Something not about Tiger Woods
Ta-da! Marquis Daniels is out for 6-8 weeks and… That sucks. It’s not that Marquis came in and lit the scoreboard up. His contributions were minimally visible on the stat sheet. He is subtly effective, and on a team stock full of stars and big personalities, that is extremely valuable. Some of the things I like about Marquis: He can play at the 1, 2, or 3. He’s a slasher and can find his way to the rim. He’s an able ball handler and a good passer. He plays pretty good defense. He plays just as well with the starters as he does with the second unit. And finally, the thing that I like most about him: he allows Paul and Ray to rest. When he comes in the game for one of them, the level of play will not be compromised. The defense will not be jeopardized, he’s not going to rack up stupid fouls or throw the ball away… These are all qualities a girl has quickly become accustomed to.
So yes, he will be missed, but I don’t think it’s tragic. His play was declining because he was trying to protect his hand, so if this is 8 weeks out, one and done, and he comes back better then it’s a good thing. If its 8 weeks and then he comes back for a couple games and then he’s gone again and it’s back and forth, then it’s obviously much more of a problem. Could TA be the silver lining in all of this? Sorry, but I don’t think so. I don’t even really see TA playing more than 10 minutes a game on a consistent basis. I could be completely wrong, and hopefully I am… It’s just that TA has been so up and down for the past 2 plus years and he’s coming off of surgery number I don’t even know what, I lost count, that it’s hard for me to think that he could be in a place where he could be a solid, consistent contributor right now. To me, he needs to be eased back in to things and right now I think he’s more someone to bring in for a couple of minutes when you need a shot of energy… Or you need to clamp an aggressive body on someone because they’re on fire. But hey, maybe he’ll be able to step up to the plate. Everyone loved TA a couple of years ago, so hopefully he’ll refresh our memories and remind us why he’s an asset.
I think the best way to patch things up while Marquis is out is to spread the minutes around. I’d like to see TA and Shelden Williams out there (where has Shelden been as of late, anyway?). You don’t want Eddie House to be saddled with all the ball handing in the second unit, so I’m curious about Lester Hudson- can he get out there for at least a couple of minutes with Eddie, to allow Eddie to work away from the ball and get his shot going? And there’s always Scalabrine… Say what you want about Scal, but he knows the system, busts his butt on defense and has a pretty decent outside shot. At the end of the day, Marquis being out will result in Paul and Ray’s minutes increasing, but hopefully not too drastically.
On another note, the NBA just released the first numbers for all star voting and not surprisingly, Perk and Rondo gets no love. Fans are stupid! I guess I can’t say anything because I haven’t voted, but I can honestly say I think Rondo is the best point guard in the Eastern Conference, and Perk is one of the top three centers. There’s no way that Gilbert Arenas should be getting more votes than Ray Allen and Rondo, and absolutely no way that AI and Derrick Rose should be leading Rondo. Also, Brook Lopez, Andrea Bargnani and Andrew Bogut ahead of Perk? Rude! Maybe people are too simple minded to like Rondo because his shot is still coming along and Perk is misunderstood because he only has one facial expression… Too bad for them, because anyone sleeping on those two is in for a rude awakening.
