eddie looked really bad in the game... which was very disappointing to me. offensively he was terrible. defensively he was ok... he can rebound well, but he didn't really stand out as a great rebounder.. he missed a couple he should have had. still, he's overall a pretty good rebounder, and that's the most important thing we need from him. his jumper is off, and even if it were on, I wouldn't want him to use it much. he's a great shotblocker and good rebounder, and there are guys making 10x his salary for doing those things, despite being unable to hit a 10 foot jumper. he doesn't need to expand his game, he needs to focus on the things we need him for. rebounding, shotblocking, and letting KG/blount rest.
I know I mentioned this in my first post, but I'm going to repeat it again, because despite eddie being disappointing... craig smith looked fantastic. if he can keep up that kind of play all season, we should see a lot of minutes from him, and KG may not be run into the ground because his backups are incompetent. if smith were 5-6 inches taller, he would have gone in the top 5 for sure, and would have a legitimate shot at rookie of the year. it's just preseason and I don't want to get too excited over 1 preseason game, but it wasn't just his stats that make me excited, it was the way he played on defense, the hustle he showed, the strength and shooting touch. he just made no mistakes and it was clear to me and the people sitting in my area that smith was the 2nd best big man on the wolves in that game. I expect him to see lots of minutes this year.
|
