The first news is tune in after lunch for an announcement about the particulars of the Huge Juju-Dispersing Event tomorrow!
On to the other news.
Joe Freeman has a very nice write-up on Martell and what this performance means. Key theme: it's only one game and we've seen it before. What counts is what happens in the next few games.
Brian Hendrickson echoes the theme here.
And lo and behold, Kerry Eggers completes the Martell hat trick (plus some other notes).
I've said this a million times and I'll say it once more: Martell almost always scores big when the team makes him an intentional focus, feeds him steadily, and sets good screens for him. The thing he's never mastered is being able to score without help and without being the go-to guy. I do not know what his scoring spree looked like on Wednesday. It sounds like it was a little more free-form than usual for him, which would be good. The thing is, him doing consistently better will perpetuate itself because it will give the coaches and his teammates confidence in making him a more central part of the offense, which will also make him do better. He just has to be careful not to force it for three shots and then disappear when they don't go in.
Here's Hendrickson's post on the rebounding issue (plus some Ime Udoka) and on the continuing injury blues.
Dwight Jaynes spends three-quarters of a column on the new scoreboard. He also champions the causes of Lamarcus Aldridge and Sergio Rodriguez in there, with a couple other tidbits. All I can say is that this scoreboard must sure be something because every media guy in town has gushed. It feels like a Seinfeld episode is in order...
George: Jerry, I got tickets for the game tonight! Wanna go?
Jerry: Nice. Where are we sitting?
George: Front row, courtside! They're corporate seats. Big time stuff. It was Jill's turn to have them but I switched our names when she wasn't looking.
Jerry: Naw...I'll pass.
George: You're kidding! Why?
Jerry: Can't see the scoreboard.
George: The scoreboard? But we're right on top of the game!
Jerry: I know. That's the problem. It's not high def.
George: High def? But you see it with your own eyes!
Jerry: My eyes don't see in high def.
(Kramer bursts in the room.) Jerry, can I borrow some...hey, are those tickets?
George: Yeah. I got tickets to tonight's game.
Kramer: Going to see the scoreboard, eh?
George: No, they're courtside.
Kramer: Bummer. I'd try to return those if I were you.
(Elaine walks in.) Whatcha doin'?
Kramer: George has tickets to the game tonight.
Elaine: Oh, can I go? Maybe they'll flash me up on the scoreboard. (Starts playing with her hair.)
Jerry: They're courtside seats. No scoreboard.
Elaine: No scoreboard?
Kramer: No scoreboard.
Elaine: Never mind then. I think there's a good movie on AMC.
George: That's just great. I go to all the trouble of switching names and I got nothin'. When you switch names you're supposed to get something good.
George tosses the tickets out the window. A voice comes from below: Woohoo! Tickets! And they're...awwwww shoot!
Bass line plays and cut to commerical.
Anyway, that scoreboard has sure made a big splash around here. I wonder if it's eligible for R.O.Y.?
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)