So I've decided to have two recap threads for each game this season. One to get stuff off our chest, and one for real analysis. Also, scroll down for the first of Truth's 41 home game blogs.
I haven't decided if I'm thoroughly depressed or subdued about this loss. By and large, our young guys played and played very well (except for one in particular, of course). Etan Thomas looked really good in 18 minutes. Eddie Jordan didn't overuse Juan Dixon and Darius Songaila like I expected. JaVale McGee had a vicious block. Nick Young played quite well. Dee Brown showed that he deserved the backup PG spot over Juan Dixon.
And yet, we still lost, because our starters, except Etan, were awful. Caron was doing a great job of driving, but he was awful shooting the ball and basically disappeared for a lot of the game. In his first game starting without Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison had all of three rebounds against eight three-point attempts. DeShawn Stevenson shot way too much and at all the wrong times (not to mention his atrocious defense on Vince Carter and Jarvis Hayes). Antonio Daniels didn't do anything and looked very old. And, of course, Andray Blatche was out of control and out of rhythm (though I'm pleasantly surprised Eddie trusted him down the stretch...it won't pay off tonight, but it may be good for Dray's development).
You can't beat anyone when your veterans play that badly. I don't get why it happened either, but I can hope that they'll be ready next time. They're our vets for a reason.
The only other alternative is that they just aren't good anymore. Sorry, I'll take the larger sample over the one-game one.
So yeah, tonight's loss sucked. I cannot believe Caron didn't shoot the ball down the stretch, nor can I believe that Antawn grabbed all of three rebounds. I just figure they won't ever be that bad again. Save for Blatche, all the barometer guys played enough minutes and played well. In and of itself, that's encouraging, and I'm choosing to take the positive signs out of this one. You all, of course, are encouraged to do otherwise.