View From Above the Tunnel: At least we're better than Charlotte

I was at the Charlotte game last night, and that team is HORRIBLE (sadly, Toronto didn't dominate them as much as I thought they could, which probably means that the Raps aren't that good either). The difference between Emeka Okafor and Jared Dudley on the court, is pretty marginal. I guess Okafor is a little be better offensively close to teh basket, but he's really no that much better. Why Charlotte gave him $70 million is beyond me. I actually like Augustine's game, I thought I would hate him cause he is a midget, but I think he actually does have some real promise. Sean May made an appearence last night. I thought he was dead. Based on his play, he might as well be. The Bobcats have to have the most invisible frontcourt in the NBA. Oh, and Gerald Wallace? He is totally overrated. If you can't dominate Joey Graham, you just aren't a top line NBA player. $9 million per? Yet another HUGE mistake.

I loved the way Joey played last night, and I have come to 1 conclusion. All these articles about Joey "not getting it" are total bullshit and totally accurate at the same time! When Joey is asked to do only a single thing on defense (in the case of last night, it was follow Gerald Wallace around under any circumstance), he is actually a pretty good defender. I think its when Smitch asks him to help others that it all starts to fall apart for him (ie he gets lost, rotates poorly, etc). So if the Raps adjusted their defense so that Joey never switches, I think he can be a very useful player for them. Offensively, Joey threw up to SPECTACULAR airballs to go along with the thunderous dunks last night. It was pretty funny. Seriously though, Joey looked pretty good offensive when the Raps got a board, and Jose got a chance to push the ball up. Graham seemed to find the seams, and did a great job of taking Jose's pass, and just continuing onto the rim. Anyway, after all of this, I think Graham should get more burn, but to make him effective, Smitch has to simplify Joey's role. On defense, just point him at the guy you want him to guard, and tell him to never leave him under any circumstance. On offense, just tell him to cut the seams, and hope that Jose finds him. If he somehow ends up with the ball in his hands, just hope that he doesn't throw up too many airballs in between his forays to the basket.