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Written by Jeff
Thursday, 23 October 2008

Preseason is over and we are waiting for the Banner ceremony and presentation of the rings and a nice little matchup with the Cleveland LeBrons. So it seems like a good time to roll out a formulaic post taking stock of the team after preseason. We had a lot of questions coming into camp (see a full list here). Here are some answers:

Bull Market (Stock Up)

Tony Allen - We knew he could play defense and he has shown flashes of brilliance in the past. Well he flashed some more of that promise this preseason, averaging 11.8 points per game including 25 points against the Cavs and another 32 against the Nets a few days later. He was still up and down and a bit turnover prone, but it looks like he is at least past the psychological issues related to his knee and should be able to provide the occasional spark off the bench.

Gabe Pruitt - He was the invisible man last year, so we didn't know much, if anything, about him. He had a solid camp and filled in exceptionally well when Rondo missed the last couple of games with a turned ankle. He showed poise and shooting stroke and may soon be ready for an expanded role on the team as Cassell makes the slow transition to assistant coach.

Eddie House - We were wondering where the scoring might come from off the bench this year, but wonder no more. Eddie has the quickest release in the known universe and had no problem leading the team in scoring in the preseason, mostly playing with the second unit. He'll never be a true point, but he can score in bunches.

Volatile Market (Up and Down)

Bill Walker - He is still just a rookie and trailed off after a quick start, but that quick start made him a fan favorite and made him some early enemies around the league. He may start the season inactive, but I doubt he'll finish the year that way.

Patrick O'Bryant - My expectations for him were low and he exceeded them early. In particular he excelled filling in for Perkins playing a lot with the first unit. He was less effective in fewer minutes and playing with the bench, but there's enough talent there to be much more comfortable with the backup 5 position than I was headed into camp.

Glen Davis - Started off poorly, was called out by the coach publicly, and responded with a few good efforts. Basically par for the course for Big Baby thus far. He needs to be more consistent if he's going to push Leon Powe for more minutes.

Bear Market (Stock Down)

Darius Miles - He was a longshot to begin with, but few could forget the fact that he was once a B-list star in the league and had a lot of promise before his injuries. He was a great comeback story and appeared to have the right attitude. He just didn't have the game to stick on a Championship squad with one too few roster spots available.

JR Giddens - Rookies aren't expected to show much in their first preseason, but we would have liked to have seen a little something from him. He barely even played, logging a team low 7.5 minutes per game. Not a good sign. Next stop: D-League.

Brian Scalabrine - With the rookies playing like rookies and Miles playing himself out of a job, you would think that we could at least see some solid-if-unspectacular play from the veteran Air Fundamentals. Not so much. The little time he got on the floor was painful to watch and only reinforced his spot on the inactive saving-this-salary-for-trade list.

October 23, 2008

Jeff said: Powe has the honor of being lumped in with the starters and guys I'm not worried about in the least

celticfan42487 wrote:Wow. I don't think I ever say this. But this article is dead on with all accounts.