Firm Grasp of the Obvious

Ordinarily this is where you'd hear me complain about another loss, but I feel a great sense of relief this morning. Nate finally decided "hey, maybe I should play our best center more than 28 minutes in 6 games". The Marcus saw his most action of the season last night and responded with 14 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks in 32 minutes of action. He hit that mid range jumper, he altered shots on the interior even when he didn't get credited with a block, and he just generally looked like the guy we thought we were drafting. I still for the life of me can't explain the infatuation with The All Star, he's still terrible, another 24 mostly sucky minutes last night. All he can do is rebound, which wouldn't be bad if he knew that instead of trying a wide array of sky hooks that carom off the rim with extreme force.

The Marcus also got into the act in their win on Saturday in Sacramento, logging 22 minutes but not filling up the stat sheet like last night. It's no real surprise to anyone who's seen him play that the best the team has looked in weeks has been in the two games he's played the most. Brandon Roy also appears to be finding his groove again. I'm optimistic going forward if they'd just stick to playing the guys that are the long term plan at least 20 a night. On a side note, Martell has looked a bit better of late, I think it helps him to be on the floor with Jack, Roy, Aldridge, and Z-bo. He gets left alone a lot more and as much as I bag on him, he can knock down an open jumper.

In other basketball news, of course everyone knows that my beloved Ducks took down the #1 team in the country over the weekend. I was very proud of the way they played, even if they tried to blow it late in the game with some horrible clock management and even worse shot selection. Overall I thought they were terrific. I'm a bit surprised they attacked off the dribble instead of just launching away from the outside and hoping they got hot, but it was a welcome sight. I also can't say enough about Maarty, how that guy can be the only rebounder on the floor with 4 guards and only interior defender of any kind, and still manage to be as good as he is, well, he's making The Leap this year, that's all I can say. The Pac 10 is so freaking loaded that it will be hard for them to win more than 10 or 11 conference games, but that should get them in the Big Dance, especially with a rather large trophy on the wall now.