanks to the power outage and now that he's been out for far more than half an hour, I'm guessing that he's not just faking it to make a dramatic re-appearance. Anyways...
- Game 1 went about how I thought. The Celtics D frustrated Kobe for most of the game and L.A. had no answer for Garnett on the boards. Kobe will get better, he'll see what they did to slow him down and he'll make the proper adjustments. But If Garnett pulls down as many rebounds as Radmanovic, Gasol, and Odom combined like he did in Game 1, the Celtics are going to take this series, regardless of how well Kobe is playing.
- With all that said about KG's inside presence, at some point Kendrick Perkins is going to have to step up his play as well. 1 point and 4 rebounds isn't going to cut it. Yes, he was banged up near the end, but still.
- Maybe I just haven't watched enough Ray Allen, but he just seemed to have a way better handle last night than I can ever remember.
- The Washington Post has the names of some of the players that will be visiting the Wizards in the next few days:
Today, the team will have workouts for six more prospects: forward-center Frank Elegar (Drexel), forward-center Jeff Ferguson (Wayne State), guard Stefhon Hannah (Missouri), forward Michael Lee (St. Bonaventure) forward Quan Powell (Auburn) and guard Jason Rich (Florida State).
Workouts will continue Monday, when guard Ty Lawson (North Carolina) and forward D.J. White (Indiana) are scheduled to visit, along with four other prospects.
- If you're looking for some good draft coverage, make sure you check out Hoops Addict, they've got a few interviews with some players that the Wizards might be considering at #18, including Robin Lopez, Darrell Arthur, and one of my sleepers in this year's draft, Jason Thompson.
- Elijah Dukes swag was phenomenal last night.
- The two names that have been popping up a lot in recent mock drafts for the Wizards are Donte Green and Nicholas Batum. I like both players but I don't think either would be a good fit in Washington. They'd both provide some offense at the 3 when Caron is out, but I think there's more pressing needs that could be better filled with the 18th pick.
- A random trade proposal: How would everyone feel about trading #18 to Seattle for #24 and #32? We might have to throw a little extra in there to even it out, but I think there's probably some better value in the late 1st/early 2nd round area than there is in the middle of the first round where we're currently at.
- Finally, in all seriousness with the Paul Pierce joke at the beginning, I don't think it was that big of a deal. If I hurt my knee in my first ever Finals game, I'd probably start fearing the worst and reacting as such. At least he used a wheelchair for a knee injury rather than a shoulder injury. The key for Paul is going to be this morning, adrenaline can keep you going for a while, but once you get some rest and that knee stiffens up, it's a whole new ballgame, both in terms of how it affects Paul's game and how it affects the rest of the series..