The Good, Bad and the Ugly: Oct. 28th, 2010

This tweet sums up this picture nicely.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly is the Pick and Scroll's way of looking at the previous nights games.  We take a look at some (but not all) of the good, the not-so-good, and the downright atrocious for each team.


Only two games tonight, but we saw the debut of John Wall and both Phoenix and Utah trying to get their first wins of the season.


Washington Wizards (0-1)

• The Good:  Perhaps the only bright spot in this whole game for the Wizards was Cartier Martin.  He was the only one who looked like he knew what he was doing out there, and he had a solid overall game, at least offensively.  The Wizards also did a pretty good job forcing turnovers, getting 10 steals, and forcing Orlando to commit 21 turnovers.
• The Bad:  John Wall's debut was terrible.  I tweeted this before the game, and it looks like I was right.  With Dwight at the rim, Wall was afraid to drive, and since he can't shoot, he was forced into a lot of bad jumpers.  14 points on 6-19 shooting, an inauspicious start for the rookie.  He did do a nice job distributing however with 9 assists, which looks even more impressive given the putrid quality of his teammates.
• The Ugly:  I could say just about everything, but I'm going to focus on the interior defense.  It was horrendous.  The Magic were able to get whatever they wanted inside (18-21 at the rim, 10-15 from within 10 feet), and none of the Wizards big men could do anything about it.  Hilton Armstrong was especially ineffective, playing 11 minutes, having two turnovers and five fouls.  

Orlando Magic (1-0)

• The Good:  The Magic ran their offense to perfection tonight, and their defense was excellent as well, thriving on the fact that Washington has hardly any shooters.  Vince Carter was spectacular, going for 18 points and only missing 4 shots in 25 minutes, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 10 boards with 3 blocks in 29 minutes on 7-9 shooting.  The rebounding battle was no battle at all either, as Orlando (53)more than doubled Washington's rebounds (25).
• The Bad:  Dwight Howard's FT shooting.  Dude needs to get better here.  He got to the line 19 times but only knocked down 9 of them.  He starts off with good form, but then ends up just doing a more pretty looking flick at the hoop than Shaq.  Extend that elbow, just like a jumper.  Use your legs.  I think with a new form at the line Dwight could hit 70%.
• The Ugly:  The Magic were a tad careless with the ball, getting 21 turnovers and only 20 assists.  That needs to tighten up.  As well as they played, they still have some work to do.

Utah and Phoenix after the jump.

Phoenix Suns (1-1)

• The Good:  Hakim Warrick was huge off the bench, and did his best Amar'e impression for Phoenix tonight.  18 points and 11 boards on 6-11 shooting, and a ridiculous jam in the middle of the 3rd.  He probably can't and definitely won't play like this every night, but he probably played himself into the starting lineup with his play.  Phoenix also did a great job on the boards too, keeping up with a very good rebounding Jazz team, thanks to big contributions there from Warrick and Grant Hill.
• The Bad:  Robin Lopez did not look good tonight.  He fouled out in only 20 minutes of play, and Phoenix in general had trouble with Utah's big men, especially Millsap.
• The Ugly:  Can we officially declare the Hedo as starting PF phase dead yet? Please? Sure he can spread the floor on offense, but he cannot defend the position at all.  5 fouls for Hedo in 21 minutes.

Utah Jazz (0-2)

• The Good:  Paul Millsap is finally being given the chance to play like the Jazz are paying him and he hasn't disappointed so far.  19 points (9-13 shooting), 13 boards and 2 blocks for Millsap.  Rookie Gordon Hayward doesn't look too bad himself, getting 6 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks in his 25 minute stint.  I thought Utah reached when they took him, but it looks like he'll end up being solid for them.
• The Bad:  The first half did not look good for Utah, as they got off to yet another poor start.  They only scored 44 points, yet gave up 58 to the Suns.  Al Jefferson, although he was better and put up decent stats, still looks out of sync and still does not give a crap about defense.
• The Ugly:  Utah's backcourt of Raja Bell and Deron Williams was horrible tonight.  The produced a combined 20 points on 6 of 24 shooting, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and also 8 turnovers and 9 fouls.  They were especially putrid from three, shooting 2-8.  Deron played the most minutes, Raja second most.  Ouch.