Early Impressions

The 2010-11 NBA season is four days old. These are some of my early impressions from the young season.


LUIS SCOLA

Luis Scola is far more productive than I thought he would be. Charley Rosen picked Houston to possibly unseat Los Angeles in the West. I wouldn't go that far, but Scola's early production has raised my eyebrow.


BIG AL'S OLD TRICKS

Al Jefferson is up to his old tricks again. The optimism of his preseason FGA:A ratio has withered away into ice-cold reality.

Through two games, Jefferson has played 68 minutes and has 24 field goal attempts and zero assists. In Utah's home opener against Phoenix he took 18 shots and didn't muster a single assist.

Among the many reasons for Utah's 0-2 start, Al Jefferson's passing inefficiency has to be one of them.


WHERE'S GREG?

No. 7 pick Greg Monroe has yet to see the court for the Detroit Pistons. I understand that he is a rookie and all, but not one stinking minute?

It's preposterous! A good coach should be able to get a talented rookie a few early minutes without it hurting the team.

The same thing goes for Vinny Del Negro and Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu can't be any worse than the other players who played small forward for the Clippers last night.


MOST IMPRESSIVE WINS

Cleveland over Boston -- Cleveland wasn't supposed to be able to win a game against a team this good without the "Chosen One."

Memphis over Dallas -- Dallas was the No. 2 seed in the West last year. Memphis missed the playoffs. This is a huge road win.

Indiana over Charlotte -- Another win by a non-playoff team against a playoff team on the road. A come-from-behind victory on the road against a tough Charlotte team showed a lot of character.

Los Angeles over Houston -- Los Angeles was expected to win the game, but it is how they won. It is impressive when your big off-season acquisition (Steve Blake) hits a game-winning three-pointer in his first game.


WHY I LOVE NBA LEAGUE PASS

While everyone without LP had to watch the Lakers and Suns, I got to watch the Clippers and Warriors.

Golden State's new arena floor and uniforms look beautiful on television, and the blue shoes worn by Dorell Wright and Monta Ellis only added to the visual appeal of the game.

Then the Warriors came out and kicked butt. They pass the ball like Sacramento of the early 2000s and play pretty good defense too.

They were more entertaining than Run TMC until Stephen Curry re-aggravated his ankle injury and had to leave the game in the third quarter.

Golden State went on to win and go to 2-0 for the first time since 1994-95.*

*NBA GameTime

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