Well first off Sacto didn't have Kevin Martin, Brad Miller, or Quincy Douby, and it was the first pre-season game of the season, but holy crap we looked really good. Won by 29, and were up by 34-38 most of the 4th qtr. The Sacto play-by-play crew was amazed at the atmosphere. Said it sounded like a regular season game between top teams.
Overall thoughts
Greg Oden - He is a very big guy. Right now I would say he is very similar to a young Shaq. He didn't make a shot beyond a dunk, missed every shot from 3' to 8'. He was 3-5 from the FT, and had nice form. He is big, and strong, and still heavy, they say he is 285, and I think it would do him a lot of good to lose 15 pounds. Did I say he was big? His defense was a mixed bag. He did well a few times, wasn't a dominating rebounder, but he is hard to establish good low post position against, had a couple of nice blocks, and played matador defense on a couple of drives.
Rudy Fernandez - He didn't shoot all that well, but he slashed to the basket well, nice alley-oop dunk, and out of his a$$ alley-oop up and under off the glass, 5 assists (one through the defenders legs to Aldridge for a dunk, a couple of very nice feeds to Martell Webster). Moves very well without the ball, good passer, good slasher, definitely a fan favorite.
Jerrod Bayless - He did fine, don't remember that much of him defensively. He did fine the couple of times I really paid attention. Fearless at going to the rim, needs to slow down and get a better routine at the line.
Nicolas Batum - I really liked what I saw in 12 limited minutes. All over the court, finished on a dunk, had 1 steal and created another he didn't get credit for. He is only 19, but he can play. I think we will spend some time in the NBDL, but I don't believe we can keep both Webster and Outlaw, and he will be the eventual replacement for the one we lose.
Brandon Roy - Had knee surgery in August, and you wouldn't have known the difference. He looked to be in mid-season form. He played 22 minutes had 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 7 assists. After the game I thought he didn't do much, but he was quietly very productive.
Martell Webster - He went for 15 p and 6 r, with 2 s, but a lot of that came in garbage time in the late 3rd and early 4th. He was very active on the defensive end, and finished strong.
Aldridge - Didn't shoot all that well, and with all the new guys I didn't pay that much attention to him.
Przybilla - 7 p, 12 r, 1 bs is 21 minutes. He is the perfect big guy for our second unit, and perfect backup to Oden. A highly under-appreciated NBA big guy. He and Rudy will work very well together in the pick and roll, and I think we will be more effective offensively as a result.
Sergio Rodriguez - Blake was hurt and he started, and played very well. 11 p, 7 a, 3 r, 3 3's, 2 to, 1 s. Played in control, shot the ball well.
As far as the Kings, Hawes did Ok, but he needs to get more aggressive around the hoop, and lay off the 3 pointers. Donte Greene looked very good, he will be a sleeper. The Kings lost a lot of ground with Sheldon Williams on the floor, and he didn't shoot all that well, but he was a banger. The Kings need a player like him, and he will help them I think. I also like some of what I saw with Jason Thompson. His final numbers weren't all that hot, but only Garcia played well, but he has a solid NBA future.
